I was anxious and ready, and I lived in Seattle, so I'm not afraid of a little rain. so I convinced a reluctant Matt and Chris to unload the car (including the stroller that was strapped to the top of the roof) in the pouring rain. Then Chris and I waited in line, and then picked our spot on the mall, right in front of the Washington monument on the Capitol side.
We were drenched. I was wringing water out of my maxi skirt for the next few hours. And when we were done setting up the canopy and securing all of our things underneath, and when it had stopped raining, we realized that the jolly green was no longer waiting for us and neither of us had brought our phones. :/
A few borrowed phone calls later and we finally met up with our gang. They had driven to the parking garage and walked all the rest of the stuff to the monument. None of them got wet. If I had a crystal ball to know that the rain was going to stop in 30 minutes, and that no one else was going to set up on the mall for at least another hour, I would have waited. But I didn't, and I have anxiety, so there.
We snagged some pictures before things got too busy.
After the McCombs arrived and we were all situated, we headed to see the parade at 11:45. Matt and I attempted to get a picture... Photobomb #1.
And photobomb #2.
And finally, the love, and I.
A camera man was walking along and stopped to film these cute kids. Of course, they froze when he did that, so he motioned for them to wave their flags, which they happily, albeit awkwardly obliged.
The police motorcycles were pretty cool too. They zig zagged in and out and put on a fun show.
Happy parade goers.
See how happy they all were? That Delaney.
Everyone loved Uncle Sam on stilts.
After an hour, Addie was pretty done. We stayed a few minutes longer, but Delaney was done too, so I took this crew and we headed back to home base.
Things looked a little Armageddon'ish, with empty streets (they'd all been blocked off around the monuments) and buses and ambulances parked all cockeyed to block the roads.
The parade was so fun! Loved the fife and drums!
Only you can prevent forrest fires.
And then Daniel got all artistic with mine and delaneys picture. (:
Silly girl.
After sub sandwiches for lunch, Frankie really wanted to see dinosaurs, so Matt was going to take the littles to the museum of natural history to see them. But then everyone but the teens, Jenny, and I decided to go.
So Lexi and I took the quiet opportunity to walk down to the Lincoln memorial - my fav.
The whole reflecting pool area was all blocked off because that's where they shoot the fireworks. And it turns out that the other side of the monument is a better place to sit and where most people had set up. Live and learn.
We went around 2, and there were already lots of people camped out on the steps of the Lincoln memorial to watch the fireworks, which start at 9:15.
We meandered back via the mlk memorial. It was a nice walk and Lexi and I had a great talk about boys, life, and school. She's a good girl.
Thankfully we went back before the rain started again! And thankfully the majority of the gang was still at the museums, and the Oakes gang had headed to see Mr Lincoln. Because we couldn't have all fit under our one little canopy!
It got to raining so hard that we started putting ponchos and towels up to make walls and block the rain from coming in. Gina got creative. And brave.
It was a total monsoon!
All we could do was laugh! It was so ridiculous!
We played uno and spot it, and talked, and ate. It was really pretty fun.
Chris put napkins at the top of the canopy to try to prevent the leaks that were wetting us and our card games.
We texted back and forth with the museum crew. They couldn't even see the Washington monument, it was raining so hard.
Thankfully the museums were operating on "safe haven" mode and stayed open past 5 so people didn't have to leave during the deluge. Also thankfully, Laney took a nap in the stroller.
It finally stopped raining, and hooray, the fireworks were still on!
We ate a dinner of several different pasta salads and watched as the masses started arriving. And Delaney put a flag down her pants. (:
(:
The McRays.
I just came up with that.
And just our patriotic crew.
We love us some 'merica.
Waiting for the show to start. We could hear the Air Force rock band, and they put on a good show, so that was nice.
One of these things is not like the others...
Friendies after.
Just slightly more haggard.
The fireworks were really good. All of them. (;
Chris and brenna started the whole pic-with-fireworks-in-background thing, and Lexi was all I want in on that action.
These are all just my phone (I'm so lame) but above is with flash, and below is without.
I'm Proud to be an American played, and as soon as it finished, the fireworks started. It was take-your-breath-away awesome.
After the fireworks ended, we waited about 15 minutes for the crowds to thin out, and then headed to our parking garage. It was just about half mile away, and with our pack mule stroller loaded to the gills, it wasn't bad at all. It was crowded, but totally manageable. The worst part was when we had to walk past the line for the metro, that was crazy! Soooo glad we didn't metro in! Especially since we got a parking garage for $6. (:
I would totally do the 4th in DC again. That surprised me, cause I was thinking before we went that it would be a once in a lifetime thing. It was so fun spending the whole day in the city with the whole family and lots of friends. Once we got to our car, the traffic wasn't bad either. And my wonderful husband drove us safely home as we all fell asleep. The only thing I didn't do that I wanted to was to go to the Archives and see the Declaration of Independence. There's always next year though. (:
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