Fourth of July Weekend

Well, the fourth of July weekend has come and gone. It was a BIG deal here at the Capitol of America. The weekend before, we went to the Folklife festival.  It started just past the Washington Monument, and went all the way to the Capitol.  There were A LOT of white tents, and tons of people. There was one area that was dedicated to the Peace Corps and they had people come from different parts of the world to share their lifestyles with us. Our American volunteers stood and translated under each tent, and told us what they were making. There were many from South America and Africa.  They were dressed in their traditional clothing and each country was set up in a different tent.  One had authentic cooking classes that rotated every half an hour, or hour, with a new country and a new recipe. Here are some pictures:

Head dress made of all beads

Some of them looked a little scared, and it was the people that didn't understand English.  I am not sure how they felt about the fact that every American that walked by took a picture of them.

I want to learn how to do this....incredible.

We had a good day.. museum and tent hopping all along the National Mall.  There were also tents with bands playing music, and smoothie stands everywhere.  We might have enjoyed a fresh strawberry smoothie :)

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The real party began on Monday the fourth at our ward breakfast! It started at 8 am with the raising of the flag, a speech, and pancakes! 

Daniel, Nat, and Preethi.  We love living so close to them!! This is the most outgoing baby you will ever meet. SO CUTE. The hubby thinks that Nat likes him the best...I don't know how I feel about that!

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That afternoon, we went to a BBQ at a park by Dan and Preethi's house.  We got to meet two more families in the ward and their cute kids. The hubby and I were the odd ones out, but we still had a good time.

Nat was sportin' his red, white, and blue.

Two good pictures of Daniel, back to back. Hahaha

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That night we walked from our apartment to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  It is not too far--only took us a half an hour, and the weather was perfect.  As we crossed the Potomac River into DC we noticed hundreds of boats out on the water just chillin' waiting for the show to start.  What a good view they all had from the water!! We tried to get a good picture, but it didn't work in the dark. 

Right when we got to the memorial, the first firework went off.  We made it just in time.  There were huge speakers BLASTING proud American music, and thousands of people admiring the show! There was no where to sit because people had staked out their places all day long, so we stood instead.  The view of the fireworks over the Capitol building and the Washington Monument was incredible!

We had a good fourth and loved celebrating it in DC this year!!