Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

Dear me, summer is flying by so fast, my head is practically spinning.  I'd better post a few pictures from our proper American fourth of July before I turn around and find that it's time for Halloween.  We were in the US last year, but I seem to recall feeling exhausted and uncertain about keeping our infant out until 11pm to view the fireworks.  But this year, we decided to do it up right with a live, late night fireworks show. My husband made sure that everyone displayed appropriate, appreciative 'firework faces'. And some of us made goofy faces without even being prompted because watching fireworks with little kids is just magical.  Lili was so impressed, she kept pointing at the sky and shouting, "WHOA!  RAINBOW!!"  Just try not to smile like a goofball when you have that sitting in your lap!  Emma and Sophie were equally impressed with their first big fireworks experience. She couldn't help but bust out the happy dance. "You have to love a...

America is seeping into my veins.  It is starting to feel like home again.  I vacillate between excitement over all of the American-ness that is around me and the desire to hold a lot of that American-ness at arms length and ponder it with a bit of skepticism.  While in the UK, I thought I missed all of the cheerful, sparkly American goodies and doo-dahs.  Now that I'm back, I examine said goodies with a very critical eye and ask ridiculously serious questions like: "How many calories/ artificial ingredients/ saturated, partially hydrogenated fats are in this thing?"  "Was this cute-as-can-be dingleberry painted in a horrible third world sweatshop with toxic led paint?"   "Is there anything in this store that was not made in China?"  "Is this packaging recyclable?" or "Is this entire thing going to end up in a landfill when I'm finished with it?" These questions tend to take the fun out of a shopping experience.  Ignorance ...

... and there's no school, girls just need to go to the mall and find some entertainment.  Today was one of those days.  We browsed in the bookstore and looked at all of the Halloween stuff that is already all over the shelves in the gift shops.  Sophie and Emma squashed any doubts that they are true girly girls by squealing with delight at all of the autumn-themed-fragranced lotions in Bath and Body Works.  They also had their first ever Dairy Queen Blizzard and had their picture drawn in one of those automated photo booths... Pretty cute, actually. I feel like such an American spending the afternoon at the mall.  It is funny to see the kinds of things my kids are excited about since they have been USA-deprived for the last five years.  Sophie, for example, is dying to go to Taco Bell since she has never been there.  Both girls are totally impressed with the fact that one can buy a ready-made pie crust in an American grocery store (which I did toda...