How we celebrated Latvia's 90th birthday

This first picture is totally unrelated to Latvia's 90th birthday, except that it happened that day. It is too cute not to share. We started the day at the studio because KB had to be there for a photo shoot, and here is godson A with his dad, learning the tricks of the trade.This was the first sunny 18th of November I have experienced in Latvia! It was like a big birthday present for us. The night before it had snowed enough that everything was just white and bright that morning. The wind was brisk, which made it a crisp day, but the blue skies made all the difference.

So we started our celebration by laying flowers at the freedom monument.
Then we met AD, IG and Mr. and Mrs. P. for a quick cup of tea to warm up before the military parade. Here we are all bundled and patriotic trying to scope out the best spot to stand for the parade. (2pm in the afternoon, you'll notice the sun is already on it's way down.)


I swear the parade keeps getting shorter and shorter every year (or I'm already just familiar with everything I will see). Regardless, the best part is always the helicopter carrying Latvia's flag. This year we decided to stand on the bridge, which is the best view of the helicopter as it goes right overhead. I felt a bit teary about it all this year (I think especially after having seen the movie Rigas Sargi) as we were standing on the very bridge where people had risked their own lives fighting for their vision of independence for Latvia excatly 90 years ago.
After the parade we were not quick enough to get to a restaurant before they were all full, so the six of us came back to the treehouse, made our own pizzas and watched some of the concerts on TV. Then we headed over to the P residence, where they have access to a 15th floor balcony, and watched the fireworks from afar. Considering this was a Tuesday, waking up for work on Wednesday morning was tough enough, but well worth it.