Annual July Trip to Virginia - Fourth of July!

Today was a long but great day. The girls got up at 5:45 and didn't ultimately make it to bed until 11-ish.

We started the day by going to church. Jonathan's family church was recently renovated and was very kid-friendly. We started off in the balcony for worship. After that it soon became evident that the girls were going to be a bit noisy. While we were singing Abigail sang along using her own indecipherable lyrics while Sarah screeched and squealed a few times. Thankfully there was an enclosed room that had a window looking toward the stage and audio fed in.

After church Grandma brought out the kiddie pool. Abigail spent the bulk of the afternoon in and out of the water. Her cousin Zachary also joined in the fun.

Zachary also met Sarah for the first time. He was so excited to see a baby. He was so cute asking his Mom if he could touch her. He even had a few opportunities to hold her.

After a great grilled lunch we packed our bags and cars to head to the National Mall for fireworks. Once we settled in and picked a spot we took the girls for a walk to kill time. We got back to our spot and killed more time. Finally, the show started! The girls seemed to enjoy it, especially Abigail. She let out a few "wow's" and identified colors. The cutest thing she said was after a multi-colored firework went off. She pointed and exclaimed "Birthday cake!"

Exiting the Mall and heading for the Metro is always a crazy experience. This is my 7th time joining the Kapaldo's and with each passing year the crowds on the train seemed to get worse and worse. I thought this year would be the exception. When we got on the train our entire group of 8 adults and 3 kids were able to get seats. Things, however, went down hill after that. How many people can you fit inside a DC Metro car? Apparently about a few dozen than you probably should-especially in 95+ degree weather. It. Was. Awful. It was such a hot, stuffy, sticky, sweaty mess. Thankfully Sarah slept through most of it and Abigail did great taking everything into consideration.

Despite the heat and crowds we had an awesome time celebrating our great country. I just love this family tradition and was happy that Sarah got to enjoy her first fireworks experience on the Mall.