4th of July

I know that some people may find it ridiculous to be so attached to one's country, but I cannot fathom why someone doesn't at least feel SOMETHING for the country they call home. I do love the USA. Sometimes I like it more when I travel ;) but in general I am so grateful for the opportunities and the history associated with this country. It it not a perfect nation (but can you tell me one that is? And no, I'm sure that even Scandinavian countries have their downsides), but I think the ideals and potential for this country are unlimited.
"Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Powe'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!"
"America! America! God shed his grace on thee...God mend thine ev'ry flaw...Till all success be nobleness, And ev'ry gain divine."
In short, happy birthday America!

 

We spent the day slowly dying. I feel it is appropriate to be posting about our 4th on this, this hothouse of a day where the heat index is tipping towards 115 degrees F. Nice. The 4th was similarly heated, although not so extreme. Marc talked his good friend - our good friends - into a volleyball tournament about an hour away. We were all pumped for it. We wives were excited to see our husbands play the sport they loved and the girls were excited just to BE together. They are quite the pair.

 

I won't embarrass him here, but let's just say that the menfolk realized what a little aging does to a body and while both are fairly fit, the heavy heat and continual play wore them down pretty quickly. Marc was also suffering from some decent sunburns on his back and arms from our quick trip to Ocean City two days prior. They were exhausted. Well, especially Marc. Our friend perked up after the first two games and actually seemed to gain strength as the afternoon wore on - perhaps a valiant effort to pick up the slack. For poor Marc met up with heat exhaustion early on and spent all his time between games lying down in ice. Bless the souls who dumped out their huge water cooler across the park. He felt nausea and told both us ladies how much more respect he had for pregnant women who endure morning sickness. Despite the exhaustion, these guys placed 3rd and maintain (and we believe) that if the heat hadn't taken it's toll on Marc they would have surely had 1st place. It was very fun to watch and the girls enjoyed all the long hours of the tournament, much to our surprise and delight.

We ended the evening with Marc finally perking up after the games and some intense fluid-flooding, albeit being very sore. I fell prey to what I thought was the flu (serious body aches, chills and fever-like symptoms) by the time we got home and found out a day or two later that I had mastitis - SO not awesome. And because of the long day, we did what we have done about 50% of our 4th of July holidays: went to bed at... wait for it... 8:30 pm after having leftover Chinese food. We're party animals! This always happens to us on the 4th or New Year's. We party too hard early on and then crash before the big night events. Next year! (Although, last year we were DEFINITELY up for the 4th... that's a story for another time. Brief reminder of events: fireworks at Pentagon, keys locked in trunk, poor friends tied to our fate, slept at bachelor brother-in-law's place...) We've got an every-other-year trend going that I'm sure will continue. Happy holidays!

P.S. And no, I am not a sports photographer. Thus the crappy shots of Marc and Scott actually playing volleyball. Trust me, they were awesome. These shots definitely don't do them justice.