fourth of july!

I adore Christmas, and New Year's Eve in NYC was one of the best nights of my life, but I have been waiting a VERY long time to experience the Fourth of July in DC, and it was everything I thought it would be!  Since I moved here last year in late July, I just barely missed the celebrations, but this year's were definitely worth the wait.  My sister came up the Saturday before to experience it with me, and of course, we still had all our Ohio friends here from Bob and Clara's wedding, so it was a massive party!

Leanna and I woke up early and drove my car through the neighborhood parade (not really, but we did cut off a couple parents who were shuttling their munchkins across the streets in crepe-papered wagons) to get to the grocery store and stock up on all the snacks the group would need for the day, and we all ended up leaving the house around 10:30, so we got to the Mall around noon.  We were definitely some of the first people in line to claim our spot on the grass, which was great since we had to go through a security checkpoint to get there (which we had to go back through every time nature called.  Inconvenient).  But we had fun while we waited!

This hat looked exceptionally hot and undoubtedly full of B.O.  Still, she rocks it.

One of my favorite pictures of Molly ever!

Oh, Paul.

Once we were on the West Lawn, we settled down with our blankets and snacks, and I was definitely thankful for the ability to sit down and relax the whole day, unlike Times Square!  Also, it was hotter than Keith Olbermann's temper up in there, so staying as still as possible was the name of the game.

Please try to appreciate this picture despite the huge butt in the background.  Rude.

Check out the Secret Service man with the huge binoculars!  Legit!

THIS WAS NOT OKAY.  And yet it happened.  God Bless America.

We also met these two barrels of monkeys, Jim and Kyler!  They were hysterical and kept us laughing the whole day!

I don't know these people, but they are precious.

Jim and his friend, Luis...

Probably one of the more appropriate pictures of Jim from that day.

Sister love!

And "sister" love.

Josh Groban made an appearance!

And then the big moment began!

We had a perfect view, and the sounds of the orchestra playing the 1812 Overture and The Stars and Stripes Forever in the background made it just spectacular.  I hope those of you who watched the PBS special had as much fun watching it as we did!  It was so surreal to be there in person after years of watching it on tv.  Molly will be the first to tell you that I get goosebumps at the mere mention of America, so I may or may not have come close to crying.

Afterward, we made a stop at We the Pizza before heading home and collapsing!  But it was a perfect day.  And the invitation is open to any of you who ever want to come experience it!