July 4th Celebrations!

Patriotic Portrait (poor Brendon was catching up on sleep after a night shift).

It was no 2000 North 4th of July but I guess we'll just have to slowly work up to that. We did have a good time spending the Saturday in the Capital at the Eastern Market and yummy pizza at Fire Works (the name is apropos, no?) that evening. On the actual fourth we had a feast worthy of the occasion with Mom's famous red potato salad with bacon and mustard, a summer-y pasta (with lemon noodles, freshly grated tomato sauce and sauteed summer squash), the best watermelon we've had so far this year, Virgil's root beer, peppered potato chips, crisp grapes, fresh corn on the cob, and a chocolate cream pie made from scratch which took all morning to make. Later that evening, we drove to the town center to watch the fireworks from a parking garage rooftop. There were at least 5 shows going on at once. Mary Deane had the best view atop Grandpa's shoulders but she was more enthralled with the fuzz on his head than with the fire in the sky. So glad we could share this holiday with my parents!