July 4, 2011
It became VERY important to Chloe that we celebrate the 4th of July in an “American” way this year. This is interesting, given that we really don’t do this back in Seattle. Well, there was that one year in Montana that the girls were in a 4th of July parade and we attended a rodeo… Anyway, she made 6 dozen peanut butter cookies yesterday, and today made sure the Bertails came over for grilled cheeseburgers.
Me, I was out of the plans, having long ago decided I would be going to the horse races in Nantes today. It was my last chance since the next race day isn’t until October. Ella came with me and together we had a blast, picking different horses to cheer each race. She got the best of me in the 4th race when a horse named Sommerabend GB won. She saw the connection to Brenda & Greg, Melinda’s sister’s family, and picked this horse because of it. You can watch a replay here. Choose the 4th race (Course no 4) and you’ll see my hands in the air on the bottom of the screen near the finish (it’s the 1:52 mark and I’m next to a man in a red shirt). That’s Ella to my left. There’s a slo-mo replay of the stretch run and at the 2:10 mark you can see us clearly for about 10 seconds.
Back to the dinner… Ella and I got home to find the party in full swing. Pop, watermelon, hamburgers being grilled, that sort of thing. I expected a rousing chorus of “The Star Spangled Banner” to be sung. Instead, thank goodness, Max dashed the Bertail home and came back with sparklers, much to Chloe’s American delight.
Andy Smallman 
Funny, the first (and only) rodeo I’ve ever gone to was on the 4th of July in Montana too. Coincidence? (Well, probably. :P)
Sounds like a great fourth. Could see your arms up and Ella. Then I put it on full screen and could really see you in the slo mo. Fun.