Yankee Doodle Went To Town...

It's that time of year again!  Time for cookouts and gatherings and loud fireworks.  Time for spreading your blanket on the nearest field and waving your flags.  Independence Day is a pretty special holiday for Steven and me.  Well, July 3rd anyway.  It's when things kind of started for us.  It was the beginning of the beginning, if you will.  It meant enough that we have the word "fireworks" engraved in our wedding bands.  And we have yet to miss a year.  No matter what, we will be together for the 4th and we see some fireworks.  

This year we went twice.  On the 3rd we met up with Sabrina (who, by the way, was present for that first year Steven and I watched the fireworks together.  She's a special part of our history that way.), her hubby, Jeremiah, and their new little one Harrison.  My BFF Tiffany and her baby-daddy (well, fetus-daddy until October) came up and headed out to Wake Forest with us.  We had a great time watching the show from the football field at Heritage High School.  There was a band and parachuters and one of the best finales I have ever seen.  Pictures from the night are below.  


July 4th found us in Archer's Lodge, NC.  Where you ask?  It's that newly minted town right down the road from Clayton.  You know, one of those tiny, blink and you'll miss it places.  Or blink and get hit by a crazy person driving way too fast down Main Street after the fireworks were done and everyone was filing out of the little fields in droves!!  The driver and Steven shared a lovely conversation.  It was loud, heated and included a few bad words.  You know, straight from the heart, Hallmark material stuff.  


Mike and Mandy took their sweet baby girl, Addie, and she was a champ.  The only thing that seemed to bother her was the slight delay between fireworks.  Come to think of it, that was the only thing that bothered all of us.  Addie was just a bit more vocal about it.  After it was done we headed back to Mike and Mandy's for some ice cream sundaes.  And the next day we didn't even have to go to work.  How perfect is this holiday?!