Martha Stewart's magazine has a monthly feature called "Good Things." It is always the section I flip to first in the magazine, especially during the July issue, when its pages are full of patriotic-themed ideas. If I were part of this magazine, I would skip a lot of the red, white and blue crafts and instead put the Fourth of July holiday itself on this list. I love the Fourth, and I think it is one of those really good things in life.
This year, I spent the holiday weekend in Minnesota, trekking between the cabin on the St. Croix and the Ertel's lake home. The result was 5 days full of good things. Here are a few of my favorite good things:
- Reading Dan Brown books (me: Da Vinci Code, John: Angels and Demons) next to the water.
- Sunning on the dock with Jenna on Thursday.
- Experiencing an outdoor activity each day. Mom, Jenna and I kayaked the "short run" of the Kinnickick River, to its mouth into the St. Croix. We all enjoyed jet-skiing...until John broke the machine on Sunday, that is. We walked with Dakota and we took a number of boat rides.
- Taking the Ertel's fishing boat to the other side of the lake and dining on a picnic lunch.
- Eating really well-done grilled pizza (no homemade crust this year for simplicity, which resulted in some grilling difficulties) for dinner on the Fourth, with a nature-inspired table setting that belonged in 'Martha Stewart Living.' We concluded the holiday night by watching seven different fireworks displays from the comfort of our own beach.
- Snapping my cousin Jasha's senior pictures. Jenna and John were terrible assistants; luckily, their antics got a a few laughs from him.
- Drinking champagne blended with lemon sorbet. Delicious.
- Playing Password as it rained during an afternoon (what vacation of mine is complete without a little poor weather?). Of course, Dad and I (with Jenna's friend Julie's help) won.
In the midst of all of these activities, the most enjoyable part was spending time with those I love most. It is the best good thing of all.
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