Independence Day!

We started off our day really early- like 4:15am early. We drove to Driggs (again) to watch the hot air balloons. The sunrise was beautiful and balloons were pretty. I thought there were going to be more but that's okay. There were six on the field and an additional three that were launched elsewhere.





















We took naps in the afternoon (though Little Miss decided to fight for a few hours first) and had a barbeque with friends.



I added a little bit less cocoa to Martha Stewart's Devil's Food Cupcakes recipe (in an effort to figure out how to eventually adapt the recipe for a yellow cake version- the verdict- a little bit moister than I liked, despite adding extra flour. I might try again) and used the frosting from the Cinnabon Style Cinnamon Rolls.

Followed by more fireworks (I used tips from adorama.com (which I didn't read until just now when I was looking for a link to the source) via Lindsay) and I'm super in love with my camera. :)





















































Love this country!

Fireworks!

Celebrate America at Huntsman Springs had some of the neatest fireworks I've seen. :) Here are a couple favorites (though after reading Lindsay's post today I will be hauling my tripod to the fireworks tonight and trying out the BULB setting).

Our Patriotic Outfits

I finished my shirt dress(!!!) a few hours before we left for Celebrate America at Huntsman Springs. I ended up using New Look 6963 for the top, since the diamond darts in the back gave me a better fit. I used Simplicity 1880 for the bottom and had to cut a different size for the front and the back, which required a third trip to Joann's. Luckily they still had the fabric in stock!

Likes: the shape of the back, the collar, the button holes that actually turned out decent, the shape of the skirt, the length, my first zipper! (New Year's Resolution achieved!).

Dislikes: how much looser it is in the front than I thought it would be (but it looks okay with the sash from this dress), the zipper isn't quite invisible but not bad for not having an invisible zipper foot and it being my first try.

Ansley's dress Simplicity 0351a with a circle skirt, just like her Snow White (which, sadly, got a little hole in the skirt. I bet it's been worn at least thirty times though! I will mend the little tear in the cloth and hopefully it won't be super noticeable since it's near the bottom of the circle skirt) and hopscotch dresses. Ansley's hat made using the Oliver + S bucket hat free pattern and Jessica from A Little Gray's method. I cut out the largest size (6-8 years) and it fits over Ansley's pigtails well. I'm not sure if it runs a bit small or if Ansley still has a big head. :) I found it much easier to notch the side fabric before pinning it to the cap. The exterior is a white cotton and the interior is leftover from another one of my circle skirts, which never got officially blogged.

We had a great time (and are so grateful the kind ladies at the tamale booth let me buy food for Ansley when they were shutting down activities in the other field- we were so hungry!) and the fireworks were unlike any I've seen. I also played around with the settings on my camera, hence the color variation. All of the pictures are unedited.

Ansley by the Delorean:





Us:





























Cool picture, despite the lens flare.



Tyrone's shadow:













The Tetons:



Fireworks in the next post. . . .

PS Tyrone says he doesn't feel left out that I didn't make him a matching outfit.