Yay, America! Happy Birthday to You!

"I should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it." — Alexis de Tocqueville

I admit, for most of my 31 years of life, I was complacent and took our extraordinary country and all the freedom and opportunity we have for granted. Until recently, I never fully knew—or cared to know—the magnitude of the sacrifice our Founders made so that you and I could experience the freedom that most of us underappreciate today. While it’s true that in some respects we have more freedom  today than we did 50 or 100 years ago, our Founders laid the foundation for that to be. In other respects, we have lost many, many freedoms in the past 100 years or so, and this is why we must pay attention and know history, and most of all: learn from it.

Think about this: In the history of all of mankind, very few have experienced the kind of freedom that Americans have in such a short amount of time. Sadly, even today oppression is alive and well in many places in the world. America is not perfect, but it is exceptionally great. For this, I am thankful and I celebrate the land that I love, whether I’m in the state with the littlest individual liberty (New York) or in Washington DC suffering from heat stroke and standing in solidarity with others that love our country.

We thought that it was supposed to rain all day July 4th, so we canceled our yard sale and rescheduled our get-together at Aunt Gina’s for Saturday. Well, we woke up and it was bright and sunny and my mom was doing the garage sale all by herself, lol! So, we called Aunt Gina and we decided to go ahead with the party anyway. I had planned to cook and have an “exciting” menu, but at the last minute we just kept it simple so that we could make it happen. I would have had to of shopped and started preparation the day before to make my menu happen. Oh well, another time. We still had yummy things to eat and has a blast—literally.

I was fasting all day because I knew I’d totally pig out indulge later. And I did! OMG, I ate so much! But it was all worth it. I never pass up anything I truly want. I could have been reasonable, but that’s not as much fun.

Aunt Gina and Uncle Brian put out a delicious spread despite having about 3 minutes to orchestrate a party, lol.

Loved this fruit boat!! So pretty—and YUMMY!

You really can just eat ONE potato chip. I had one with dip.

I was so congested yesterday, it was awful! I still felt better than I did in the days before, but being stuffy is miserable. I would have enjoyed myself sooo much more if I could, ya know, breathe. Sigh. But we still had a really good time.

My plate:

Yeah, a cheeseburger and a hot dog. I was hungry.

Grandma’s amazing baked beans with bacon and Aunt Gina’s macaroni salad:

Fruit salad. The one and only healthful food I ate all day, lol.

Plus a ginger ale. I was all in the calorie game yesterday. I think I won. Gawd, that cheeseburger was so freakin’ good.

Grandma and my cousin, Tricia:

I’m so jealous of their garden!! It’s so awesome. WANT!

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we practiced our second amendment right to keep and bear arms. Not paintball shooting like at Dustin’s birthday party, real guns this time.

PS. Have you read the Constitution lately?

I was not shooting; I didn’t have the right shoes on and the grass was wet. I had on the flip-flops I bought the week before. I know, excuses, excuses.

Dustin in all his glory.

Dustin is a phenomenal shooter. He likes taking head shots. Heads up if you plan to invade our house. heh

This is how you get initiated into the family: We hand you a rifle and some ammo and a book on militia etiquette.

Welcome to the family, Pito!

And what family get-together isn’t complete without a visit from the police? LOL A hater neighbor must have complained about the gun shots; the AR-15s and 12 gauge shotguns are loud enough to wake the dead, but on 12 acres of Christmas tree farm and 500 feet of compliance in every direction, we’re legit. Waste of cops’ time to even come.

We ended the celebration with a few more bangs. Fireworks were going off all around us into the wee hours of the night. I am NOT talented enough to take nighttime photos. Firework photography needs a tripod and remote, neither of which I have. hehe I managed to get one semi-decent pic.

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!!

Tagged as: America, BBQs, cheeseburgers, family, Fourth of July, freedom, fruit, guns, holiday weekends, holidays, hot dogs, parties