Happy 4th of July

WE ARE HERE...ONLY ONE STOP ALONG THE WAY AND I MANAGED TO GET HERE WITH THREE KIDS ALL BY MYSELF(poor don had to work)



fireworks

swimming

bbq's

potbelly's

baseball

fountains

flowers

hotels

boomers

dancing by the pool

hats

aquarium

red

white

blue

sleepovers

wearing Uncle's shoes

Just a few of the things we did in D.C.

Happy Fourth of July

Even though there is a ton of stuff to do in DC for the fourth we try to stay as much away from the crazy crowds and do our own thing on the fourth. The last few years we visited the zoo and this year we decided to try something different and went to the aquarium. The kids enjoyed looking at the alligators and all the fish. We spent about an hour or so there and then they had enough and wanted to go swimming. When they get a little older we can venture into the crowds but for now they enjoy just going to DC and spending the entire time on Uncle Andy's roof top swimming and I enjoy watching them swim while taking in the scenery of the capital building and the monument. We get to see an awesome firework show up there and don't have to go to the mall area to fight for a spot and get trampled on by the millions of people.

Here is the song Connor requested that Gramma play during our fireworks display. I didn't hear it because I was sitting too far away rocking Megs to sleep.
"America" by Neil Diamond
Far
We've been travelling far
Without a home
But not without a star

Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes
They're coming to America
Never looking back again
They're coming to America

Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're travelling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm

Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm

Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America

Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to America

They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
Today, today, today, today, today

My country 'tis of thee
(Today)
Sweet land of liberty
(today)
Of thee I sing
(today)
Of thee I sing
(today)....

Uncle Andy's Rooftop Pool

Here Mara is rockin out in Andy's sneaks before they got all water logged from our storm that cancelled our half started bbq and turned it into an inside impromptu spaghetti dinner. We still all had fun and got to bbq the next day for lunch which was fabulous. All kinds of great salads, delicious burgers and great company.
Gramma and Grampa had to calm Mara down during the bad storm. We got hail, tons of rain and super bad winds that came out of no where. Mara was so worried about Uncle Andy being on the roof trying to rescue our burgers and dogs that she was literally shaking from the storm. Poor baby!

My little firecrackers all dressed in their red, white and blue thanks to Uncle Doug and Aunt Joan. The kids looked so adorable and got complements all around D.C. We wish you both could have been there to celebrate with us. Hopefully one year soon.

Independence Day
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.^[4][5] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.^[6]

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.^[7]
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}
In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, the Fifth President of the United States, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge, the Thirtieth President, was born on July 4, 1872, and, so far, was the only President to be born on Independence Day.

Observance

An 1825 invitation to an Independence Day celebration

• In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.^[13]
• In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.^[14]
• In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.^[14]
• In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.^[14]
• In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled "The Psalm of Joy".
• In 1791 the first recorded use of the name "Independence Day" occurred.
• In 1820 the first Fourth of July celebration was held in Eastport, Maine which remains the largest in the state.^[15]
• In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.^[16]
• In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.^[17]

^{We had a spectacular July 4th Celebration and we hope you all did too.}

 Mara thought the big butt statues were the highlight of her trip.I started singing "we got big butts" and then the rest of the time whenever we saw the big butts she wanted to sing it."Mara's got a big ol'butt, Mommy got a big ol' butt, Connor got a big ol butt and so on.Too cute.

 Still singing...