i am not a communist... for the record.

i like a good, simple fourth of july.
i tend to chase a decent helping of yester with my year. old fashioned.. hot kitchen.. cool breeze.. naps after lunch..and picnic baskets at dusk kind of days.  full and happy and humming america the beautiful while you tuck your babies into bed.


does it go without saying i am not the first in line buying up 'the godfather' advertised at the fireworks trailer? to be honest when i see fireworks shows i have a hard time not imagining actual money sizzling and burning up right before my eyes. which you know- amazingly kind of steals the joy from it? ;) i like a good sparkler don't get me wrong-- but the amount of money that is spent on explosives when we could say.. pay down the national debt.. or feed starving children.. seems.. well it seems a little excessive when fireworks are basically the same thing every year. why this gets under my skin and the fact that americans spend millions of dollars on clothing for their pets doesn't keep me up at night..who can understand the madness of my judgement calls? not i. ;)

a certain conversation i was privy to pretty much made my night...
so we were at the fireworks trailer picking up some sparklers.. nate was being 'sold' some sort of huge fancy thing that shakes your house and impresses your neighbors when i vetoed with the explanation that i wasn't really a fireworks fan.
the response, i can only hope in jest, was...


"you don't want to talk too much about that.. people might start thinking you are a communist. this IS america's birthday you know??"
i replied that i was trying very hard not to see too much irony in the fact we celebrate such a birthday by spending ridiculous amounts of money on blowing things up.
i was then given a history lesson on how fireworks began and it was all very patriotic and beautiful..then i cried and seeing the error of my ways bought 'the godfather'...king of all fireworks. no. no i didn't. 


we did in fact buy a lemon berry slushie which i felt was festive enough. :)

let the record state.. the strawberry you see on her face was found 24 hours later.. still on her face. clearly i got distracted with my fourth of july ideals and forgot to bathe my children.

smug baby holding the cup/pouty girl coveting the cup

my bee balm always blooms just in time to be my interpretation of happy firecrackers.

see i am not anti independence day...

we went out and staked a spot to watch the city show.

and this is where i get conflicted.

i do love to gather. i love blankets smoothed and frisbees thrown. discussing antiques over a root beer with the lady 'next door'. the collective oooohs and aaaahs that escape from the crowd when a big one goes up.

i love freedom too. so what's a sarcastic rabble rouser to do? 

right up about then... every year.. i get over myself.

i hush the fringe snarkiness and subtle snide comments. i accept the fact that we are celebrating freedom. and freedom means i don't get to be a selfish reveler with a design your own holiday kind of fourth of july. fireworks keeping me up late and whizzing past the kids window. watching people blow massive amounts of money i know they don't have. the heart of patriotism being claimed and judged by political factions.
it's the other side of freedom... and i can take the good with the bad. 

lucienne didn't want to take patriotic pictures. she just wanted her jimmy john's sandwich.

totally out of focus.. but for some reason i love it....

grammy and grandpa swooped into town on the morning breeze.... apparently bringing nostalgia and the 1960's processing filter with them. ;)

my girl betty and her perfect apple pie... commence god bless america chorus now...

grandpa's vanilla ice cream. creamy, dreamy homemade goodness. 

and you should officially meet the newest placeholder in my vintage heart. carl the camp cooler. he is in perfect condition. and was ten dollars.  be still my freedom loving 50's heart. :)

one of the churches in town was hosting a big independence day carnival. arianna and grayson worked up the nerve to do the ultimate inflatable maze. ari breezed through like it was her job. grayson gave a great effort through tears and wails and with rousing encouragement from his parents outside he made it to the last slide.. and froze. he was retrieved by daddy and then promptly wanted to go again. upon a discouraging look from the attendant i said maybe next year.

so when i said grammy and grandpa blew in on the morning breeze. i meant it literally. they arrived in this...

grandpa is a pilot and indulged his grandchildren... okay maybe his easily excitable daughter in law... with an airplane ride.

we swooped all over town, dipped down for a birds eye view of our house, pointed out landmarks like target and walmart... flew with freedom through the clouds. happy birthday america. :)

... and then my camera battery died. serious bummer. if it hadn't there were definitely photo shoot plans in the making. i didn't wear these aviator sunglasses for nothing. :)
maybe something a little like this... ? :)

so now we are down off our holiday high. the florida trip is a memory, the whirlwind june has quieted, independence day has come and gone. we are reduced to semi clothed foot wars on the couch to stay entertained. 

let the easy days of summer begin. :)