4th of July! (week 547)

If you haven't noticed, I love fireworks!  After spending the week in Yosemite Valley with many of our friends from the neighborhood and Patrick Henry, we came home for the 4th of July holiday. It was another classic with 3rd of July fireworks at the Bay (we watched from Bayshore), the bike parade on Faust, and a series of barbecues.

We started out the morning with Dad reading the Declaration of Independence at breakfast (boy is that longer than we thought).  We followed with the traditional bike decorations, special drinks, and patriotic music blasting in the backyard as the neighbors stopped by to line-up and head over to the parade.  Per tradition, there were balloons everywhere, tortillas flying, and lots of sugary snacks at the finish line.  We followed the parade with a DJ party at the Carnegie's across the street, a pool party at the Hubers and the Flanigans, and finally fireworks from a distance (since it is all illegal in Long Beach)!

All-in-all, a great Independence Day.