July 4th, Independence Day! This time of year is such a great time to reflect on our nation's history and the sacrifices of so many who blessed us with the fundamentals of a great country. I have been reading some history on the founding of this nation and I continually catch myself reflecting on how inspired the men were who laid the foundations of our government. I am impressed with the desire of the colonists to have a government based on representation, that recognized the God-given rights of all men, and the struggles of the framers to design a government that met the desires and the needs of the time. There were so many open and honest debates about what liberty meant and what powers should be given to government to allow freedom while controlling anarchy-- there is a fine balance. Did you know, that when Washington City (as it was called at that time) was being built and established as the nation's capital, the statesmen would come and stay for about half of the year and then return home to their regular jobs? Because the city was newly established there was a limited number of places to stay. The representatives would bunk together in boarding houses and eat at the same. This wasn't always an easy situation as bunkmates weren't always from the same party and would have different ideologies. Keep in mind, the bunkhouses did not have air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and were full of men. There were many heated discussions and open debates but the men were there because they felt a duty to build and serve their country. They weren't career politicians, but simple men who had a love for country and fellowman.
Compare that picture to modern-day and I think you'll agree, we have strayed far from this. Our representatives are wined and dined by lobbyists and big companies. They spend the majority of their time in Washington DC, returning home to campaign and make public appearances. Many have run on the platform of term limitations but end up making careers out of their service. There is no longer open, honest debate about issues but rather last minute, 1000 page bills dropped on politicians desks with only hours to read before voting. These bills aren't even written by the representatives (and rarely read by them) but are prepared by staffs of hundreds of people who weren't elected and aren't accountable to anyone. And with these bills, are freedoms and liberty is slowly being whittled away. I think our founding fathers and early colonists would be disappointed in what our government has become.
Now that I've had my time on the soapbox, this is still a great country filled with amazing people who continue to want to make a difference. People who go to work everyday to support their families and build better lives for those around them. Military personnel who are willing to sacrifice their time and lives for the principles this country was founded on. These are the people we salute and celebrate along with the many, many men and women who preceded us and gave so much to this country in so many different ways.
The 4th of July was a fun time for our family this year. We spent the day with our Anderson cousins. We started the day at Lagoon. This may seem like an odd choice but it turned out to be a lot of fun. As most people were watching parades in the morning, the park was not crowded
. The kids a lot of fun going on the rides with their cousins. Savannah has made it her personal goal to ride all the roller coasters. She is exactly the right size to go on these rides and wants to take advantage of it. I've gone on many with her and she looks like she is hating it the whole time, but when the ride comes to a stop she is all smiles and says how much she loved it. James and Taylor got caught up in throwing a baseball to break plates. After winning a couple of stuffed animals, they decided they should win more so that siblings wouldn't feel bad. With Taylor's help, James was able to win a prize for all the girls which they were happy to have.
As the park got crowded, we headed back to our house for a barbecue. James manned the grill and provided quite the feast for us with brauts, chicken and steak. Combine that with all the treats that everyone else brought and we had quite the feast.
There was a lot of fun conversation going on at the table most of the evening and the kids played in the backyard and in the arcade. There was never a shortage of activity going on.When darkness hit, we headed out front for a firework show. Luke and his cousin, Bradley, were finally old enough to light the fireworks. They had great fun providing us with a show. The street over from us had quite a few of the illegal fireworks so between theirs and ours, we had a great show. The city fire engine crept down our street looking for the wrongdoers but it wasn't us. The kids had a lot of red, white and blue glow sticks which provided entertainment in between the fireworks. I think everyone went home happy with only a few mosquito bites.
