Yesterday was spent celebrating our favorite holiday tradition…..Fourth of July family time, a huge dose of people watching, topped off with awesome fireworks. The night was poignant because never far from our mind was the realization that our next Fourth of July celebration in the States will not occur until July 4th, 2017.

I’ll miss Log Boom Park, where the Seattle family celebrates the Fourth. The park is on Lake Washington and has a great playground for the kiddos to expend energy, while waiting for the fireworks show to begin after dark…..(which, this far North, happens close to 10 pm). The corporate sponsors of the event make sure there are several craft making booths available in the park, a variety of food (for those not bringing a picnic from home), a DJ playing all types of music (Grandson Edgar requested “Let It Go” from Frozen, which was…..based on the reaction when played over the loud speaker, a favorite of the crowd), and a giant bouncy house (there were huge kids in that blow up toy….didn’t there used to be a height limit?). It’s a wonderful place to sit back and see the ethnic diversity of Americans and the joyful interaction between them. Everyone seemed happy (singing and dancing), respectful of each other (“sure….you are welcome to pull up a blanket and sit right beside us”), and…..I dunno….proud to be American (lots of red…white…and blue).

We managed to take tons of pictures of strangers celebrating yesterday, which we’ll share. Over the next two years we plan on taking thousands of pictures documenting holidays and celebrations of cultures outside the U.S. It seems fitting for us to begin our documentation with the celebration of American culture. Yes? God Bless America, Stars and Stripes Forever, Our Home Sweet Home.

For more Fourth of July pictures, click:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewickie/sets/72157645526175872/