4th of July Fun

I went to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch the fireworks show on the 4th. I didn't actually go to the bowl itself, but to the hills overlooking the bowl, so we could watch the fireworks without dealing with all the crowds and mayhem below.

As you can see in the above pictures, it was a bit hazy for most of the afternoon. Having not seen the Santa Barbara/Goleta fire's smoke in Ventura or Malibu, I figured the smoke was moving inland, and channeling through the hills toward LA.

If you look in the pic above you may see the mass of vehicles near the Rose Bowl. I hate getting stuck in traffic like that, as it takes 30 minutes just to leave the lot. I really enjoy being above the fray, so to speak. I also enjoy watching fireworks without laying down or craning my neck to see.

My uncle has lived in the hills above the Rose Bowl for 6 years now, and we have watched the fireworks from his house for at least 4 of them. We head out to Pasadena to enjoy a nice afternoon of food and swimming. He always has a lot of great food.

My son got the most enjoyment out of the pool this time. He can't swim yet, but he wants to. He LOVES water. I have been holding him afloat on his stomach lately, and encouraging him to paddle and kick. He usually does, but he added a new trick this time. He started doing a breaststroke. His whole chest and head were coming up out of the water in regular intervals, mimicking a breaststroke almost perfectly. He didn't get his head in the water at all, but he was definitely accomplishing something with his strokes. Later he decided to brave getting his face wet. We encouraged him to put his head under water, mostly by example. He got excited and dipped his face in the water like Daddy did. This was encouraged by lots of applause, so he kept going. I think he will be swimming before he is 3.

The fireworks show was pretty cool. I had heard on the radio earlier in the week that the last minute of the show was going to have 2/3 of the fireworks in it. They narrowed it even further to say something like 1,400 explosions would happen in the final 40 seconds. I was looking forward to this.

Each year they add something new to the fireworks arsenal. A few years back it was those happy faces. This year there were a couple new ones. They made what looked like the planet Saturn. The addition I liked the most reminded me of the video game Centipede. A series of lights snaked up and settled in line with the previous one. It is harder to describe it than it is to appreciate it.

As you can see in one of the pictures, we were watching all the fireworks at eye level. No craning our necks. No laying uncomfortably in the grass. This was my kind of show. We had a lot of fun, and can't wait for next year.