Happy 4th of July!

I have had a great day and even though it's a little late, I'm very awake and want to blog.

We started the day with the annual Pancake Breakfast at church. It started at 8:00, but we had a lazy morning (Malcom let me sleep in!), so we didn't arrive until 8:45. It was just in time to get in at the end of the line, and we even got to enjoy the "program."

Then we went home for naps all around and some general play time. We got ready and left at around 4:30 for a friend's bar-b-q. Krista and Greg invited us to Greg's parents' house in the Verdugo Hills. They have almost an acre of land complete with dogs, a horse, some chickens, other birds and bunnies. Bekah began the evening happy enough. . .

. . . but then started to get really fussy. We had brought all her bath and bed time stuff with us and got to work. It's a sign that she was truly unhappy that she didn't even enjoy her bath. :(
But we persevered and after some crying in the pack-and-play, she fell asleep. To her credit, I really think she's trying to cut six teeth right now, and she was in a weird place without her real crib, so she had good reason to be upset.

We happily ate steak, corn-on-the-cob, watermelon, and chips, all the wonderful foods that signify Summer and the 4th. Thankfully, the sun set and it got cooler outside. The guys played a little ping pong, and then it was time to go.

I have to say that I was dubious at first about putting the baby to sleep only to wake her up two hours later to go see fireworks. I was worried that we'd fight traffic, fight crowds, stand in lines, pay to get into some show, then she'd be all tired and cranky and cry at the sound of the fireworks. I was nervous, but decided to try it out. The worse that could happen was that she'd cry a lot and we'd just pack it up and go home. Besides, it's only once a year, and I think the fireworks are the best part of today, so that sold me.

We woke Bekah up, with no small amount of crying; I'm sure she remembered how upset she was that we'd left her in a random room in a random bed in the first place. Anyway, she calmed down when she realized that she got to be out of bed and spend more time with all the people.

We fought NO traffic as we caravanned to an LDS church near the local high school. We parked (for FREE!) in a half-empty parking lot and set up chairs and blankets in the baseball field behind the church (also for FREE!). Bekah sat on my or Malcom's lap and waited patiently for the show. She was surprisingly happy, not fussy at all, and not even squirming to get down. Once the show started she just sat and watched. She was not bothered by the noise at all! I was so glad and happily enjoyed the beautiful lights.

Then we fought NO traffic getting home, Bekah took a bottle and went right to sleep.

Yay!

It was a great day. I hope yours was very good too. I am extremely happy and thankful to have such a wonderful country to celebrate.

Go America!