We spent the 4th of July up in Washington with my family and we had a great time! We got up in the morning,went to the ward breakfast, packed a picnic lunch, and then headed to the waterfront in Tacoma for the Freedom Festival.
We watched the air show while we ate our lunch and then went down to Ruston Way to see everything that was going on. There was a lot of different things to see and do including: concerts, bounce houses, a pole vaulting meet, bmx bike show, car show, food, vendors, etc.
The boys were able to meet Darth Vader and a storm trooper-- they thought this was awesome!
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| Russell with Darth Vader. |
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| Nathan with Darth Vader. |
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We went out onto the dock to enjoy to the view. Washington really is beautiful!
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| Me, Sadie, Dad, & Megan. |
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| I love this photo! |
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| Andy & I. |
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| Yeah, we got caught smooching <3 |
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| Mt. Rainier |
There was a guy riding a BMX and doing tricks. The boys loved watching the BMX biker, we took a picture of them with him but I can't find it.
We went hunting for crabs on the beach and managed to find a few.
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| Me, Sadie, Megan, & Russell--hunting for crabs. |
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| Me, Sadie, Megan, & Nathan. |
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| We found a semi large one. |
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| This little guy was tiny! |
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| Andy helping Russell hold a little crab. |
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| Sadie with a crab. |
Russell heard that they were doing remote control car races and he really wanted to see them. We walked all the way to the end of the Freedom Festival (1 1/2 miles) and didn't see any remote control car races-- he was really disappointed. Luckily I spotted some military vehicles and the military personal were kind enough to let him get in them, this cheered him right up. Before too long he was asking each officer what their job was, they seemed to like that.
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| Russell & Andy. |
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| Russell & Andy. |
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| He was really excited to climb into the driver seat! |
On the way back down the strip we stopped to watch a pole vaulting meet. I wanted to pole vault in high school but I didn't have the upper body strength to get up. Russell, Andy, and I sure enjoyed watching the pole vaulters. I was amazed by how high up they could get.
While we were watching the pole vaulters, Russell put Andy's hat on a random girl's white husky. It was really funny to watch him interact with the dog. I wish we had gotten him on video.
One of the pole vaulters gave Russell a free adult sized medium long, he thought this was great! He put the shirt on and started running down the street with the sleeves dragging behind him. Everyone he passed started to laugh. I love this little boy, he is so funny!
After the Freedom Festival we headed over to the reservation to get some fireworks (you get the best deals if you go right before they close their stands down). We lit off our big illegal fireworks at the reservation and watched the show on the waterfront before heading home for the night.
I'm so grateful for the freedoms we have and the men and women who fight to protect us. Happy Birthday America!
