American Beauties

I absolutely love holidays!

I love the symbolic and sentimental meaning behind each holiday.  I love an excuse for celebrating anything.  I love an excuse to hold a family and friend gathering.  I love an excuse for making pretty treats and sweets.  And I love an excuse to decorate.

So being that the 4th of July is a holiday in which we celebrate the freedom of our country, have parties for our family and friends in which good food is served and the house is decorated... I would say it's safe to say I love that holiday too.

I can just see the porch of our future house with an red, white, and blue bunting along the porch rails and friends gathered, eating good food, and watching our children play. 

Well this year, our Fourth was a little less festive.  Southern Charm Marketplace was opening for the first time on the fifth so I had some detailing to do that morning, but once I dropped my goodies off at Southern Charm, we went off to finish our Fourth with a tradition that has kind of formed over the past handful of years.

Since the year I was pregnant with Jude (6 years ago), we have spent some part of the day in Plaquemine with our best friends, Darren and Nickey. 

 

 

There is always a band, lots of food and craft booths, and tons of fun going on in the Locks in Plaquemine. 

I love to go and watch the Aubrey Lane and Hannah Grace (Darren and Nic's oldest daughter) dance around and act silly.  Then the evening ends with an incredible fireworks display.  I think that is Jude's favorite part.  He loves the music of the bands, but he is frozen with fascination at the fireworks. 

 

I love this little friend family that has grown past several years!  I know that with Lane's new job, there will be holidays that are missed due to shift work, but I'm looking forward to the day where there is patriotic bunting around the porch during the day and fireworks in Plaquemine that evening. 

Hope everyone had a great Fourth!