O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Gets me, every, time. I feel it begin in my throat and soon tears are spilling over. This song. Talk about emotional. I especially love when Ray Charles sings it.

I couldn't let summer leave without sharing a bit of our Fourth. It was full. It was sweaty. It was happy. We enjoyed delicious foods, the smell of sparklers burning, and tiny eyes wide with wonder. We saw both friends and family and driving home late that night, I watched my babies asleep in the back of the car and felt that bursting-heart-feeling. Warmth spread down my limbs and I smiled. It was the kind of childhood night I hope they long remember, looking back on, perhaps through these images.

So proud to be their mama, so proud to be an American.