4th of July

Happy Independence Day America! We celebrated the 4th of July in fine style here in Australia. We started the day by wearing our red, white, and blue to church to show our American pride! I even helped out with the children's sermon that made the connection between the freedom Americans were celebrating and the freedom we have in Christ.

Then, we prepared for a BBQ, 4th of July style. We had hot dogs and watermelon. Thanks to a tip from a fellow American expat, I even able to find some sparklers for our evening celebration. Unfortunately J was out of town so it was just me and the kids. We had a fun time though. I grilled up dinner and after, we brought out the sparklers. Thank goodness for youtube because I was able to play the Star Spangled Banner and Proud to be an American as the kids were playing with fire! While it might seem a shame to be in the Southern hemisphere and in the middle of winter for the 4th, in reality it is was pretty great. We had beautiful weather AND it was dark at 5 pm. So, there was no waiting around for fireworks while the kids got overtired. We had dinner, did our thing, and the kids were in bed by 7:30. Now that is the way to celebrate the 4th! It was sad to be so far away from family and friends, but I am glad that the kids and I could still celebrate our heritage and have a great family night!

4th of July afternoon... playing in the backyard

Dinner time!

Time for fireworks...

When the sparklers ran out, we had glow sticks. They may have provided just as much excitement as the sparklers in the end.