The 4th of July! (On the 6th)

I told Ryan that I've long held the opinion that the fifth of July should actually be the day people get to stay home from work. Festivities on the 4th often start after work anyway, and everyone is so tired from staying up late to watch fireworks that they need the 5th. Alas, that pretty much only happens when the 4th falls on a Sunday. And that wasn't this year, was it?

Guess it doesn't really matter anyway, since Ryan works no matter if it's that day or the day after! I felt so bad for him and his work buddies that I baked cookies and delivered them warm from the oven.

He did get home a little early, which was nice, so we packed up the car and headed out for a dinner date! He'd had his heart set on BBQ, but we had a gift card to Red Robin and they had some promotion going for free milkshakes with a $10 purchase. So Red Robin won!

 He ended up getting the best of both worlds, because they had a burger called the BBQ Boss Hog burger, and he devoured every bite. (And asked for another one yesterday. Sadly I'd not put one in my pocket.)

I did the turkey burger on a lettuce wrap with bottomless broccoli. I live on the edge. :)

And let's not forget the free shake. We shared it. :)

We have concluded that the 4th of July and Halloween are the two best nights of the year to go to a sit-down restaurant. They're open and empty. Best service!

Next up? The opposite of that. ALL the coffee shops close early on the 4th. Last year we managed to catch Starbucks before it closed, but we missed it this year. EVERY single coffee shop was closed, and it was so sad.

In the little town where we watch fireworks, the ONLY restaurant open was McDonald's, and they were slammed. I've never seen a line that long in a McDonald's before. We waited forever for sub-par coffee, and mine was so bad I didn't even drink most of it.

We made our way over to the area where people gather for the fireworks. Got there just in time to see the airplanes fly over.

We see them every year, but this year they seemed to hang around longer and do more tricks. Fun to watch!

We read for a little bit and then talked until the sun went down.

We didn't have the best seat, so we missed a lot of the lower fireworks, but the high ones were just fine, and it was breathtaking, as always. I do love me some fireworks!!

Even though our seats weren't the best ones ever, and even though the coffee was a sad letdown, the night was fun, and we had a great time together! (AND a bonus in this summer: no rain!)