Fourth of July!

I love this time of year. The weather is finally warm enough warm enough and the rain has finally let up enough to enjoy the outside. Getting outside is important when you have a 20 month old with tons of energy!
We are lucky enough to live in a town full of history. Main Street is lined with mansions built in the 1800's during the lumbar boom. We happen to be 2 blocks off this street and live in a building built in he same time period. It was once a mansion too, but has since been turned into an apartment building. It might not be the best neighborhood, but it's home.
We also happen to live just a few blocks from downtown. There is an ecletic bunch of shops there that range from clothing, to a cobbler, to a fancy cigar shop, to coffee houses, to a 5 star restaurant! We've lived in this apartment for 1.5 years and I still haven't made it through all the great shops.
Just on the other side of downtown in a major river way. It is still used for shipping so it's a common thing to have huge ships and barges go up and down it daily. Both sides of this river are lined with parks. This side is more of a green space where they hold concerts. The other side includes play areas and baseball diamonds.
Which leads me back to why I love this time of year. Our city has a HUGE festival for Fourth of July. There are rides and music and good food and THREE (yes! three) days of Fireworks! The festival kicked of on Thursday afternoon. That night and last night we were treated with 15 minutes of beautiful fireworks. We watched from our roof. Tonight we will pack up the Binky Girl (Boo is with his Dad) and head down to the park for 45 minutes of fireworks! Binks did well watching from home but I am a bit worried how she will do when the booms are louder.
I can't wait! I have loved fireworks as long as I can remember and this year I get to share them with Binky for the first time!