The weekend was filled with fireworks and movies! Friday night I went with Elissa, her parents, and their friends to see the fireworks that were postponed on July 4th due to the rain. The fireworks were really amazing. 25 minutes of pure joy but perhaps not for those people who got hit on the head by falling hot ash. Yesterday we went to see more fireworks and also to see the new Pixar hit, Ratatouille.

I went into Ratatouille with low expectations, even though I had heard some good things from some friends. When I go to these computer animated movies now, I expect seeing funny talking animals (voiced by today's hottest celebs) who escape their habitat and venture into the world to interact with humans. Ratatouille is just that, but the brilliant Brad Bird and the folks at Pixar turn the story into something much more than animals exploring the outside world. They also do a brilliant job casting actors for the voices. While we may recognize some of the voices, they are classy in the way they cast. We never hear Bruce Willis or Robin Williams in these movies, never Nicole Kidman or Madonna and that's a great thing.

The cooking aspect of this film really appealed to me. I love to cook and there are a few cooking scenes that are brilliant. I stronly encourage you to check out this movie and in Pixar fashion, there is a really cute short preceeding the film.