4th of July

For the Fourth of July this year we had a pretty full house, with Mom, Uncle Jim & Julia, Mark & Carol, Leif, Linda, and Fanda & Jarka ("The Czechs") all visiting.

The Czechs spend every summer in the Gorge on the river kiteboarding. When I saw them last year, I was very pregnant and not feeling very well (probably in the early stages of labor). Three days later, Anders was born! Amazing how time flies.

My maternal grandfather served in WWII and as such had a military burial. I have since received the American flag from his funeral. So on the 4th this year, we raised Grandpa's flag for the first time.

On the fourth, Mike, Anders and I attended a "Red, White and Blue" party hosted by friends Mark & Tifani. (Mike: I somehow managed to forget the theme and was thus the only person wearing a bright green shirt.) Our friends had just bought a bluff house in White Salmon that overlooks the Columbia River, and the location provided a nice view of the Hood River fireworks that are shot from a barge in the river. 4th of July on the Columbia River is reminiscent of our many 4ths along the Charles River. While Hood River's fireworks don't begin to match Boston's, they are impressive given the size of the community.

Mark and three others had just started a band and the party was their debut concert. They played their entire repertoire - 4 songs - and actually sounded great! Anders, who doesn't usually respond well to loud noices, was a trooper. He enjoyed the band as much as we did, and he didn't even cry over any of the home fireworks being set off just 15 feet away. In fact, he slept straight through most of the explosions.

As we were leaving the party, we had a good view of the hillside that the neighbors lit on fire with their fireworks. (Doh!)

Back at home, we spent a good portion of time hiding from the heat. We had some great meals together featuring the abundance of local berries in season, played several rounds of Bananagrams. And of course entertained and were entertained by Anders.

- Corinne, Mike, and Anders Rocket