recap of the holiday weekend

Our fourth (and fifth) included...

a pancake breakfast followed by donuts,

a runny nose that just wouldn't quit,

cars,

and trains,

a few rounds of This Little Piggy,

lots of laughter,

chocolate chip cookies,

a little bit of crazy,

a few tears,

a guitar concert,

and, of course, sparklers,

and fireworks. (note: Our display was not as good as my face might indicate. If you average mine and Quincy's expressions, that'd be about right. Q asked for more after each and every one. He's pretty easy to please though.)

The neighbour shouted "Happy Independence Day" during our little display and then shot off a few fireworks of his own. And then someone across the bay shot one off too. It was pretty cool that they acknowledged it. It's hard to explain why. Maybe it made it feel like more of a celebration. Like I wasn't living quite so far away from the States. Or maybe it was just nice to have my culture respected. To feel a little bit more understood.

Now I'm guessing not many neighbours of Kiwis living overseas have acknowledged Waitangi Day, the closest thing NZ has to a national holiday. But then again, there wasn't a big Hollywood blockbuster entitled Waitangi Day. And really all you need to do to make an ex-pat Kiwi happy is know where New Zealand is on the map. Talk about easy to please!