Happy Birthday, America!

zeb's first sparkler
Originally uploaded by anneke boudreau

We spent the weekend in Portland with our good friends Lori and Sandro. We arrived Thursday evening and Lori watched Zeb while John and I went for dinner at Sandro's restaurant, Alu. I'm not sure how we consumed *two* bottles of wine, but not only were we still standing, we were ready to dance. We ran into Lori and Sandro's neighbors, who have a 9-month-old, and the 4 of us parents hit the town.

The next day I was surprisingly *not* ill, but I was very tired. Lori and John took Zeb to the park and I slept. Then we went to a picnic held at the newly co-habitated home of another good college friend and her fiance. Then it was off to Aequis spa - in the penthouse of an old, downtown building with a clock tower - for an employee party and fireworks. That's where Zeb experienced his first, second, and third sparklers. This photo is the second - by now he has the hang of it. I have a video of the first - with a couple exciting moments.

At the end of the night, back at Lori and Sandro's, neighborhood kids were lighting fireworks. As we fell asleep, Zeb could hear them, and with each pop and whistle exclaimed, "fireworks!"

Today, as we hit the road for home, he was still talking about the fireworks.

After a smooth drive home, here we are unpacking and preparing for another week. Cheers!