4th of July 2011

I know this post is late in the game by over a week, but life is busy these days with a toddler on the loose and gorgeous summer days to revel in.  I wanted to wish all of my readers a very happy (belated) Independence Day.  I hope you all enjoyed the cookouts, swimming, family time, an extra day off of work- if you were so lucky, and I hope you took a moment to remember what Independence Day is really all about even if you aren't a history buff (um, ME!). 

This 4th of July I took time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy my family...my husband, my daughter, and our two fur babies.  It was nice to slow down and enjoy our time together.  On Saturday, we drove up to Massachusetts to visit my ailing Grandmother.  A visit from her Great Granddaughter gave her renewed energy and a huge smile on her face (but, I'm still worried about her alone up there) and we stocked her fridge with frozen meals and goodies until my mom gets here in a couple weeks for her surgery.

On Monday, we watched fireworks in the one local town that actually had fireworks on 4th of July with some of my in-laws and it was the perfect ending to a great long weekend.  As an aside, can you explain to me why more towns don't do their fireworks on the actual holiday?  For instance, Hartford didn't have their fireworks until the weekend after the 4th on July 9th!  They did the same thing the year before and the 4th fell on an actual weekend day.  A little birdy told me it was due to budgeting and having to pay holiday pay and OT to the on duty police and fire fighters, but I'm not buying it.  Let's celebrate our country's independence on the actual holiday just like we did when we were kids.  Who cares if it costs a little extra or our little ones are a bit crabby from the late night the next day.  Isn't it part of what summer is?!  I'll even throw out that it's tradition...Fireworks ON 4th of July.

Alas, I will close this post by sharing some extra pictures of our 4th of July weekend...enjoy!

With cousin Julian- 6 mo older than she is



I know...out of focus- I need a tri-pod