Happy Birthday, America.

The 4th of July has always been one of our favorite holidays - when you combine family, friends, summertime weather and a crap load of FOOD, you really can't go wrong. We're still learning how to split the holidays between our two families, but every year we've packed up and headed up to Tahoe with the Nolet crew for an amazing weekend at my uncle's house in Incline Village. For those of you that haven't been to Tahoe in the summer, drop whatever you're doing right now and GO. Really. It's an EXPERIENCE. Boating, jet skiing, hiking, frisbee-ing, BBQing and the most incredible fireworks show right on the lake. Patriotic perrrfection.

This year, the 4th unfortunately fell on a Thursday, and while MoFo was kind enough to give us Friday off as well...Moss Adams was not as generous. T found himself stuck in the office on Friday...which made a Tahoe trip a tad bit inconvenient. BUMMER! While my parents headed up there and my sister Megan made her way to Chicago to be with her boyfriend, T and I put our annual 4th on hold and rearranged plans. We were kind of excited to have this year all to ourselves...and to see what the heck the Bay Area does on the 4th. We were impressed!

We started our day EARLY and trekked down to Morgan Hill to check out their infamous 4th of July parade with our best friends Jason & Jenny. It was early enough that it wasn't scorching hot outside (as it would become later that day) and we had a blast hanging out and watching (what I'm kind of ashamed to say) the first 4th of July parade I've ever seen. Very cool, and very patriotic! Jason wasted no time grabbing that tri-tip sandwich from a local booth, and I enjoyed watching T drool uncontrollably every time a '69 Camero rolled down the parade. It was fun to experience Jenny's family tradition and see where she comes from - Mo Hill treated us quite well. :)

We were definitely excited to head down to the Yeagers' house for some BBQ, family time and.....AIR CONDITIONING. The Yeager family is one of a kind - you've got my father-in-law sweating his face off just to BBQ the perfect tri-tip, T's aunt sketching some illustrations for a book she wrote on the couch, my mother-in-law's best friend making mudslides and pina coladas, T teaching the whole family how to play Candy Crush...and, of course, I'm passed out on the couch happy as can be. :) The best part came after all that - we found ourselves in the midst of a huge fireworks show right above us! No crowds, no craziness - just backyard bliss. Thanks to the sketchy guys at the park with their (what we only can assume are) extremely illegal fireworks - we sure enjoyed the private show! Oh, and for not blowing up the house...much appreciated.

Needless to say, while we missed Tahoe, our 4th at home turned out to be pretty perfect. Pretty excited to see what next year has in store - maybe a destination 4th...Hawaii, anyone? ;)

Until our next adventure,
C+T.