nine months pregnant on the fourth of july in england

independence day is, to me, definitely one of the top five (maybe even top three?!) days of the year. i absolutely love celebrating the fourth of july. the boy and i have spent the past three independence days together with his extended family in provo, utah, which i am thoroughly convinced is one of the best places on the planet to be on the fourth! this year, we really missed being with family and in the mountains, drinking byu creamery chocolate milk and getting milkshakes at the purple turtle, and reveling in some good ole down-home americana. but we still had a fantastic day here in the country from which our forefathers fought for independence!

while ian was a work (feels pretty strange to have work on the fourth of july!), i listened to country music and ate watermelon while continuing my nesting and different pre-baby projects at home. i met a friend in the park and we ate ice cream cones under the blithe summer sun. when the boy got home, we got dressed in our patriotic garb (one of the best parts of the fourth to me!) and went to a bbq that some of our american friends hosted in their back garden! we had burgers, root beer (!!), seven layer dip, american flag sugar cookies, reece's peanut butter cups (!!), watermelon slices and then sparklers!!! it was a really fun night.

ian was really pining for a fourth of july baby, but it wasn't meant to be :) traveling and living abroad gives a whole new flavour to patriotism, and we are very grateful for our country, our heritage and our freedom.

{past fourths here, here and here - because i'm proud of our patriotic outfits :)}