our fourth

it's august, i know, but this one post will catch me up to today, since i have taken not one picture since fourth of july.  no excuses.

as i state every year, fourth of july is one of my favorite celebrations in st. augustine.  in fact, i was never big on the fourth until i discovered just how special it was here.  our fireworks rival those of the country's largest cities, and the company is always amazing.  we always have a big potluck with coquina followed by games on the fort lawn while we wait for darkness to set in.  the sivyer family then gets to watch about half of the fireworks before gabe is thoroughly freaked out and we have to leave.  it would be a real bummer if not for the fact that we get home in 10 minutes instead of the 2 hours it takes when you leave with the rest of the city.

last year, i discovered the beauty of dressing my kids in anything but red, white and blue.  call me unpatriotic, but i didn't lose any of them or come away with a migraine from yelling their names all night.  also, gabe insisted on both ear plugs and panda bear earmuffs.  he was still scared, but he sure did look cute!