We celebrated a chill holiday. Not a lot of patriotic joy, but we enjoyed the nice weather and traditional cultural activities.

We picked up sandwiches and took some boardgames to the park.

They boys have both taken up whittling. Jack is working on a Wizarding World wand. Sam is learning on soap bars, which he shapes into “bones.”

We had dinner of hot dogs, corn, watermelon, and potato salad. We make s’mores in the backyard. I took some gooey pics to share with my penpal overseas.

Later we walked down to the elementary school field to watch the local fireworks display. There were many bats swooping overhead that were fun to watch too. It felt like a bigger crowd than the past several years. I wonder if the neighborhood is de-aging. Many seniors have sold their houses to younger families during this real estate spike. Or maybe more people are ditching the official, more crowded, field for our unofficial viewing spot. It was certainly a festive atmosphere. The boys were aghast and impressed by all the illegal aerial fireworks that folks were setting off around us in the park. At least we’ve had enough rain that we aren’t on high wildfire risk status.