"Land of the free, and the home of the brave"

Yesterday was the fourth of July, otherwise known as Independence Day. I consider myself to be a pretty patriotic person, thus making this one of my favorite holidays. It is usually a day filled with family, food, parades, swimming, and fireworks. For the last couple of years, we have made a tradition of taking our boat out on the lake and relaxing. This year some of my cousins joined us and we had a great time. We're all really close since we grew up basically on the same street. We ate tons of great food, which is the usual when we all get together. Overall, it was a fantastic day even though I am now painfully burned to a crisp from the sun. I have very fair skin so no matter the amount of sun screen, if I go outside in the summer, I will get burned. It was extremely hot out, almost 100 degrees, and I think I got enough vitamin D to last the rest of the summer. When we got home, we were all so tired we didn't even go see the fireworks. I know, major fourth of July crime, but we were exhausted and also didn't really feel like braving the mosquitoes (which seem to be particularly horrendous this year). Despite the non-fireworks, I had an amazing day but now must go slather my red, throbbing, skin with aloe vera gel. How pleasant. I hope everyone had a great Independence Day and had better luck not getting burned.