4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we started the day with church at 11am in a church with no AC. For the record, it was the beginning of a heat wave with record setting temperatures. At 7 months pregnant, Mommy was HOT and so was Celia. She was extra fussy at church - pretty unusual - and we were all glad when mass was over. At 4, we went to a BBQ at our friend Julie's apartment where we swam, ate delicious roasted chicken, and played with the little baby and dog that were there. Cecilia loved sitting in chairs, of course (I think we have her in 3 different ones in these pictures), and she really loved the dog (woof-woof she calls them). You can tell it's hot - her cheeks get progressively redder (we were keeping her amply hydrated).

We stayed up for fireworks too. Instead of going to a park, we went to a friend of Julie's who owns a house with a backyard facing the fireworks for Clifton Park (one of the suburban towns in the area - they all run together). We were really worried Celia would be scared, but she loved it! For almost every firework, she went "ooohhhh" and pointed. It as so cool to see her excited that it was probably the best fireworks display we ever saw. The reality was that it was a short and so-so show. Celia, however, got upset when it was over - she wanted more! Then, some people behind us started setting off their own fireworks, and she got VERY mad when we wouln't go over to see them. We couldn't see them, only hear them, but she knew what it was and wanted to go. So, we know she likes fireworks. In addition to Celia's great time, the friend of Julie who owns the house we were at is a UMR alum (class of 70-somethingin Nuke Eng. too!) who has spent his career at KAPL. We just met him, but had a good time chatting with another Nuke from Missouri. After fireworks, we headed home and played a game of Settlers of Catan with Allison after Celia went to bed. It was a great day! Happy Birthday America!