Independence Day

Funny how everyone always says "Happy 4th" or "Happy 4th of July." It's not often you hear "Happy Independence Day." Do you suppose it's because it takes more effort to say it?

We headed down to Orem and Provo area. We are basically crazy. We got up at the insanely early hour of four in the morning to make it down to Provo in time for the balloon festival. When I was little we used to go to a hot air balloon festival. In my memory, we went every year for at least 3 years and there were at least 100 balloons that were going up. There were balloons shaped like bananas, pigs, and Smokey the Bear. There were bright ones and dull ones, fun ones and boring ones and they all blew fire! It was so fun to watch. I can see myself in my mind's eye, knee high to a grasshopper, just staring upwards at the sky in awe. Now, I'm not sure how accurate my memory is; I was pretty young. However, I do know that's when I decided I was going to ride in one someday and I've loved balloon festivals ever since. There were probably 15 or 20 balloons at the festival in Provo and we got there just as they were finishing blowing up. We got to watch them rise off the ground and the grand take off. They were so close, the fire would warm you up standing 10 feet away. There was even a gigantic pink piggy and it almost stepped on me!

We ran (literally) over to Kneaders (a famous restaurant in the Provo) following take off to beat the crowds. It's a good thing we did too, the line was out the door 5 minutes after we arrived. We barely had to wait in line. We had delicious French toast with strawberries and whipped cream and butter syrup with orange juice to wash it all down.
We spent the day with Ryan's family. We sat on the side of the road and watched the parade, then headed over to the Grandparents Skinner for a Bar-B-Q. What's better than a summer family bar-b-que? It was a lovely day full of sun, fun, family and laughter.

Ryan even got a free pair of flip flops. His pair broke during a water fight, so we drove over to the mall to try to make it to the store before it closed. We ran through the mall, Ryan wearing one flip flop and holding the other, "slap, flop, slap, flop, slap, flop". . . We barely made it to the store on time. Ryan quickly picked out a new pair. When we got to the register, ready to pay for the shoes, the cashier saw the broken shoe in his hand and asked if he was there for an exchange. He said it broke and didn't know if they would exchange it. She asked for the broken pair and handed him the new ones no questions asked. Love when things like that happen.