Independence Day!

Our first 4th of July in Washington was a great success.

 One of our traditions involves making Walt a patriotic T-shirt. Landon designed this one. :)

Not really wanting to fight downtown crowds, we opted for all of the hyper-local stuff. Which started out with a pancake breakfast at the fire station! We didn't know about this one until we got there, but luckily there was still time for Walt to tour all of the big trucks. He loved it!

Then we went to the parade. It was definitely not Provo. But it was still fun. Walt got a decent amount of candy and there were some fun floats! Walt's favorite was definitely seeing Batman. Mostly he just liked to wave his flag around and dance.

Then we pulled together a last-minute BBQ with our neighbors in our apartment complex. This turned out to be one of the best parts of our day!

Walt and Jordan - they are becoming good buds. :)

And of course, we finished off the evening with fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks. I tease Landon about this every year. Seeing a big fireworks display has never really part of his family's tradition. But to me, it just isn't the 4th until you blow something up. :) 

 Walt was particularly enamoured with these little "snap-its." Best $1 we ever spent.

 But he was extraordinarily brave with his sparkler, too!

There is really something about sitting in a large group of fellow Americans, staring at the lights in the sky, listening to Neil Diamond, and contemplating how blessed we all are to live here.

The show was actually pretty good! Probably about as elaborate as Stadium of Fire. And we had great seats right by the lake.

I love everything about this day. To me, it has everything Christmas has - great food, time off work, hanging out with family, relaxation - without the cold weather or the stress. We're so glad we got to celebrate together and with friends!

...And if I let Walt have some of his parade candy for breakfast the next day, that just makes it better! Right? ...Right?