Happy 5th of July...

Today is a new day and although I sent my baby on a plane early this morning with tears in our eyes, he made it to dad's. Safe and in one piece. More importantly no tears were heard over the phone to say he was there. I know he will have a good time at his dads.



Flowers to get us back in the 4th of July mood!


Yesterday was a great day and I feel even more blessed to have a family like I do. We wanted the 4th to be a "we do it all together" kind of day. I figured some red, white, and blueberry pancakes would be the best way to start us off right :).

Man were these yummy!! The red pancakes were actually red velvet pancakes. They were delish smothered in homemade blueberry syrup. Best breakfast ever.
Then we had some fun in the backyard with a few of these:



and a few of these:



which led to this:




and then we needed a snack. So we gobbled down some watermelon in the hot summer sun.

The girls took a nap and the rest of us watched a movie, together. It has been a long time since I have sat down and watched a movie. You know what, I actually enjoyed it. I might have to try it again soon. Then we headed out to grab a few totally illegal fireworks. Ya' know we teach our kids well here. Came home and ate dinner which consisted of these beautiful things that had been smoking all day:



The kids all lit the black snakes and held the sparklers.


My daring and "I can do it" 4 year old going on 25 daughter wanted to hold the punk herself. We went over the rules and talked about how hot it was at the end. Did she listen...no....this is what she heard instead "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it". You get the point. Well she can't do it anymore. She burnt her finger trying to light her first snake and that was it. At one point this is what you saw and heard in our backyard:


It was quite a sight. Had a cop driven by and seen this sight, he would have kept driving thinking that maybe the fireworks would help. But alas brothers magical 20 foot long sparkler quieted both girls and got the night back on track.

We enjoyed some banana splits and headed out to watch our towns fireworks. And until that show actually started we watched the rest of the town put on their own fireworks shows in their neighborhoods. All the while the FIREWORKS ARE ILLEGAL IN THIS COUNTY road sign kept blinking through the whole thing. Funny how this all works. The fireworks were great and the girls loved every minute of it. We packed up the car and headed home to put some very tired little girls to bed. Then we had some fun with the rest of the scary sparklers and my camera.





The 4th of July is always my favorite holiday. The food, the memories, and the fireworks all make me feel so, well, alive. I love taking the day to remember those that fight for our freedom and live the day just as they would want to. I loved having Chase home with us this year and are already making plans for next year. I hope you all spent your 4th just as you wanted to.