4th of July

Today I’m sharing a bit about our forth of July celebrations up in Kennebunkport, ME.

I love having lived somewhere long enough to have traditions tied to a place. We spent the 4th of July up in Kennebunkport, ME, with lots of family, just like we have for 3 out of the last 4 years.

We missed cousins this year. We missed fireworks. We missed really warm weather.

We didn’t miss the crowds, the traffic, or the stress of getting a 2 year old to nap.

We stopped at Congdon’s to pick up doughnuts on our way and shared a red white and blue sprinkled one in the car (to Ben’s dismay).

The clouds and the temps couldn’t keep Lincoln out of the water and we finally had to bring him back to the house for a long hot outdoor shower when his lips stayed purple and he wouldn’t stop shivering (during which he declared, “I wish I could stay in this shower forever!”). Ben and I took a short swim through the waves and I was just as grateful as Lincoln for that hot shower.

The kids played Uno Flip, we ate lots of yummy food, and all the adults wanted to take naps like Westley.

We had conversations around tables and on beach towels about race, slavery, freedom, power. There were no conclusions … except that we can love something that isn’t perfect, like this country. We can work and hope for progress and change, and still be proud of where we have come from. We can celebrate and criticize (isn’t that what we do with things we love? celebrate them and try to make them better?).

Happy Birthday, America, land that I love. I am immensely grateful to be an American, to be able to raise my babies in this nation. I am grateful for the vision of many who sacrificed much hundreds of years ago. And for red white and blue sprinkled doughnuts.

Fourth of July’s past: