We had such a great holiday.

There are many years when Georgia is simply too hot to get much enjoyment out of celebrating Independence Day. But this year the high hardly reached 80, and the evenings have been cool and comfortable. We celebrated at the local fairgrounds with A LOT of other people. Our town had food, fireworks, and live music on the evening of the third, and it was a great kick-off to a long weekend.

The kids snacked on ice cream, and Jude was excited to get a plastic lightsaber from one of the vendors there. Norah was not so sure about fireworks, but there were no terrified tears which I call a success at the age of two.

We followed up the next night with some backyard ribs. (We are LOVING our Big Green Egg this summer!) Add on a few sparklers, some good friends who joined us for dinner, and a neighborhood fireworks show, and it was a perfect holiday.

Every holiday in this neighborhood turns into a block party, and I love it.  Parents had lawn chairs set up in front yards, plates of homemade cookies were passed around, and introductions were made while kids screamed and played.  This is the perfect holiday for celebrating freedom and a sense of real community, and we definitely felt that this year.  I am so happy to be in a place with loads of other young families, and shared holidays remind me what a gift it is for my kids to grow up here.  I feel so lucky we landed in this place.

Happy Independence Day!  I hope you are enjoying your long weekend with some summer fun.