July 4th

Happy Fourth of July!!

What I love most about this holiday is the old fashioned way we still celebrate it.

Flying flags, fireworks, cookouts, parades.

And in our little town, it's no exception.

The day started dreary with lots of rain, squelching any outdoor parade plans.
I spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon
 in my pjs and apron, piddling around in the kitchen
and attempting to get a little crafty - no luck with the fancy paper fans,
but my pinwheels turned out pretty cute.
Holidays and decorations are a big deal for Andrew.  

He notices and appreciates every little detail.

And while I don't do anything fancy, I try to make it festive + fun for my little ones.

I always bake something special.

The last several years I've made a flag cake, but this year's request was cupcakes.

We are celebrating our country's birthday afterall...

We had my parents over for a cookout.

The menu was supposed to be:

Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken

Fresh Corn Cakes

Tomato + Avocado Salsa

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade (Andrew's specialty)

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

However....we had some peculiar grilling complications -- undercooked then overcooked chicken.  

So we ended up going vegetarian for the night.

This recipe is CRAZY good.

Charlie looks like he's ready for Cinco de Mayo, rather than the 4th of July.

The weather cleared up by dinner and the sun peaked out.

We attempted a family photo...

Almost.

Smile Andrew, I made you the "best cupcakes you've ever tasted!"

Actually, the conversation went like this.

A: "Mom, Mom, do you even realize what just happened?" (lots of gesticulation + raised voice) 

Me: "No, what's wrong?"

A: "I have just tasted the best cupcake I've ever had in my whole life."

Me: " Aww, Andrew that's so sweet."

A: " I'm not kidding, it was."

At dusk we made our way down to the park to watch fireworks.

Andrew on his bike, Charlie on his trike.

We met up with neighbors and friends...

It was Charlie's first time seeing fireworks.
They are set off in the open field next to the Bell Tower.
While the sky lights up, the bells ring out patriotic tunes - its perfect!

He was up waaaay past his bedtime, but it was worth it.

The last couple years I stayed home so he could go to bed on time.

I much preferred going as a family tonight

I will be paying the price tomorrow with cranky behavior and likely bite my words.

Charlie thought the fireworks sounded like drums.

I'm kind of impressed with my pictures.

99.9% of the time I don't have a clue what I am doing in manual mode on my camera.

I followed this tutorial and lo and behold it worked!!

That's all.  I'm officially nodding off.

Hope you did something special to celebrate today too!

{linking up to Starfish Summer Snapshots}