Near death firework experience...

So the moral of the weekend is - don't put two rockets into one launching tube.

Obvious to many, but apparently not to my brother-in-law who tried aforementioned trick on saturday night.

As the first rocket sailed into the sky it blew the other back down just enough to prevent it gaining altitude. The second rocket flew through the air in a gentle arc of 15 feet or so before landing at the feet of the massed ranks of parents and toddlers standing on the patio. It then exploded with one piece bouncing off my brother-in-laws forehead, our poor mate Phil's eyebrow, into the kitchen and onto an interior glass door before bouncing out onto the patio again, where it came to rest under my father-in-law's chair. The other piece went past my left ear before exploding a yard away.

I couldn't hear for about 30 seconds in one ear, Phil now has a burnt eye-brow, and brother in law one (innocent party) then nearly kicked seven bells out of brother-in-law 2 (dud rocket launcher).

Nice.

Order was soon restored however, and we all lived to tell the tale. Kids now have a healthy respect for fireworks to the extent that my youngest is now nearly too scared to hold a sparkler.

This may be a positive to take from this. Sort of. Maybe not.