Independence Day

On the 4th of July, instead of reading the newspaper while I ate breakfast, I decided to read The Declaration of Independence.  My favorite words are still the famous ones, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

After breakfast we pursued happines by heading to Payson Canyon to go on a hike.  Unfortunately, we do not all have the same idea of what a "short" hike is.  It seemed a lot like our usual hike which, I guess, is short for Derek, and super long for Dan.  Jake decided to hike fast and was the first one up the trail with Tia, and the first one back to the car with Kayli.  Tia, on the way back, stayed with Dan and me.  Dan was tired before we were done hiking up the trail and got carried part of the way by Connor, part of the way by his Dad, and part of the way by his Mom.

Next we headed to Payson Canyon park to have a picnic.  There we discussed the reasons for the American Revolution so we could feel like our children were properly educated.  After eating, Derek and some of the kids headed off to explore.  I went to be with them due to Kayli and Connor's encouragement.  I really was done hiking.  My attitude was a bit on the patheticly lazy side.  After everyone who wanted to had swung from a rope and taken the "ninja training course", which was climbing around on some tree trunks, we headed home to watch a move (or nap in front of a movie--which is what I did).

Our last adventure was a cookout.  We made tin foil dinners in the fire pit (using charcoal) and Derek, Connor, and Tia had "manly smores" which Connor had learned about during a scout activity.  Manly Smores are mushrooms wrapped in bacon and cooked over the fire, and then wrapped in cheese.  Derek, Connor and Tia learned a bit about how not to wrap too much bacon around that mushroom.  Except for the burnt or raw parts of bacon the smores were a hit.  The corn on the cob was delicious too.  For the most part our pursuit of happiness was very successful and it was a happy 4th.

***Fireworks were not done on the 4th because of the wind, and they weren't done the next day because of the rain, but they were done the day after that.  You have to love those fireworks that emit sparks and not squealy noises that hurt your ears!