Fourth of July
We traditionally spend the Fourth of July taking part in two events–the Lakewood Fourth of July Parade and then the fireworks at the Lakewood Country Club. This year our apartment complex offered fireworks viewing from the top floor of the complex parking garage, complete with burgers and snacks, so we decided to do that rather than drive to the country club.
The parade was quite fun. We sat in a different spot this year, a little further down Lakewood Blvd, and while the spot was nicer in that the grass was full and didn’t contain fire ants, the shade from the nearby tree didn’t last very long and soon enough we were all in 90 degree sunlight. It wasn’t unbearable but we will definitely look for a shadier spot next year. The parade itself was quite a bit longer than last year, which was great, although I found the theme a bit lame (American Idol).
Willow and Mia examine their loot
The Lakewood parade is really an old-fashioned neighborhood parade. The floats are usually little more than a bunch of people in make-up on the back of a pick-up truck. Every so often there is a more elaborate design, but for the most part it’s just a bunch of people walking down the street, having fun, and tossing candy at the kids. Ah, candy! Our kids make out like bandits every year. It’s almost better than Halloween with none of that walking up and down the street and ringing doorbell work. Here you just sit down and the people walk by throwing candy at you.
So we walked back to our car with a big bag full of candy and happy kids.
As I mentioned we went to the parking garage roof for fireworks. We had done this two years ago and the experience was very disappointing. You can barely see fireworks over the tops of trees from a great distance away. I agreed to do it again this year for two reasons: Lea was home sick and the kids seemed to enjoy the opportunity to hang out with their neighbors at a party/picnic.
We showed up and the kids had a great time. Mia brought her barnyard animal toys, and Willow saw her friend Andrea. Unfortunately, Andrea had to head home and Mia became scared of the height, as we were pretty high up from the ground with no ceiling and walls, just a wire fence separating us from a five story fall. So in the midst of fireworks, Mia wanted to go home because she was scared and Willow wanted to go home because the fireworks were lame.
Oh well, next year it will be back to the country club. In the mean time, we had a lot of fun, even with the disappointment.
