Fourth of July Weekend

Our weekend really felt like more of a 4 day weekend because we started the holiday on Friday with a trip into SF to visit Daddy. Jeff's company was letting everyone leave at noon that day, so the kids and I braved BART together on a holiday weekend. The weather in SF was absolutely gorgeous! We stopped for a quick lunch, walked around a happening plaza near Jeff's office, and then strolled the Ferry Building for treats. After that, the girls departed back to Benicia, while the boys had a buddy day in SF. They road the tram down to Ghirardelli Square, had a giant ice cream sundae, visited the Cable Car Museum (Nicholas came home with a cable car magnet and a patch), strolled to Pier 39, trammed back to the Ferry Building, and took a leisurely boat ride home. Nicholas had a great time hanging out with just his Daddy.

Jeff and Nicholas within this neat water sculpture by Jeff's office

Lexi wanted to be up high too

The full sculpture...you could walk underneath it too...which we did.
I did not, however, try to navigate it with my camera.

Lexi was the only one dancing in the middle of this plaza to a choir that was singing.
It was very cute.

She was mesmerized by the singing.

Our stroll through the Ferry Building gave us a chance to peruse some lobsters

Daddy and Lexi

Once we broke off from the boys, Lexi and I shared a delicious cupcake on the plaza.
She made a giant mess.

By Sunday, the real Fourth of July festivities had started...and it was H-O-T! Like mid '90s. Us Benicians are used to the cool Bay air, so when it gets hot, we sometimes don't know what to do...well, we all like to complain. :) However, there's something about the Fourth of July that just screams HOT! So I secretly loved it...that's how it should be.

Benicia holds its annual Torchlight Parade the night of July 3rd and the ENTIRE town comes down. My dad, Lexi, and myself began our parade experience at 7AM by cruising downtown and lying our blankets by the gazebo at the top of First Street. Honestly, by 7AM, we barely found a spot...mind you the parade doesn't start until 6:30PM...we Benicians take our parades seriously. Jeff and Nicholas met us all for breakfast at First Street Cafe...which, if you're ever in Benicia, has great breakfasts...it was a real treat, since we never have enough motivation to get out of the door for breakfast.

By 3PM we were ready to head downtown for a BBQ at our friends', Lauri, Bob, and their daughter, Olivia. By then, it was REALLY hot outside, but nothing some sprinklers and a blow up pool wouldn't fix for the kids. After a few beers and some good food, the adults didn't mind either. We then headed to our blankets by the gazebo where we met up with my mom and our friends the Eks (Kacy, Joe, Mason, Collin, Micah, Jesslyn, and Merrick). Nicholas loved the parade last year and was excited this year, but about halfway through all you could hear was, "This is BORRRRRRRING!" That's his new catch phrase...nice, huh? Anyway, it was fun watching the parade with our friends.

Nana and Lexi enjoyed some cotton candy

Lexi has her kazoo ready too

Our friends, Brit and Nikos, were in the parade

Dad was in the parade too...the Coldwell Banker Kazoo band (forgive the blurry pic)

Collin

On the actual Fourth of July we headed over to the Ek's house for a block party in the afternoon. Their entire street shuts down to traffic and everyone is on their front lawns BBQing. Some neighbors even had a live band and a snow cone maker. It was still super hot, so the kids had a blast running up and down the street with water balloons and water guns. Nicholas surprised me with how willing he was to get into water gun fights with boys twice his age! We headed out around 7 and then over to my parents' friends' house for fireworks. They live up on a hill, so we didn't have drive downtown by the water to view them. Nicholas was excited to see the fireworks, but by 9:30 that night, both kids were a bit punchy. Our kids usually go to bed at 8, but were up until 10 two nights in a row, so, as you can imagine, they were a bit "off".

It was a long, but fun weekend. I was sorry to see it end!

As the kids were eating their dinner this man came up from down the street for some "revenge"! He blasted Nicholas and Mason, and dribbled a bit of water on Collin for good measure. The boys thought it was hysterical. When they finished dinner they went to hunt the man down for some revenge as well!

Nothing says July 4th like some watermelon


Yummy, yummy...Lexi has finally gotten her appetite back! Lexi was on a hunger strike for about a month after having a lingering ear infection...it seems as if, as of this weekend, that has passed.

Happy 4th of July everyone!