Friday, August 10, 2018

4th of July

 My mind was full of thinking about the trip the week/weeks before we headed to the states that I didn't give the 4th of July much of a thought.  It is also not advertised here in Japan because it obviously isn't a holiday here.  The base does some fireworks but I wasn't really thinking about it at all.  We had no idea if we would be in Japan or in the states, but it turned out that we were in Washington.  We went with my sister, brother, and two nephews to Emerald downs horse race track.  The kids have never been so it was a fun experience.  It was crowded but they had some extra things going on for the holiday. 
We waited in line for what felt like hours to get the kids hands dipped in wax.  I only lasted about an hour in the hot sun then I had to bail on the line and go find some shade.  The kids really wanted to stick it out though.
 Tucker and Penelope thought it was pretty cool.  Leon said from the start he didn't want to do it.  He kept saying things like "Why would I want to dip my hand in earwax?"  Scarlett was excited but didn't know it would be hot.  Once her hand was dipped she instantly started crying and refused to try it again.  The people running the booth kept assuring us it wasn't hot but Tucker, Penelope, and Scarlett all told us that it was hot. 
 After that we had a lot of time to just hang out on the grass.  We marked out a spot with blankets and ate lots of chips and snacks.  Man, I'm already missing my favorite tortilla chips, I can't find them anywhere here in Japan, even at the commissary.
The fireworks started a little after ten and Calista did an amazing job staying up.  I thought she would be really grumpy and tired but she was playing all the way to the end, including trying to get me to play peak-a-boo with her during the fireworks.
The show was pretty good.  I could have done without the people smoking pot right next to us though...ugh I guess that is a Washington problem now.

Washington has the best weather during the summer!  Like seventies and sunny most days.  It is amazing compared to the feels like 110 degree extreme mugginess we experience here in Japan.  I tried to get outside as much as we could while we were there.  We took the kids to one of my favorite parks near my parents house that even has an exercise trail. 

 It also  has a playground, waterfall creak, and baseball fields. 
Once we finished at the trail and playground we headed over for a game of kickball.  That was a struggle for my kids.  Scarlett was crying from the start because she didn't get to be on my team, then Leon was devastated when he got out and refused to play anymore.  Lastly Penelope fell down and got out at the same time and just stood there refusing to look at anyone or move for a long time.  They were just taking the whole thing way to seriously and I'm happy to report that we played more games on other days and they handled themselves much better.

1 comment:

Gayle Daly said...

There will come a day when there will be no more tears.... I think.