Our 4th of July

The morning began early. Though we'd stayed up sort of late, we both woke up pretty ready to get going. We didn't end up having time for a very big walk, but we headed to the local mall - Firewheel Town Centre - to get some photos and check out the preparations for the annual Star Spangled Spectacular. Toby has done this a number of times before, but I'd never joined him. They still had a great deal of setting up to do, but it was neat to see the Mall fairly vacant, quiet, but in very much an anticipatory state.

My Toby ❤️

Toby took some pictures of Uncle Sam who was positioned in the round-about at the Mall where they put up the Christmas tree every year. As is my custom, I got some pics of him taking pics.

Then I took some of my own. I love birds. Orthodox Holy Men even tell us to be like the birds. I took a screenshot of this the other day. I'm actually updating this post to include it.

❤️☦

There were grackles everywhere, as there are all over the city. I like them, they add character. But there were also Mourning Doves, which I particularly adore. I love their coo and their awkward walk. From time to time they try to feed at the bird feeders outside my office/homeschool room window. They're too big to do so, but they try. They end up having to eat the scraps that the other messy birds knock down to the ground. I appreciate them for that as well. 

Later, I headed to Central Market to pick up a few things for our very non-traditional 4th of July menu: grilled pizzas! My beloved just got a pizza grilling kit for his Weber grill and we inaugurated it with some pizzas! This was great since we're in a fasting period, so Toby and I had shellfish pizzas. We were specifically asked not to eat meat given the fast despite 4th of July. Yes, it was hard (and our degree of success was variable). But it is spiritually beneficial as well. (The children had their pizza favorites.) Technically, since we had cheese, it was not exactly fast kosher anyway, but Father did say that if we want to make a slight exception we could have fish. We've translated that to cheese. I know, I know....we are a work in progress. The fact that we didn't have chili dogs or brisket or steaks or ribs or...or...is a major thing.

It was oil day so we could have wine (alcoholic beverages), so I indulged in a Moscow Mule that my dearest made for me, which you saw in my post about This Week's Flowers and Observations about Photography.

Toby did an excellent job grilling the pizzas. I helped by having them ready to go. They only take about 5 minutes and you really need to be on your game to maximize the heat and get as many done as we were. We did about 7 individual pizzas.

I'm sure he'll have a blog post about the grilling pizza process soon. I didn't even take any pictures of them. I think he's going to post a video of he and Anthony "unboxing" the pizza grilling kit. I'll link to that when he does. I'm sure it's going to be extra cute.

Then we headed back to the Mall on foot to participate in the festivities. Sort of. The lines for everything were super long. I stood in one line about 45 minutes to an hour just to try to get Anthony a balloon animal. Augie stood in another on Anthony's behalf so he could eventually get his face painted. He accomplished that - the first of our kids to ever want their face painted - and since he successfully did that, I was relieved of having to wait an eternity for his balloon.

Here we are - minus Toby who was taking the pic - Lucy, Augie, myself, and Anthony with his face painted. 

We needed to get back home so we could leave again for the fireworks show. Yes, you read that right. I'll spare you the details. Anyway, we arrived just as the show was starting and didn't get the best seats on the grass. I didn't want to keep walking in the dark to find one and miss the show. So I stayed where we were and was pretty happy about it. It didn't make for great pics, and Toby abandoned that, but I think he got some. I didn't even try with my iPhone. And, to be quite honest, I'm not one to photograph every detail. More and more I just want to experience some things. This was one of those. Maybe if Toby posts some of the pics he got, I'll be able to link to those. And, here they are! Toby's great pictures of our 4th of July.

Providentially, he just texted me one.

See? We did, in fact, see fireworks. Garland really does an excellent job. (You can also see why our seats were pretty crappy.) We are literally a few minutes walking distance away. That's so convenient. Traffic was much worse than a nightmare. What is the word for that? Hell? Yes, traffic was hell. For those in it. (The pic gives you a taste of that as well.)

Why is it sometimes so hard to have a good time and enjoy simple things? I contemplate this a great deal. We had a great time, but I remember trying to get to a place so we could enjoy fireworks, which are a pretty simple pleasure, really. But it was hard. Likewise, often times preparing for fun times is stressful and hard. By the time the fun thing arrives, you're exhausted. Hopefully, you can find some joy in it, but it is exhausting. I've been trying to figure out how to lessen that and maximize the joy without compromising the fun and all that we want to experience. See image of the quote from Elder Thaddeus above.

Then we were back home again and showered the day's humidity, heat, sweat, and bug spray off of us and retired. I got to read a bit, which made me happy. I'm eager to post a bit about what I'm reading these days soon. Maybe today.

All day yesterday felt like Saturday. I expected today to feel like Monday because Toby and I are working today and the kids are schooling (we sort of school year-round), but it does not. It still feels like Friday. How oddly unexpected. I'll take it!

This next week is going to be busy, exciting, full of anticipation, maybe a bit of stress and anxiety (speaking of work in order to have fun), but all for a great thing! Next weekend Toby and I take off together as a couple on our next adventure! I can't wait to share more with you. I will definitely be taking pictures of that - and so will my beloved! Stay tuned!

I hope you had a great 4th!

Thanks for reading!