Fourth of July

We tried to keep up with our annual fourth of July activities this year (parade and fireworks) but despite our best efforts it just wasn't quite the same in Santa Monica as it was in Lincoln. The parade was so boring I could barely get through it, and it was so different in liberal Santa Monica than it is in super conservative Lincoln. Example: In Lincoln the residents politely abstain from clapping when the democrat officials cars pass. In Santa Monica the occupy movement people were smoking pot as they walked down the street and I'm pretty sure there weren't any republicans in the parade at all. Not that I care which officials are in the parade...just an example. Then that night we went to the Marina for fireworks, but the display ended up being mostly blocked by the smoke that was trapped under the low level marine layer. We had fun anyway eating ice cream, throwing pop-its, and watching the sea lions on the docks. The kids weren't feeling much like posing for pictures (when are they ever right?) but they got really into making funny faces.