Sean's birthday falls on the 4th of July... every year. Each year we have found some place to hike to and fight the crowds to enjoy the fireworks - which, for the past 3 years, have been nothing but lit up clouds since we've been so fogged in.

This year, we decided to skip all 4th of July celebrations and focus on Sean for his birthday.

The day started out with breakfast at one of our favorite local cafes and then a fun time at the park with the girls. We got home around 10:30 and packed a lunch for the beach and went to our famous Fletcher Cove (aka Shark Attack Beach). When we first arrived, it was foggy and only about 10 feet of depth-safe beach since the tide was just on the way out. Picture this with also a large crowd trying to enjoy the day - it was a little uncomfortable to say the least. However, after about a half hour of trying to keep Roxy occupied (Sean had Dillen in the water the entire time), some friends showed up and the water had receded quite a bit. We moved to where they were meeting some other friends and it turned into an oasis for children. A large group formed of people we knew and Roxy was in Heaven playing with her little friends in the sand and dad-made pools. We ended up staying for over 3 hours before everyone began to go their separate ways.

At home, Sean grabbed a book and enjoyed reading in the back yard while the girls and I decorated our dining room with balloons and a Pirates theme. We had eye patches, punch balls, blow-outs, a blow up sword and Dillen found one of her spider monkeys for the center piece. We still had enough time for the girls and I to relax and watch a movie before we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant called Bangkok Bay. We've been wanting to try it out for a while and it did not disappoint! I had a yummy curry rice with chicken, pineapple, cashew nuts and other spices thrown in. Sean had the chicken Panang and we ordered up a special appetizer dish presented in a large boat for the girls. Yum!!

When we returned home, I took a shower with both girls (this is always a treat for them) to get all of the sand off from earlier in the day and then we got into our pajamas for some birthday celebration fun. We had a special chocolate cake with chocolate filling decorated in a pirate theme and Sean got to open up his presents from all of us. It actually turned out to be one of the most special celebrations being just the 4.75 of us.

The girls were asleep by 7:00 and Sean and I by 8:30 (!) and we only stirred a little bit when we heard fireworks going off in the distance.

Perhaps next year we will attempt another fireworks birthday celebration, but this year couldn't have been more perfect...