THE FOURTH

James and I were talking on Tuesday night, and somehow he decided that he was going to "win Fourth of July" ...? For some reason, this made me laugh much harder than I should have and it set the tone for the entire day.

After some rousing discussion on facebook, we still we weren't sure whether or not anyone can "win" a holiday.. Josh did however have a compelling argument against the Spaniard when he said: "USA WON. JAMES, as a half-brit, therefore, loses. I'm pretty sure."

But the girls fought for him, claiming "anyone can win at anything!" and "I say you can win. LET'S ALL WIN!"

The next morning, we were up way too early to get over to our cousin's house to join up with their crew to ride bikes to the parade on Main Street in Huntington Beach. While we were inside, some of the other girls decorated all of our bikes, which, we weren't expecting. But, when we walked outside and I saw the cute little star at streamers on his handlebars, I instinctively awarded him two points. 

*Please note that not all of California was beautiful and sunshiny, as one might expect. In fact, the clouds didn't clear all day.. we had a bit of drizzle and a lot of gray. Happy Summer, indeed*

Once we made it to the parade, my tiny cousin Delaney overheard us talking about winning and about points and wanted in on the action, so we started thinking of other ways he could attempt to win the day. Unfortunately, he didn't wear any red, white or blue, so he lost a point right off the bat. He did, however, want to go and watch the parade while we were standing in line waiting for starbucks, so his genuine desire to participate earned him a whopping 10 points. 

Later that day, he scored a few more by eating a hot dog, but we decided against going to see the fireworks on the beach that night and he didn't know the pledge of allegiance OR the titles of any John Wayne movies so.. it turned out that he just didn't quite make it to the agreed upon 100 points by the end of the day.

This morning though, I caved and I told that boy of mine that he was a winner. Because you know, at the end of the day, I think Layne and Laura were right. We all won!

from the man himself..

Really? Me? Wow. I don't even know what to say. I'd like to thank my wife and family for all of their support over the years.
I couldn't have done it without them. And thanks to all of my fellow Americans. USA! USA!

Overall, we had a really great day.. the bike ride was so fun (I love my new bike) and it is always great to spend time with our family and friends. We even got to see a lot of fireworks from our living room window. Nothing like enjoying those from the comfort of your own couch, while watching the last season of Parenthood.

Happy Happy Birthday America. We like you. xo