Freedom Flapjacks

Hope everyone had a good fourth of July! We had a busy one, starting with breakfast: Meredith made some amazing US flag pancakes for the boys. They were very excited to have them on their plates, though Z wouldn't actually eat his (though he talked about it all day). Then it was time to go visit our favorite local parade. As in years past, there was an excellent collection of classic cars, big trucks, military vehicles, motorcycles, and more. And as a bonus, mommy and L were in the parade, joining up with friend L! The boys and I got a spot on the opening corner of the route to watch mommy -- and by "got a spot", I mean I was able to get everyone to sit for about 5 minutes to eat snack before they were running around again (thankfully out of the path of the actual parade route, though often a bit too close to the boat load-in dock), occasionally watching both the various vehicles in the parade and the many boats approaching the beach. We did catch mommy's eye and wave hello, but not enough free hands to grab a picture.
Exhausted from all of the outdoor sun exposure, we came home for a quiet afternoon. By which I mean O got L giggling for a good fifteen minutes.

Mommy and L weren't up for it, but the boys had been obsessing about fireworks for some time (Z in particular kept asking when we went to Michigan when we'd be seeing them, since the previous visit had been for the fourth of July), so I'd been looking for a close-by show that wouldn't start and end with us sitting in a heavy traffic for an hour or more. Thankfully our adjacent city's display was super close to the house, so the boys and I hopped in the car about 30 minutes before the show, and eventually found a creative parking spot near the top of the lake, then walked to the pedestrian/bike path where we set up shop with a blanket and late night snacks overlooking the giant parking lot of airplanes at the air harbor. There was much discussing of the planes (and parked vehicles) while we waited for the display to start; the boys had a fabulous time, though O was clearly exhausted and a bit loopy by the end. Happy Independence Day!