So, I hope every American had a happy Independence Day and everyone else had a great fourth of July. My daughter and I watched some fireworks in our neighborhood from our front yard. We don't usually see it together because I'm usually at Anthrocon. I really hope they would stop scheduling it on 4th of July weekend, but nobody listens to me.

While the United States hasn't always lived up to its founding principles, those founding principles, that all are created equal and should be free to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... those are worth celebrating and honoring the sacrifices of all the men and women who came before us to make that possible. Flawed and imperfect men and women though they be, they still sought and worked to make the world better and extend the promise of equality more broadly than those before them. I'm grateful for what I've received and hope I can, in some small way, leave it better for my daughter.

The last couple of months have been okay for us. We've been getting out and riding our bikes a lot these last few weeks. Yesterday we began the day with a four hour and fifteen mile bike ride, stopping for breaks regularly, including a half-hour break for brunch. It was a good family outing. We were able to get out to eat at a restaurant a few weeks back, and we hit Living Treasures Animal Park as well. But that's it for outings; while many places are sorta open, we're being judicious there. Angie did have fun at one of her classmates birthday parties / pool parties the other week. It was her first time seeing her classmates face to face since March so she had a great time there. Her Karate and Gymnastics are open as well, which gives us hope maybe her school will be too in the Fall, but we'll see.

Our first vacation plans, something we had in the works since last Summer, might get kiboshed though. Our August plans still seem to be on track though as long as M. Corona doesn't resurge here in Western PA. So far so good. When we do go to the grocery store and other indoor places people are wearing masks and usually managing to social distance, so I'm hoping we'll be okay.

Speaking of masks, I now have an anthro Zebra mask from Redbubble. Woohoo!

And speaking of Woo-oo, been loving Disney+ and watching Duck Tales with my daughter. She watched the entire original Duck Tales and now we're watching the new one. I'm actually surprised how much I'm enjoying it; only a few episodes have made me cringe so far. Not keen on some of the changes, but for the most part it's good.

We also watched "The Legend of the Three Caballeros" which only has 13 episodes but it's freakishly hilarious and worth checking out. If you like Donald Duck you'll love it.

Anyway, I need to get back to cleaning out my message and picture backlog here. Everyone stay safe!

Dominus vobiscum