Faithfully Fit: .....boom booms.....

.....my two and a half year old nephew Chase has been terrified of boom booms until just recently.....every time he heard the sound of loud airplanes, fire works, thunder or anything else of the sort, he would say, No more Boom Booms.......so I smiled at the thought of him over this past week when we partook in our own firework show up north at a perfect little lake house visit with good friends in Westchester county........we had boom booms, fizzy sparklers and hissing light shows that made the dark, nestled streets within the lush foothills glow with color......

....and our audience was easy to please.....fabulous DIY (do it yourself) firework show aside, I could have watched their expressions and nothing else.....we had one animated bunch......

.....and the hours leading up to the night festivities were well spent.....after a downhill walk while picking wild flowers, we passed other quaint and unique cottages perched in the hills and waved to several residents taking a leisurely spin in their golf carts, the neighborhood's main mode of transportation......we arrived at the lake side beach and spread out our blankets and beach toys and the kids ran free.....

....the scenery is beautiful and it is hard to believe that there is so much tranquility only an hour north of the city......

.....the kids had their first golf cart ride and not in any ordinary, run of the mill golf cart......this one is a Harley Davidson......not that it needed to be any better of an experience for the kids, because just riding carefree, with the wind through their hair was enough for them.....but Momma thought it was cooler simply because the Harley logo caught my eye......I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Harley golf cart.....

.....and as our girls were whisked away, I caught a glimpse of my two favorite boys relishing in their own time....

......as I inhaled the fresh cut grass around me and listened to other friends and families in the distance laughing from their wooden lakeside decks as they grilled their feasts, it completely set in that summer is in full force......I closed my eyes for a moment wishing I could slow time because this season is one that fades as quickly as it comes upon us.....

......when I started to hear the crackle and pops from other private fireworks shows, I was reminded of doing our own fireworks as a kid in our Florida driveway......my brothers and I would have been covered in sand, smelled of coconut sunblock and we'd have also been sticky from the salty film that resides after swimming in the ocean all day; but no matter where you go in America to celebrate the Fourth of July, we all do it very much the same.....lakeside, mountain camp site, desert plains with red sunsets, cliff side at one of the pacific coastlines or white beach sand with snorkel gear in tow; we all usually end up near a grill, eating more than we should, shucking corn cobs, slicing watermelons and dishing out potato salad.....

.....some of us eat ourselves to sleep.....certainly an indication that the food and festivity around the grill was a hit.....

....and then, just as the sun started to hide behind pine trees and the evening's cooler breeze began to blow in; the tradition began.......our little ones are just starting to file these new experiences away as places to draw upon in their years to come.....