Surprisingly enough, Kurt had both Monday and Tuesday off. Sometimes being a government employee is a good thing.
We ate ribs and corn-on-the-cob on Monday evening outside on the patio. Earlier in the spring, we bought a patio set from Walmart that we've definitely gotten our money's worth from. We've eaten inside at the kitchen table only once in the last week, and that's just because it was too stinkin' cold last night to eat outside. Every other night it's been so pleasant outside and still warm inside that it just made sense to eat outside. Plus food just tastes better when you eat outside! I don't know what it is.
Gracie loved the ribs and corn, and we had also given her some fresh melon and some strawberries. She made a complete mess!! Kurt threatened to hose her off with the garden hose, but of course he didn't. Maybe if it was a bit warmer, we'd have done it!
Yesterday instead of heading down to the Navy base to see the festivities there, we decided instead to just stay home and chill until it was time for the fireworks. We wanted Grace to get a good long nap in, and she actually cooperated! She went down around 3pm and slept till 6:30pm. So dinner was late to begin with; we didn't eat till 8pm. It was good, though -- I'd made these chicken kebabs that marinated beforehand in yogurt. Yum yum! We've also been using the grill a lot to try to keep the house cool, although it hasn't been hot every day. But Kurt loves to grill, and this is the first time in three years he's been home during the summer. It's hard to grill in the wintertime when it's raining all the time!
Around 9:30pm we started heading down the small town nearby to see the fireworks. I thought they'd already started, although it wasn't nearly dark enough, but those were just the fireworks that people were setting off at their homes. We live in an unincorporated part of our county, and people are allowed to set off fireworks almost any time they want to. They're supposed to stop around 11pm at night, except on the Fourth where they have till midnight. I was surprised that you could buy such powerful fireworks. Never having bought them before (we never lived where they were legal before), I had no idea what was available.
Before we left, we had to bundle up a bit. I think Washington's the only state in the lower 48 where you have to put jeans and a jacket on before you leave to watch the fireworks show! It was only about 60�... brrr!
We managed to get the very last spot in the ferry parking lot, and it was actually one of the best places to view the fireworks. It was on a little hill, and we simply put down the hatch to the SUV and sat back there to watch the show. A lot of people had fireworks going, so seeing the professional show was a little anti-climactic, especially since it wasn't that exciting to begin with. You could see the Seattle fireworks in the distance from where we were, and those looked like they were a good show. But our town is little and can't afford a big show like Seattle! Gracie sure seemed to enjoy it!!!
Then we came home and set off the two little fireworks that Kurt had bought earlier in the day. He just wanted ones that made a lot of light, but one he bought spun around a bit and then shot up in the air!! Grace wasn't exactly thrilled with that one, let me tell you! But she wasn't really scared; she just wanted to be held.
All in all, a great day!