Independence Day 2008

I really enjoy the 4th of July so I wanted to spend it doing something worthwhile. I thought it would be fun to go to the National Mall to see the firework show. We heard you had to get there early to pick out a good spot to sit. We didn't really know what early meant. It opens at 10 a.m. so does that mean we have to get there at 9 a.m.? Or is 5 p.m. early enough? We ended getting there at around noon and it seemed really crowded because a parade was about to start. We were a little worried at the large mass of people. It was misleading though because as soon as we made it to the Washington Monument there was no one there! We decided to sit on the top of the hill in front of the Washington, facing Lincoln. 

The clouds disappeared right when we arrived so we were really hot. We laid on our blankets for awhile, Ja even fell asleep. I think he was dreaming about chickens. We played a few games of cards to pass the time.

We were so hot we almost called it quits and went home. We decided that it would be all right to leave our blankets and find shade since there was hardly anyone there. Once we found shade and ice cream we felt much better. We poured water on our heads and feet. I wanted to pour some on my back but the water came out faster than I thought so it looked like I sweated all down my back. I was pretty embarrassed. It started to rain pretty hard so we were really cooled down by that. Ja was getting soaked because I was using the only umbrella. A nice guy next to us let Ja borrow one of his. I was glad the guy did because I was starting to feel guilty.

We were joined by some family friends from CA; Don, Gretta, and Lilyanna. A few hours later were were joined by Trevor, Heather & fam, friends from the ward, and eventually Matt & Cassidy. Here is our group. 

It rained a few more times unfortunately. Trevor brought a little tent that most of the kids found shelter in. The rest of us fended for ourselves under umbrellas. Luc was playing in Trevor's hiking backpack and said he was a hot dog. I asked him to make a hot dog face and this is what I got.  

I was really glad the firework show still happened even through the sprinkling rain. It was a really good show. They had some of the coolest fireworks I've ever seen. Here are a few pictues that turned out. 

Getting home was the hardest part because 1,000's of people are all trying to get home on the metro. We went to our stop but it was absolutely packed and no one was moving. Jen, from our group, decided we should go one stop further away from where we got off. This was genius because we walked right on the metro and even got to sit down. I think that is the secret to getting home. 

Overall we had a fun time. We didn't need to get there any earlier than 4 p.m., you could even come at 5 and still get a good spot. Oh well, Ja and I spent some quality time together. We say this was a one time event, but we said that about the Rose Parade and we've gone 4 times now. At least we know what to expect next time.