4th of July

I love this holiday! It's one of my major faves...I used to spend every summer (or at least a chunk of it) with my grandparents in Rhode Island, and I have such vivid memories of the 4th of July. They lived in Narragansett, right on the ocean, and we would always spend part of the day in the water. City folks from Providence would clog the roads driving down to the beaches, but we were already there...enjoying ourselves, enjoying the scene.

At night we would have lobster for dinner and drive to the sea wall. Hundreds of cars would line the boulevard, people spilling from the doors, to jockey for a seat on the wall itself. My grandfather would stand close as I sat on the wall with my legs dangling over the side - giant rocks, perriwinkles, and seaweed glistening as the waves crashed below me. Looking out over the water, we would wait for the first fireworks coming further down the sand, at the Dunes Club. All of Narragansett Bay stretched out in a crescent before us and fireworks could be seen as far away as Newport.

And always, always, that night involved ice cream cones. Whether we bought a soft serve cone (coffee for the grown ups, chocolate for me) at one of the road side stands, or went to Newport Creamery, we always had one. And we licked our cones as we watched the sky with anticipation.

This year I had an AWESOME holiday. I had the kids with me (yea!) and good friends over and lots of yummy food. The yard looked beautiful and Andy lit all the torches. We did tons of sparklers and a friend brought over some more pyro-techy type things which the kids loved. More than watching the fire crackers, I loved watching the kids faces as they stood off to the side, enthralled and terrified all at once, holding hands with their buddies.

Then we walked a few blocks down the street to the top of 19th and watched the big fireworks from Folsom Field. The crowd cheered as one at the huge finale and I walked with a very sleepy Harlan back to the house as Andy and Lili raced ahead.

I love when I am in the moment, recognizing new traditions and waching memories being formed in my kids' minds. xoxo