Family, Friends, and the Fourth

    The 4th of July is an interesting holiday.  I don't consider myself overly patriotic.  The current state of affairs in our country makes me uneasy to say the least.  The US democracy has been downgraded from "full democracy" to "flawed democracy."   I've been on a summer reading binge and have finished six books so far.  Among them, I finally read George Orwell's 1984.

    Amid all the unsettling events and turmoil, I can still love my country.  It's a place where I can send my daughter to school, I can tell my children they can love whomever they choose, I access to clean water, indoor plumbing, and electricity.  I am entitled to have my own religious beliefs.  America is an imperfect nation that challenges me to a better version of myself and for that I am grateful.  I can attend a parade, wave a flag, and share the hopes for a better future with those around me.

   This 4th of July I did a lot less planning.  My sister, Beth, and her family flew in from Wisconsin. We had a lovely and all too short visit.  Linus and I went down to Edmonds on the 3rd to try a score spots along the parade route.  We came up short, but were gifted popcorn by the nice theater owner.  As luck would have it, we ran into some other school parents and they invited us to join them.  During the parade, all the moms walked over the a nearby restaurant and enjoyed bloody marys (I had never had one).  We eventually returned to our families and sent the dads off to enjoy a beer because that's the kind of supportive wives we are.  I don't think the kids noticed our absence due to the insane amount of candy and loot they procured.  It was perfect.  

   I used the presence of multiple adults to make interesting food.  While the kids ate hot dogs, I made pesto chicken garlic sliders for the adults.  Dessert was apple dump cakes (crockpot for the win!) with vanilla ice cream.

  It was hard to say goodbye to my sister and her family.  Robin and Gwen are such a cute pair together.  Linus adores Gwen.  Dylan loves his cousins and did not want to leave.  The kids were less than cooperative with getting their picture taken.

           After the Rousseaus left, the kids and I head down to my friend's family beach place.  Katie comes up every 4th to celebrate Italian style.  Pretty much all of her family had left by the time we got there.  Instead we enjoyed sun, high tide, and warm water with just Katie and her husband, her mom, and another friend.  It was a perfect afternoon.  The kids loved being out on the water.  Eileen collected shells.  I learned that Katie makes the.best.margaritas.

Katie taught Eileen how to prepare clams and Linus and Eileen tried them for the first time.  Robin and I abstained.

I think the kids would have stayed forever if I let them.  With the traffic home down from over 4 hours to just 1.5 hrs, we headed back up north.  Long car rides after the 4th of July help to offset the craziness of irregular holiday sleep for kids.

It's been a great week.