Independence Day in D.C.

My mom and dad came into town during the week of the 4th of July. My mom really wanted to spend the holiday in D.C. to see the parade, fireworks, and festivities. We knew our kids wouldn't last all day and all night so we sent my parents off to sight see in the morning and we met them later for fireworks. Considering that the fireworks start 2 hours after their bedtime we were being pretty adventurous.

At about 2:30 in the afternoon Steve started getting antsy. He was worried that all the parking spots would be taken at the metro station. So we started packing up our gear: 2 backpacks, a 40 lb. tripod, snacks, water, diapers, camera, and a double stroller. By 3:30 we were waiting for our train.

Here we are at our train station. It's only the beginning of our 7 hour trek. Yep, that's just how patriotic we are, I guess.

Livy wouldn't wear her hat, so Kylee put it on.

Cody loves the metro. He swings around the poles and surfs in the aisles and still knows exactly where we are on the map.

Livy likes to bug Kylee by poking her and pulling her hair. Kylee is pretty good at just taking it.

It was a ridiculously hot and humid day. Ten minutes into our ride the girls were already sweaty and hot.

But Cody didn't seem to be affected at all by the heat.

We found a shady place near a fountain and cooled off once we got there. (about 5 pm). All the museums closed at 5:00 so there was no chance of air conditioning for us.

Still bugging...

her sister.

We met my dad and started walking from the Mall to the Roosevelt Monument on the other side of the Tidal Basin. It was about a 2 1/2 mile walk. (My mom stayed at the Mall for the concert).

Jefferson Monument

Once we got to our spot it was 6:00--3 more hours to kill until fireworks. So Steve got out the camera and explored with the kids while I kept Livy happy by the bench we had staked out.

Cody was all about finding spots for pictures and coming up with his own poses.

The sun is starting to go down! Only 1 1/2  more hours!!

As I look at these pictures I am realizing that they aren't really conveying how hot and miserable we were. And remember this is Maryland. So imagine eternal heat and humidity that doesn't die when the sun goes down. It was just as hot and miserable at night. I never knew how good Utah summer nights were until we moved. I miss that!

OK, maybe this picture gives a better idea of how hot we were. Kylee's hair was soaked.

Kylee took this picture.

Finally it was almost time to start. Meanwhile we had a beautiful view of the Washington Monument and the kids had fun watching the fish jump. (The fireworks show was to the left of the monument in this picture.)

Cody and Grandpa watching the fireworks.

Beautiful!

The fireworks started at 9:15. But at about 9:00 Livy decided she was done. She started to fuss for the first time on our trip. I was hoping the fireworks would be exciting to her (and not scary because of the booms) but she took one look at the first one and then lost interest and went back to fussing. When I turned her around she could see the people's faces behind us light up and that made her happy. She thought that was more fun and I was able to enjoy some of the 15 minute show in peace.

The crowds were crazy--especially at the metro station after it was all over. Since we had a stroller we used the elevator entrance to the metro and bypassed the mass of people backed up into the street at the regular entrance. We were able to hop on before the piles of people came rushing. We got home about midnight.

And Cody slept in past 8:00 for like the first time in his life. Steve liked this picture because it shows how we all felt the next day.