KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All over the metro, families of all kinds are celebrating the Fourth of July.
We thought it'd be fun to go around town and see how people celebrate the holiday, and what it means to them.
We found that everyone was more than happy to welcome us to their parties.
"Please come on over, come on over," James Williams said, leading us to his pans full of brats and hamburgers.
We caught up with the Williams family at Swope Park as they were setting up their annual holiday cookout. They pitched a tent, filled a kiddie pool with water, and blew up a bounce house.
"Got my chicken right here, got my baby-backs already smoking, and my favorite baked beans all cuddled up and ready to go," Williams said, as smoke wafted from his grill to reveal three trays of goodness.
I have the best assignment! pic.twitter.com/J1fX5VgbOV
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) July 4, 2018
The Williamses usually go to the Ozarks but decided to stay in town this year. No matter where they're at they always have fun, they say.
"Fourth of July, they use so many different ways of explaining it, but for me, it's family time," Williams said.
We headed over to Wyandotte County Park, where a big group of people made us wonder how they were celebrating.
An intense game of tug-of-war was playing out, single people on one side and married people on the other. The married side won.
How fun is this! An intense tug-of-war game at Wyandotte County Park between single people & married people! 😝 pic.twitter.com/z8wxlONQBn
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) July 4, 2018
The group is from Burma. Their celebration is rooted in culture, to remind the children of their roots, while mixing with new traditions in America.
"We are refugees from Burma," Johan Hmung said. "The one thing we want in our life is freedoms and you know, this really is important to us and we like to celebrate it."
And they go all out, even inviting us to try their grilled short ribs with homemade chili sauce.
"This is like our go-to food for celebrations. Any celebration we have, we have to have this," Hmung said.
We tried Burmese food today and omg the best grilled short rib I've ever had. They cautioned me @ @iamDSMITH86 the chile sauce was spicy - little did they know we LOVE spicy food. So much food! And they were so welcoming & gracious. Happy 4th! pic.twitter.com/0JcgsK6YX3
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) July 4, 2018
Every shelter at the park was packed with people, laughter, and great smells from the grill.
The Wing family at Wyandotte County Lake had the same idea.
They have a theme every year. A banner on their shelter read: "A Wing ding of a good time."
"It's basically a family reunion, our second one in three years. Last time it was "It's a Wing thing, you wouldn't understand,'" Darren Wing said.
While waiting for more family to show up, they grilled up rows of hamburgers and hotdogs.
"Family is what Fourth of July is all about to me," Wing said. "It's all it's about, having a great time with the family."
It's a day where we just might have more similarities than differences.
