4th of July!!!

The 4th of July might just be my FAVORITE holiday! so many good memories as a kid: walking through "the numbered streets" to the parade, sitting in the hot sun waiting to catch as much candy as we could, waving the little flag they hand out throughout the rest of the day, the BBQ, standing on top of our picnic table with my older sister Hannah singing "If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd worked for all my life..." at the top of our lungs to a crowd of adoring lilac blossoms, to waiting for hours on end at the green belt in the perfect spot for THE BEST FIREWORK SHOW THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI! We would roller blade around the greenbelt hoping to see friends we hadn't seen since the end of the school year, and sitting with tears coming to my eyes as the fireworks took my breath away! I was so excited to share all of these things with My Little Girl! I think that she loves it all just as much a I do!

We bundles her up tight with the pacifier wedged in her mouth and my hands over her ears to muffle the amazing sounds soon to come, ready for the most amazing thing that she has probably witnessed in her short life! She sat a stared not moving a muscle as the lights blazed and the fireworks exploded with a "BOOM", and we listened to "And I'm proud to be an American, Where at least I know I'm Free..." on the radio. That same song I sang as a child and this time tears were in my eyes once again as the words "If I had to start again with just my CHILDREN and my wife..." rang a little more true to me this year. Every once in a while with the really loud BANG her little legs would kick a few times but then she would settle right back to watching with wide eyes.

At the Parade with Grandpa!

He may have given her a few licks of his chocolate cream cycle! What an awesome little extra to an awesome Day!

Happy 4th of July Lilly Bug. This is your first of many to come! I hope that you love and appreciate this great country as much as I do!