The First and the Fourth

    

    It's been a lovely holiday weekend. We kicked it off with Canada Day on the 1st. I grew up there, and we just finalized our kids' Canadian citizenship, so we had a special dessert on Friday to celebrate. Erik had a four day weekend, and in spite of being on call, didn't have to go in at all. Today we had some good friends over, and enjoyed a day of sunshine, good food, great conversation, fun, and a healthy dose of craziness. (What do you expect with nine kids?) Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend. 

The kids staged their own parade in our cul-de-sac. That's Peregrine leading the way,
Poppy in the middle, and Raphael in the lower left- marching to the beat of his own drum.
Which is very much his style.

I was just going to serve the kids some vanilla pudding with berries on top.
Peregrine went all Martha Stewart on me and decided to decorate it.
Where on earth does he get that from? (Along with his flag drawing and "tricorn" hat.)

Is it just me, or did sparklers get way more lame this year?
In spite of that, Poppy was mesmerized. 

We stood out in our cul-de-sac for about a half hour, enjoying the neighborhood fireworks all around. The kids were thrilled, and pretty certain the police would be arresting people left and right, since these are all illegal in our (free) state. Peregrine was whooping and hollering and generally in a state
of ecstasy. Some of my favorite quotes from him:

“I don’t know where to look!” 

"It's as bright as day in our cul-de-sac!"

“I love fireworks so much I’m beating my chest!” (He’s obviously not a nursing mother.)

“This proves that I love fireworks: I have sparks in my eyes!” 

Peregrine is an intense kid, who, on a scale of 1-10, lives life between 8 and 11. He 

experiences everything intensely, and life with him is a bit 

of a roller coaster. This was a night of intense joy. I could use more of these.

Canada Day dessert - almond flour cookies with maple cashew
cream and strawberry maple leaves. Happy little canucks!
(And I like how Raphael looks like he's about to smash his cookie
into something. Typical Raphi.)

Little Canadian!

    To all my friends, American, Canadian, and everyone else, I hope you had a great weekend with much to be thankful for!