My country, tis of thee . . .

It's that time again! This is the day when I listen to NPR's reading of the Declaration of Independence and get all misty-eyed. Then I go fight some English. Only I might skip that part this year, since I'm decidedly outnumbered and would probably not do well. But everyone should take a listen to this. It's only the middle that's all about how King George is mean. And that was just for the purpose of rhetoric--it was easier to pick King George as the target than, say, Parliament. Because then all the American hayseeds would have been all, "Parla-what? Where's mah gun?" The beginning and the end are fabulous.

I've been invited to a 4th of July BBQ! It's with the family of the American guy I mentioned in the Father's Day post. Also the American missionaries in the ward are invited. His sister shipped this year's Old Navy flag shirts to England and the little girls have been waiting for weeks to wear them. I'll have to get some pictures. If I had been smart I would have found a copy of National Treasure to watch as well--but I'm not always thinking ahead. I'm sure at home TNT is probably airing another 24-hour marathon of The Patriot, so that's probably what my family will be doing--that and eating amazing grilled foods.

Oh! And this is Coolboy's last 4th of July for the next little bit, since he's leaving in less that 24 hours for his mission to the Dominican Republic. This is funny to me, because in my mind he's just barely made the jump from being 8 to being 16, so this whole being-19-and-going-on-a-mission thing has taken me by surprise. I'm going to miss that kid.

One last thing: Michael Turback wrote a book called More Than a Month of Sundaes, and NPR has published the list he made of the some of the best sundaes in all 50 states. And yes, Coney's is in there! You can see the list here (it's a PDF file). If anyone's ever had any of these, you should comment and tell me what you thought!

[Editor's note: So it turns out that Coolboy is leaving right now for the airport so I had to call fast and say goodbye. I hate it when I get my times wrong. Now I'm predicting that Dad will spend the day watching The Patriot and grilling animal flesh and Mom will spend the day crying about her baby leaving.]

Posted in: England