All American

We came home from Breck early most specifically for the Zac Brown Band concert at Coors Field on July 3rd.  This was the first major concert hosted at Coors field and overall they did a great job.  They definitely don't have bathroom facilities planned for everyone to use at once and even the men's rooms had Loooooong lines. Otherwise, I hope to see more bands come to this smaller venue with good sound and gorgeous mountain views.

We started the evening with friends and more friends at Union Station.  Many drinks and a little dinner later, we were headed to the show.

such a fun night

Big Head Todd and the Monsters opened and they alone were a treat.  Zac Brown Band blew my expectations out of the water and to the far reaches of the universe.  I had NO idea how many incredibly talented musicians were hiding out in the Zac Brown Band.  They were indescribably gifted. They did spot-on covers for Led Zeppelin, Metallica (when Ryan and Cole morphed into 16 year old metal-heads,) Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen and probably a couple more I'm forgetting.  The only thing that flowed more freely than the music were the huge 24 oz beers.  We attempted to get food with the gang on the way home but everyone left us about midnight to begin the journey home.  Ryan and I waited out a table and in hindsight I think it was a VERY wise decision.

 

 

I felt like Molly waking up on July 4th as she and her young friends had historically taken advantage of no work on the 4th and partied on the 3rd.  I really think Ben was my saving grace as knowing we needed to get him picked up from Nana and Papa got my booty in gear.  A very rare stop at McDonalds for Dr. Pepper proved just how much fun I had had.  I wanted to gather Ben and hunker down at the Lineberry's but Ryan pushed me to look at a few cars while we had some kid-free time.  

Both our cars had been "totaled" in the hail storms. Because we had just replaced Ryan's last hail-totaled car, and were never going to find a nice Accord like his with such amazingly low miles, we decided to keep his and replace mine.  Thanks to the flooding and travel and life, a month quickly passed and now State Farm was pushing us to make a decision and turn in my car if that was our plan.

We had looked at my new car earlier in the month and looked at some more that morning.  It was funny how many people had been to the concert and how one of our salespeople looked at me and said, 'Zac Brown, huh?"  His sister had been and told him all about it.:)  Well, our other searching proved what great shape my new car was in and it was still there waiting for me after a couple weeks.  Ryan and I decided there was nothing more "American," than hung-over car buying on the Fourth of July and Pat and Jim offered to meet us at the Lineberry's with Ben a bit later.  We even went to buy apple pie while they got the paperwork together and thought about how fortunate we are in the great USA and all that we often take for granted.

I'm in love already and feel pretty lucky to have a such a nice and powerful car.  I'm hopeful that Honda reliability will shine through and I'll get to enjoy her for a very long time.

We made it to the Lineberry's right on time and quickly heard I indeed had the most fun the night before.;) The celebration was as great as always with the inflatable water slide, bike parade, home-made ice cream, mentos shooter display and more fireworks this year than since we lived in Kansas.  If our wet Spring was good for anything, it inspired MANY to feel more fireworks were acceptable this year and there were LOTS.  We could see quite a few from the neighborhood and were treated to lots of big displays on the drive home.

SO many ice cream flavors this year

Amy put so much time and effort into this science experiment for the kids but it apparently had less "kaboom," than the one on TV.

Ben and sweet Quincy had a lot of fun.:)

Ben has begun to get "the look" in his eye around fireworks that his Dad gets.  I hope they share a safe passion for them as the years pass.

I always love the contemplative time brought by fireworks spectating.  Our great country is gong through some incredibly tough stuff right now but we are still so blessed in so many ways.  While there are freedoms I wish we didn't have (a little bit o' gun control, people?), we are one of few countries that have so many and the ability to openly debate them.  If we could all accept the freedom to disagree, we might get somewhere.  Despite all that, I'm thankful to be an American and especially thankful to those who've protected that freedom throughout history and today.  

Happy Birthday, America!!

A few days later we said good-bye to "Mommy's old car."

Ben really enjoyed watching the tow truck load her and I teared up thinking about so many things we'd done with her.  I know it's cliche, but we picked up Ben in her and had SO MANY trips back and forth to Wichita.  I remember one trip with newborn Ben and two blow-outs and everyone thought we'd had two tire blow-outs on the same trip.;)  130,000 miles of memories and really amazing reliability until the last few months.   Adios Santa Fe!!