The "Old Folks" Celebrate the 4th of July

I felt a little sad as the holiday began.  I missed family and the exciting celebrations of days gone by.  To his credit, Jim had said earlier in the week that he was thinking about how we could celebrate the 4th.  He came up with the idea of going out for breakfast.

So that was how our day started.  And my almond-cranberry pancakes at LePeep were absolutely delicious!   Jim enjoyed his "Eighteen Wheeler" breakfast too.

I told Jim we could just walk in our neighborhood for some much-needed exercise. But he thought it would be better to go somewhere else so we had a beautiful walk along the river in Mishawaka.  We enjoyed the gardens, the kids on the splash pad, and the sculptures along the way.

We had a cookout of chicken thighs and veggies--some of which were pretty burned but still tasty.  With rhubarb crisp for dessert, it was a good meal.

The Cubs beat the Cardinals after four losses to the Mets and that was worth celebrating!

We watched the Macy fireworks on TV and texted Dan who was there in person.  The patriotic music was great and so were the fireworks from the four barges on the East River in New York City.   It brought back memories of seeing them live several years ago from the 38th floor of the Corinthian where Laura and Michael lived.  It also brought back memories of other firework displays--Lexington, Massachusetts in 1976 for the Bicentennial, Meredith College in Raleigh, NC when I was 9 months pregnant with Dan and supposed to be on bedrest, and the Rose Bowl fireworks in Pasadena when Jim was teaching two week stints at Fuller Seminary.  All good memories--so many memories when you are of a certain age!

It was a quiet day but a good day after all.