Happy Birthday America!

 Our Fourth of July came bright and early as Dom could not wait to get the celebration going.  In fact, the night before, he handpicked his siblings outfits so that they could all be patriotic.  Each had a red shirt and jean shorts, for the red, white, and blue.  Eric and I got into the spirit and wore equally patriotic attire.  Eric wore white and I wore blue.  Just take my word for it, as there is no picture of me in my get up.  I also put on red earrings which Dom apparently believes are inappropriate on any day other than Sunday.  William, however, told me I looked very pretty.  And Molly thought they were candy.

 We went down to the city parade and sat in sweltering heat for a couple of hours.  The boys, as you can see from the top picture, took off their shirts pretty early on.  But, the parade did take our minds of the heat and we all enjoyed the spectacle and the tossed candy.

 Several weeks ago, we started learning about states and the various state symbols.  Dom requested a United States cake back in April.  After a quick google search, I discovered a cake pan for $43.  I informed Dom that this would not be a wise use of money and that I would think of something else.  The top and the bottom are the results of my figuring.  I basically free-handed the United States from a crude trace of the United States placemat.  I'm no Martha Stewart, but I was very happy with the results.  And the boys were delighted to eat all of the cuttings that didn't make the cut...They also enjoyed requesting various states to the eat in the days following.

 We celebrated the holiday in the traditional way with many smoke bombs and snaps and sparklers.  Nothing loud or likely to start a fire, which for this age, is appropriate.  I'm sure the year will come when the boys will want something more, but for now, we are content with staying well within the law of the land.

We tried to keep the boys up to watch the city fireworks from our house, but they just couldn't make it.  By 9 o'clock, all three were passed out on the couches.  Of course, that is what you get for waking up at 6, sitting in the heat for over 2 hours, playing in the swimming pool for another hour, shooting off a lot of smoke, doing an arts and crafts project with Dad, playing in the pool for another hour, and eating your weight in chocolate cake.  Despite the absence of night time fireworks, I think the kids had a pretty good day.  And so did the parents.

In a side story, the other day Dom and I were discussing names for a future sibling.  Dom gave a couple suggestions that have already been used in our family: Thomas and Dominic.  He also suggested Francis after St. Francis.  Finally, he determined that we should name a son George after George Washington.  Only a couple of years ago it would have been for Curious George, so I think homeschooling is working pretty well.