Happy 4th of July from Wilmette!

Happy Fourth of July! To prepare for the holiday, we have been watching patriotic videos at our house, including 1776 and the recent series on John Adams. Tomorrow we are thinking that we will have a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence, with everyone taking a turn. If we can get enough people to take turns reading, that could be fun. Here at the Padena house we are great fans of the founding fathers.

Last night we had chicken and deli salads, except they weren't from the deli, we made them ourselves. They were so popular we might have to make some more varieties this morning. We don't have much in the way of leftovers. If it stays cold, we might also bake some brownies. We might go see a parade, and we plan to go to fireworks tonight.

Pictured above is the Declaration of Independence as written in Thomas Jefferson's own hand. You can see it much larger by clicking on the picture, or if you visit the Thomas Jefferson electronic archives at the Massachusetts Historical Society, you can see this image as well as find a great deal more information about Thomas Jefferson. Also available at the historical society are the Adams family papers, including correspondence of John and Abagail Adams. If you have a few extra minutes, do go take a look.

Have a wonderful fourth of July. I hope you have some fun activities planned with family and friends.