Fourth of July: Always a Wild Ride

Andrew pushed Kate's stroller down the street and ran along beside her. As you can see from the picture, she thought it was the funnest thing ever. A little bit chilly in Park City.

Playing patty cake while waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Well, this year's fourth was another great one. Made even greater because we have Kate with us now. She is so fun to take places. I think she just loves getting out of the house--wherever it is. She always gets a little silly at night when she gets tired--we were in a gallery and she was laughing for a good twenty minutes and I wasn't doing anything. When she wasn't laughing she was saying "DAA DAA DAA" as loud as she could. I think the salesman was a little annoyed because she was distracting potential customers. :) Anyway, we first went to a family gathering on Andrew's father's side in Provo in the afternoon. He doesn't know that side as well (and I haven't seen them since we got married), so that was fun.

Then Andrew's dad came along with us to our fourth of July family tradition--Park City. This is our third year running. We go to the photography galleries on Main Street in the late afternoon, then eat dinner (Kate got to try her little munchers on a rice chip--her first thing besides baby food--she was quite adept at it, I must say), and watch the fireworks (they're right by the Alpine Slide). They are the greatest firework display I've ever seen. It's mostly because you are RIGHT under them (and some of them misfire--making it even more exciting). I mean RIGHT under them--it feels like you could just reach up and get burned. Of course, this year we had Kate so we weren't sure how close to sit. We still opted for right under them. Kate was intrigued by them for a minute or two, but her curiosity quickly turned to dismay and she began crying and trying to get away. Andrew held her close, covered her ears, fed her a bottle and she was asleep half way through. So we missed the first part, but got to enjoy the finale--which is all that really matters anyway.

And I have to say, (Andrew will be happy to hear me admit this) Andrew is probably the best driver around. All those years of delivering pizza really have honed his skills. As his dad put it (to Andrew), "It's like the car is simply an extension of your body." There were A LOT of cars blocking every way we turned (in Park City and back in Provo), but Andrew out-maneuvered them all. He's always able to find the quickest route. We were back home by midnight--which I wouldn't doubt people in Park City were still stuck in traffic. Amazing.