I know, I know…things have been quiet on the blogging home front this past month. I have a few picture-laden posts in the works, so prepare for a week of updates. For now,  I invite you to head on over to my hubby’s blog to see his post about our Fourth of July, including a great slide show.

We staked out a nice grassy spot by the river just before dusk.  Siena had a grand ol’ time taking in the sights before the show – people, dogs, sparklers, boats, waves, sunset, moonrise, and even low-flying antique airplanes.

Hawk in Winter took some great long exposure shots of the fireworks, although we wish we’d turned the camera around to capture Siena’s reaction to them. Eyebrows up, eyes wide, mouth in an “ooooh” shape – pretty adorable. Once the show was over, it took a looooong time for the crowd to clear.

Instead of idling in our car, we enjoyed some idyllic family time on the grass. The temperature was perfect as I rested my head on hubby’s stomach and Siena slept on mine. (I figure if I lost any Momma points by keeping Siena up so late, I earned some back by bringing her pajamas along.) Hawk in Winter called his family, and as I listened to his side of the conversation I thanked God for my family, my country, and the fact that life is peppered with memorable moments such as these.

6 Responses to “Fourth of July”

1. Mom says:

   July 6, 2009 at 2:26 PM

   Wow! That was quite a fireworks display. You probably saw as many as there would have been at Seaside, but with a much shorter commute! Siena looks great in the r/w/b dress!
2. Amy says:

   July 6, 2009 at 3:38 PM

   I LOVE love LOVE your two smiles! What a fun night! I have one who does not like the fireworks, so we stayed home…Joe and Cecelia sat on the other side of our brick” fence” to watch the big show from the top of Pilot Butte while I stayed home with the other 4 (2 were already asleep)! Sure miss doing fun festivities! A few more years…
3. Little Red Hen says:

   July 6, 2009 at 4:35 PM

   Amy – Did you check out the slideshow on Hawk in Winter’s blog? It’s almost like watching fireworks, but without the noise… or crowds!
4. Little Red Hen says:

   July 6, 2009 at 4:42 PM

   Mama – Yes, thanks for the dress! Nice to be able to use it on Flag Day as well as Independence Day. This time I put the ribbon in her hair so she wouldn’t be mistaken for a boy like last month. Seemed to do the trick!
5. Amy says:

   July 9, 2009 at 12:40 PM

   Now that I have seen the slide show….I wish he could have gotten Siena’s expressions once in a while! And that made me think of a question… You only brought 1 camera???
6. Little Red Hen says:

   July 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM

   Amy –
   Yeah, I was thinking about that too, but knew that in such darkness it would really only work if we did a long exposure, and there was no way Siena would hold still for the entire 1/20 or 1/30 of a second that it would require. Plus, HiW was very carefully set up with his tripod and it would have taken a while to turn the whole rig around and get set up to shoot Siena instead.

   That said, I did rummage through my diaper bag for my point and shoot, thinking maybe I could try and use the little flash on there to capture Siena’s expressions. It wouldn’t have shown the red glow of the fireworks or anything, but probably would have captured her face in a very snapshot-y way at the very least. Alas, I didn’t have the point and shoot in its usual spot, otherwise we would have had two cameras But dealing with baby, diaper bag, portacrib, cooler bag, blankets, my walking cast, AND an additional SLR just would have been too much!

   We’ll try to capture it next year though