Yay! Freedom!

Hey guys, so here's the problem. This weekend, parts of Minnesota were pretty beat up after this ginormous freak storm hit. Even though my parents cabin was relatively unscathed, we were a few miles away from Faith's Lodge. It's an incredible place that helps parents who have lost a child get away to cope and share their experiences with others. Anyway, Faith's Lodge got hit pretty hard by the storm. All the incredible scenery and nature around the lodge was ripped up, trees were blown down everywhere, and parts were virtually destroyed. If you guys could take a minute and consider making a donation to the lodge to help with the repair efforts, I know it would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway, it's the 4th of July. I'm sitting on my porch, anxiously awaiting the fireworks in the distance to start. My friend Nick and I are still not sure if we'll be able to see them from where we are, so technically, they could have already happened, but we wouldn't know it. As it is, though, we've just decided that they haven't started yet.

I had a crazy fun weekend. I spent it at my parents cabin with the whole family. Lots of fun. Lots of fishing. Lots of sun. My face looks like a ripe ol' lobster. Success! One of the greatest parts of the weekend though, was my brothers' fireworks show. We were in Wisconsin, where fireworks are legit. So my brother Peter bought some, and he and Perek set them off from the pontoon in the middle of the lake. AWESOME! It was great. They really do a sick job planning their fireworks shows.

Fireworks are my favorite part of the 4th. They're all loud and glittery and awesome. Plus, they are one of the few spectacles that can make me shut up and pay attention.

So...there are lots of booms happening right now. Nick is convinced that these aren't the real fireworks, but I'm convinced we've all but missed the big show. In a crazy fit of fireworks-envy, we headed out down the block to the lake to see if we can see fireworks from there.

Double success. We finally saw some really cool fireworks, and all is right in America right now. We sang "Proud to Be An American" with our neighbors (pretty sure they were pretty drunk) and some guy skateboarded by in an American flag. w00t!

Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope you all saw fireworks tonight!!