Happy Birthday America!

It's my favorite holiday of the year!

Once again, we made a birthday cake for America.  You can keep your apple pies.  In this house, we roll with chocolate cake.

Okay, it seemed a little unpatriotic to not have apple pies... so I made mini ones with the help of a friend. 

 

Real men bake.

And this year, I asked Girlie and Boyo to tell me the story of America's Independence (with a little help from BabyGirlie).

Girlie: America of the United States of America has a birthday.

Boyo: And we have cake!

Me: But why does it have a birthday?

BabyGirlie: CAKE!

Girlie: Because America of the United States of America has a birthday on July 4th.

Boyo: And we have cake! And candy!

Girlie: And fireworks!  And a parade!

BabyGirlie: CAKE!

Me: But why is America's birthday on July 4?

Girlie: Cuz that is when it's Mommy decided for it to be borned.

Me (a little desperately): HoneyBear, remember, we talked about this.  There were the founding fathers...

Boyo: But no girls.

BabyGirlie: CAKE!

Me: And they wrote the Declaration of Independence.  Do you remember what a declaration is?

Girlie: Yes.  The Founding Fathers of America of the United States of America wrote a Declaration.  And then had a parade.  Did they go to Auntie Erin's house too?

Me (groaning): No.  What did the Declaration say?

BabyGirlie: CAKE!

Boyo: Did they ride bicycles too?

Girlie: No, no, no.  The people who wrote the Declaration of America of the United States of America didn't have bicycles.  They were old.  They were like THIRTY SEVEN. 

Husband: Hey! Thirty seven is not old!

Girlie: Yes it is.  You are the oldest person in our family.

Boyo: When did they sing Happy Birthday?

Baby Girlie: I WAN CAKE! 

Me: Can we get back to the story please?

Girlie: They wrote the Declaration to say they could have a birthday! 

Me: Sort of.  They wrote to Great Britain, remember the story?  And they told King George that America was independent of Great Britain and ready to be on it's own.

Girlie: Yes.  And then America of the United States of America had a birthday party.  What did they get for presents?

Husband: Cannonballs.

Boyo: I want cannonballs!

BabyGirlie: CAKE!

Girlie: Cannonballs are not a nice present.

Me (right eye twitching): Okay, story time is over.  Who wants cake?

Happy Birthday America!

Setting off fireworks

Watching fireworks

Right before the sprinklers came on....

Happy Birthday America! I hope you enjoy your Tinkerbell candle.

~
Today's the Fourth of July.

It's my absolute favorite holiday (that doesn't involve presents, if we are being honest).

And as a history teacher, with her MA in Colonial America, this is one holiday that I really want to try to make special for my kids.

We normally go to a bbq, eat the required hamburgers, hot dogs, and potato salad, see the parade and go to the carnival, then head over to the family fireworks festival where we live. The kids get to stay up late and watch the fireworks and I tell them the (watered down) version of America's Independence and the story of Molly Pitcher (I leave out the part about Molly Pitcher being a drunk).

We don't get to do any of that this year because of the bedrest mandate. We are having a bbq at home, but there will be no fireworks, parade, or any other family traditions. To try to make up for this, I tried to put it into a different context for them: I told them that the Fourth of July is America's birthday.

My son immediately asked for cake.

This was an idea I could totally get behind.

I found a recipe for diabetic cake (um, yum, I guess) and pulled out all the ingredients. We were about to start a new family tradition - birthday cake for America's birthday.

Girlie threw a fit. "NO!" she declared, stomping her foot. "We DO NOT make cake for America. Her MOMMY makes her cake. And they have Tinkerbell candles and a Tinkerbell balloon."

Okaaaaaaaaay.... Great Britain? We would like a chocolate cake with pink frosting, please. And sprinkles. And a Tinkerbell candle. And a balloon.

Thanks.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

"The United States is the only country with a known birthday."
- James G. Blaine