chronicles of the 4th

When Henry woke up in his festive jammies I couldn't resist getting the camera.  Bed head times two makes for some great pictures. 

We went to breakfast with the Bakers at Key's Cafe and Bakery and came to discover the pancakes were the size of manholes.  Now we know.  In the words of the one and only Laura Ostler, "this is the American dream in pancake form"  Well said.  As a side note on our way to breakfast our car said it was already 95 degrees at 8:45am.  Bad news.

We then transitioned to the (indoor) pool where we put the 97 cent water wings that Grandma Harding gave the kids to good use.  They literally transformed Madeleine into a daredevil and she discovered the belly flop.  Two hours at the indoor pool wore them out enough for some mega naps. 

Randomly inserted is Madeleine sporting her dress I picked up last year in Australia...one of my all time favorite articles of clothing.

That evening we went to a fantastic ward party - while driving to the party at 7:45pm our car thermometer said 100 degrees and that's not factoring in the insane humidity.  We only survived because of bug spray and a sprinkler - which I'm sure was intended for the kids but I took a stroll or two through it just to disguise the sweat.  serious heat wave!  You'll notice the kids were soaked in the pictures.  Yummy food, new friends, huge swings, and everyone and everything looking and feeling so patriotic.  The camera only lasted so long.  It was just too hot to be carrying that around my neck!  The sparklers were fun for a few pictures but they were too tentative to really get into them.

Arial firworks are illegal in MN but seeing as we're so close to the WI border, they're pretty common.  The backyard firworks show at the party was absolutely terrifying for the kids and honestly a bit too intense for me as well.  I was shocked the type of fireworks that were going off 15 feet from me and even more shocked we didn't start yet another fire.  After the kids calmed down we watched the firewoks from inside through the sky lights.

We saw a fair amount of fireworks on our way home, came inside and ultimately found our sweet spot.  We piled on Madeleine's twin bed, pulled up the blinds and had a QUIET view of about 10 different firework shows for a good twenty minutes.  One of those moments when time stood still and everything was perfect. 

Wasn't quite the family gathered outside on the blanket but maybe we'll build up to the more traditional firewok viewing next year.  Henry's still talking about how the "ka-boom" was too scary.  Judging by the sheer terror of both of them, I doubt it. 

We all crashed and slept soundly feeling so proud and grateful to be in the land we love.