happy birthday america...

john and i on our morning cruise around the harbor - photo taken by courtney marie

happy fourth of july to all!  john and i had another wonderful independence day in beantown.  boston is definitely the place to be for america's birthday.  each year, the experience molds me into a much more patriotic person.

this year, courtney joined us for the festivities.  we had a blast!

we (along with everyone else in town) took a morning cruise to watch the uss constitution "sail" in the harbor...

we watched the blue angels fly with all their fancy moves (the airport tarmac is right on the water, so we had great views of take off and landing, as well as their in flight awesome-ness)...

                          

                                   we got up close and personal with some of my favorite local ships/boats/whatever... 

we toured the tall ships visiting boston harbor...

and of course we toured old ironsides, because courtney had not yet been aboard...

we saw big, beautiful american flags...

and finally, we watched fireworks in the most exhilarating downpour of my life (the fireworks were not so spectacular with the rain, but boy was the crowd response exciting).