A SOMBER 4TH

What do you do when it's the 4th of July and there are no fireworks?

You watch the history channel.

Because I spent the majority of my childhood in Canada, and most of what should I should have learned in U.S. history I spent frivolously learning about Canadian pioneering, I know embarrassingly little about the basics of our Independence Day. So my husband took it upon himself to "educate" me by having our family sit down and watch "The Revolution" on the history channel. He said it was so that Elijah could learn early (I know it was so I could learn before my kid knows more than me on the subject) but I was grateful for the skapegoat.

We spent the course of several hours making lunch, and learning about life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It was actually quite patriotic, and I felt like a proud little American.

Then it was off to a barbeque with friends. We were dressed in our patriotic colors and enjoyed the age old tradition of burgers fresh from the grill. Though we were invaded by a colony of flies, we escaped them and sat in the air-conditioned goodness.

Because of Eli's cast, swimming is not an option. So instead, he enjoyed his favorite passtime of swinging. Surrounded by his friends, he was a happy camper. Though he spent MOST of the day asleep.

A little later, we were pretty bummed that there were no spectacular lights to look at, or grass to sit and sweat in, so we decided to have a game night with a bunch of Tim's collegues from work (and our trusty Matt). I cannot remember the last time I yelled so much or laughed so hard and by the end of the night when my throat was hoarse and I passed out in exhaustion I nearly forgot that I missed the fireworks.... nearly.

How was YOUR 4th of July?