4th of july

we celebrated the 4th of july in minnesota. mr. h3b wasn't with us, but finn's aunt joined us for a small town celebration. it was hot, a little buggy, and full of fried food and fireworks. which is pretty much what the holiday is all about (aside from our independence, of course).

auntie snapped this shot of finn and i (and a few others that day) and i just love it. i'm so rarely in pictures with my boy and i want him to have these memories and know that i was actually there, too.

see, i was there! note poor finley's giant cheek bite. the mosquitoes were so bad and we were both bitten to no end. but that didn't keep us from enjoying the festivities. here he's distracted by a live band.

when it got darker, we lit some sparklers and waited for the big show. this was finley's very first sparkler and he did surprisingly well. he was in awe of the light and it was all fun and games until he used his other hand to grab the sparks. (he's totally fine.)

this was my favorite shot of the night. just before he reached for it, he gave this perfect little ooooh face. and who doesn't do that for sparklers?

auntie and i played with them some more with finn safely contained in the the stroller and then it was time for the real fireworks. to my surprise, finn loved them. he wasn't scared of the booms and he just sat in our in awe. he didn't squirm or cry during the entire show. such a good, patriotic boy!