Our Fourth

July started with a bang as we celebrated Independence Day. We braved the crowds and the threatening rain clouds to go watch the parade.

This kid knows a good show when he sees one.

 And he knows a good seat when he has one.

See those blue skies in the picture above? The next picture was taken 20 minutes later. That's Anchorage weather for you. After the parade we wandered around an outdoor carnival they had downtown. We listened to the Air Force Band of the Pacific play some of the rousing patriotic songs.

Then wandered around while we munched on a bag of kettle corn to see the different games and booths. This ride was noteworthy: a bucking salmon.

In all honesty, the parade was nothing spectacular--90% of it was politicians and beauty queens. Lovely people, all of them--but I would really prefer to hear a band or two, or see some floats, or most importantly, let David dive for some candy that they are throwing out. None of that was part of this parade.
And as another gee whiz fact about our town, we didn't have fireworks to watch on the fourth of July. It is simply too light to make the show's expense worth it. (The neighbors kept theirs cracking all night, so we still felt festive.) Fireworks in Anchorage are reserved for New Year's Eve. Next year we've made a mental note to gather sparklers, poppers and a few flags to wave.