Indepence Day in Florence

Around 4pm on Monday, we took off with the Whites (after adequately Diazapam-ing our scaredy-cat dog and leaving her securely inside) to the coast. Getting to the coast from where we live is only about an hour away, so we got there right in time to secure a table at the Oregon coastline's most famous chain-restaurant, Mo's (famous for its amazing clam chowder).

We snapped some pictures inside the restaurant - since Travis was the odd-man out in these couples' shots, we snagged to "for sale" decorative mirror by our table and had him take a picture of it showing off his shiner...




Then, off to the boardwalk area, where we'd already secured our "spots" before going to the restaurant - but, first, some family pics.




It may appear crazy that we are all in sweats at this point, but you have no idea how cold it gets here with the wind - especially once it gets dark.

Which is why, this year, we packed each of us a sleeping bag. With John's camera, it was hard to get more of a view than this one, but Brayden asked to be stuffed inside.

We had a lot of "time to kill" waiting for dark to descend - which, for my sake, was WONDERFUL! I was absolutely loving the down time. Not preparing for anything, not using a computer, just reading, relaxing and chatting. Mikayla and Steph spent a lot of time doing the question and answer book "Pepsi or Coke" - it was so cute.

Literally dozens of people made comments about how "prepared" we were for the fireworks and how relaxed we looked. In fact, one gentleman asked us if he could videotape us and when we said yes, he began the footage by saying "And here's the most relaxed person in all of Florence". What a kick!




An Americana celebration wouldn't be complete without a little cotton candy, huh?

Finally, the dark came and the kids climbed on top of our anti-gravity chairs and we watched the sky light up together. It was THE BEST!!!