America! Sweet America! God done shed his grace on thee!

Happy Fourth of July, one day late!!! Isn't it the best holiday? Nothing to do but eat summer food and watch fireworks and sing along very loudly to Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful." I tell ya, that's the only song in the world that makes me want to play baseball in the dark like the kids in The Sandlot.

We started celebrating on the 3rd, because that's just how we do things around here. A holiday in the middle of the week means that there's also a teeny tiny weekend in the middle of the week, which totally rules. We walked to the grocery store on Tuesday evening in the dead, thick heat with two things in mind: ice cream and lemon ice (Luigi's, please. No other brand will do.) And when it got dark enough, we ventured out into the crowds to catch some fireworks. We didn't plan on staying the whole time, because downtown Milwaukee turns into a zoo for the fireworks. But, we discovered that we could see the show just fine in the grassy bank across the street from our building. We were able to watch the entire show, and were back in our air conditioned apartment 30 seconds after the last boom, laughing at all those poor sweaty folks who had to walk back to their cars. Ha ha ha ha, fools!

On the actual day of American Independence, we celebrated our freedom by purchasing and drinking 44 ounces of Coca Cola. If that doesn't say America, I don't know what does. I also bought a bathing suit, which  turned out to be much less of a traumatic experience than I had anticipated it being.

Then we headed to the beach with the family, where we ate watermelon and chips, made sandcastles, and braved the chilly Lake Michigan water. Once it numbed your entire body, it actually didn't feel so cold. :) Hooray for America!