Actually, It's Ashleigh: 4th Tribute

You know those friends that you call your cousins because you've been friends with them before you were born? Well, Megh and John are my "cousins." They're actually a step beyond cousins. I consider them my siblings (as do my brothers), except for the fact that we look nothing alike. My family spends Christmas Day and the 4th of July with them every year. And boy, do they know how to make the 4th extremely special.

Megh and John

Megh has a love affair with the 4th of July. I'm talking, prepare all year long for this one day to celebrate America's independence. She stocks up on red, white and blue supplies to share with anyone and everyone and prepares her playlist throughout the year. She came up to Maine with bags upon bags of supplies, along with nothing but red, white and blue clothing for the weekend-- including her bathing suits and cover ups. I was happy to contribute to her 4th of July look by braiding a flag bandana into a crown braid. I was pretty happy with the results.

I've always been so jealous of her gorgeous hair color

We had a fun filled day on the beach, with nothing on our agenda other than the short voyage between our chairs and the ocean to cool off. John and Erol played Polish Horse Shoes, Megh and I dipped our toes in the water and read our books and occasionally we searched for crabs. In the evening, Megh introduced us to my favorite new game, Wits and Wagers and we tried multiple times to create our perfect USA picture out of sparklers (even though it's not perfect, I'm proud of our end results).