Independence Day

We really enjoyed the fireworks on Friday night - it was a lovely summer's evening and so nice to be able to sit outside and not freeze half to death like we do on Nov 5th. Such good-natured crowds, too - we all crowded into a local golf course with blankets and camp chairs and everyone behaved impeccably (and no, I'm not just talking about our group!) It was the best display I'd ever seen live and it was free which was a bonus. The fireworks were preceded by a band playing patriotic tunes and the actual display was accompanied by the likes of 'America the beautiful' and 'God bless America', 'I'm proud to be an American', etc. Initially I was quite caught up in the whole patriotic thing and thinking maybe it would be nice if we had more national pride at home. Don't worry, I'm not thinking of joining UKIP or the BNP! But actually after thinking about it I just realised how sad it is that people put their faith and meaning of life onto something ultimately so transient - the only one I pledge allegiance to is the Lord of lords and King of Kings!

We just hung out locally in Wilmette yesterday as the kids were understandably crabby after getting to bed at 10:30pm on Fri night. I'm also limited by horribly swollen ankles -an allergic reaction to nast mosquito bites. We did make a quick trip to the beach yesterday evening but the water was closed due to 'high bacteria' so the kids could play on the sand but not paddle. They didn't seem to mind too much and setteld for running in and out of the cold showers on the sand.

Hopefully back to the zoo later on today - let's see if the kids can manage to behave as we only made it for about 40 mins last time before having to take them home due to bad behaviour!