Happy Independence Day!

Josiah took this picture!

Friday morning, I greet my two older boys, "Happy Independence Day!" "What's that?", Josiah asks. I respond with my brief history lesson. In 1776 we signed the Declaration of Independence stating that we were separate from England. I told them why and that, yes, it was before I was born. "What happened after that?", Josiah wants to know. We went to war and fought for our freedom and God helped us win and founded our nation on freedom of speech and freedom to worship God how we want. I explained more since I still had their attention. May as well teach while the teachin's good.


After the history lesson, we get ready for the cookout at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Fun times with all the cousins and even Nona and Papa and Aunt Angie and Aunt Kelley from the Perino side came. Grandpa just got a new patio and walkways which are a huge hit. They are a great runway to race up and down and all around the house. We had lots of food; I think Nathan ate most of the day.

Josiah and Nathan (with the shades) pause for picture

Quiddler is the game to play and I am the one to beat. Aunt Angie gave me a good run but I still beat her by 4 points. Better luck next time Ang!

Aunt Angie, Bella and Josiah

Noah with his favorite person in the whole world

Ah! Now it's time for the fireworks. Since I didn't think Noah would appreciate them, he stayed with Grandma. It ended up that he didn't appreciate that either. What a baby.

Well, we found free parking and free shuttle service right away. Excellent! This was the boys' first bus ride. Nathan was enjoying it so much he didn't want to sit on anyone's lap. When we arrived at the park, we beelined for the closest grass. I didn't want to fight a crowd going in or coming out of the park and the view was great. We spread our blanket and got out the popcorn and drinks while waiting for the show. Josiah was looking forward to fireworks since we were rained out last year. Nathan was really excited ... until the first explosion. The rest of the show was spent in Daddy's arms facing away from the scary lights and sounds in the sky. Thankfully there were no tears. It was a nice show though I missed my lakeside Edinboro fireworks from the previous 5 years. When it was over, we headed right back to the bus where we crammed in a lot more people going back to the parking lot. It was a great day and we were ready to head home and get the boys in bed.

Nathan's first bus ride

Riding the bus to the fireworks

John and the boys waiting for the show

Nathan doesn't think this is fun anymore

Back on the bus