Yesterday we joined the many Americans who wished our country a Happy Birthday. We celebrated until we were just about knocked over from the exhaustion of the day. The way we began was with our small town’s parade. They do a wonderful job, but my most favorite part of this celebration is that every person around us is united together by this one very important day. Most everyone is wearing the colors that represent our nation and we wave our flags together to honor our country and those who have fought for it and for us. We have found a special connection that is being passed down to our precious children.
After the parade, we gathered together with our family and friends to celebrate. We of course celebrated with lots of food! I’d like to say that I took pictures of all of it, but I really only took pictures of what I made. I was having too much fun later to go back inside when the food was cooked to take pictures. But it was fantastic! Hamburgers, “cob on the corn” (as Chloe calls it), potatoes, fruit, salads….lots of good stuff!
One of our kids’ favorite parts of our country’s birthday party is the bouncy house. I can’t even say it’s just the kids’ favorite part. Just about every adult bounced in there. One adult had way more fun in there than any of the kids. Of course they tackled him down and reclaimed their domain, but he had fun for a while.
And snow cones…..
Chloe spent most of the day in the pool. And although the temperature was about 100 degrees, the pool was also in the upper 90’s making it not as refreshing as one might hope, but it was still a good time. And when you got out, the ever-so-slight breezes would blow, giving you a nice cool down.
Dragonflies are everywhere right now. I just love them. I didn’t see as many bright green ones today as I usually see, but there were some pretty ones flying around the reeds in the lake.
I wish I could say we ended the day watching fireworks, but we crashed. It was so late and we were just done. We can see the fireworks from our house, but it’s not the same as being right there (as Chloe reminded me) on the bank of the river with the rest of our town watching them shoot up into the sky off one of the tiny little islands in the river. Everyone is crowded together just waiting for the moment when the first streak of light shoots up into the sky, cracking into a big sparkling shower above us, and finishing with a loud boom. Kids are squealing and everyone sits together waiting for the next one, “ooohing” and “ahhhing” over the fabulous display overhead. Chloe was sad to have missed it and so was I. But there is always next year.
I hope you enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Nation!
