Fourth of July

I love the Fourth of July! I'm starting to like it as much as (or maybe more than?!) Christmas. Summer is my favorite season, and the Fourth usually involves all of my favorite summer activities: time at the lake, barbecuing and eating outside, plenty of watermelon and ice cream, patriotic music, and fireworks. Our Fourth was full and so much fun this year! We started off with a Dickinson family pancake breakfast at our house, followed by wave running at the lake.

Zach is a true water baby and when he wasn't mooching cruises around the wakeless zone from anyone on the machines, he was content to sit on the shore and throw rocks into the water. The bigger the better! 

And he had to try out cousin Brooklyn's float ring, too!

After the lake and naps for our worn-out boys, we went to Grant's parents for a barbecue and "Cul-de-Sac of Fire," which did not disappoint this year! In Eliot's words, "Those fireworks were totally wicked!!" (And they were!) 

 

The boys got all star-studded for the children's parade, where Eliot was not sheepish at all about joining in on a way-too-small tricycle. 

 

And he's already found the secret to winning over the ladies -- share your "pop-its" with them!

 The morning after the Fourth, we got up early and caught the end of the Balloon Festival in Provo and got donuts at Macey's. The only missing element for me this year was running in the Freedom Festival, but I opted out not knowing how I'd be feeling post-Ragnar. Something I did do for the first time this year was read a historical novel about U.S. History, and that really helped add to the spirit of the holiday for me. I read 1776 by David McCoullough. It was very different than I thought it would be and definitely not light reading, but I really enjoyed learning more about the first year of the Revolutionary War and plan to read a book about U.S. History every summer in the weeks leading up to the Fourth. It made my experience so much more meaningful.