The Fourth

 Happy 4th of July!

I am so happy to live in this country. I am grateful to the men and women who serve so selflessly to keep us safe and free. 

 We went to a BBQ with some friends and had a great time. On the way home we realized that we forgot to get sparklers and b/c we were calling it an early night and not going to see a big show we really wanted to do some with Reese. We drove around to 3 different stores before we found some. We got home just as the firework booms started. We couldn't see any fireworks even though there were about 4 shows in a 5 mile radius of our house. Trees here are quite substantial so its pretty impossible to find the fireworks. Anywho Reese of course got scared because she couldn't make sense of the noise without actually seeing the fireworks. This alluded to the above picture she could hardly look at the sparkler let alone hold one. She came and sat by Henry and I begging to go inside the entire time. I told her to be brave like her new favorite princess Merida. Immediately she said "ok Mother" which means she is transforming into Merida (I know this because she calls me mother when she is Merida and Mom when she is Reese). She took a deep breath and clung to Henry and I and finally watched a sparkler. Next year I'm hoping she will enjoy this holiday a little more.