Happy birthday, America!

Not to be outdone by our dog, America also celebrated her birthday this month.  The Fourth of July may be my favorite holiday, even though I'm not ready to make that official since Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter are pretty great too.  I just love everything about the holiday: summer, BBQ's, fireworks, pie, pool time, people dressing in the same three colors, America Love everywhere.

Our celebration began and ended in Capitol Hill.  I love our neighborhood, especially on days like the Fourth of July.  My favorite part about living on the hill is that there's a real community here.  People shop at the local hardware store, everyone goes to one of three mechanics, you bump into someone you know when you go to the outdoor market. In honor of the fourth of July, our neighborhood took it up a notch and turned into one giant cul-de-sac.

Ben and I started our day by going to the Capitol Hill parade at Barracks Row.  We got there after 10 AM, but just in time to see the front of the parade line reach the end.  It was mainly a kids parade, with people walking in honor of the CH Little League (pictured), Girl Scouts, the local Elementary schools, the Princess Club, etc.  I'm not sure if the Princess Club is a real thing on the Hill, but it was awesome.  Roughly 20 princesses ages 3 -6 dressed up as princesses and shouted "Happy Fourth of July!" the entire parade route.

Eastern High School Marching Band.  I have a thing for marching bands, so this was a great way to start my holiday.

In the afternoon we watched a movie, ate popsicles, and went to the pool.  In the evening, we drove to a friend's place in Virginia for a BBQ.  While crossing the bridge, I captured this photo of the sun breaking through the clouds.  Also note how many boats are on the Potomac staking out their spot for the firework show later that night.  After the BBQ, we came back to DC just in time for the fireworks.  I didn't realize they shut off the bridges (people were parked all along the freeway to watch the fireworks on the mall), but fortunately we were the last ones the police let through.

We watched the fireworks from our roof, which has a great view of not only the fireworks on the mall (pictured), but also a panoramic view of the illegal fireworks all over DC.  I swear DC has the highest amount of illegal fireworks per capita (especially among cities), and it. is. awesome.

 For our last stop of the night, we headed to Lincoln Park, which is the local illegal firework show, and then to a friends for rhubarb strawberry pie.  It was the perfect way to end a near-perfect holiday (spraining my ankle on my morning run prevented it from being a perfect holiday, though it was still close).

This guy loves America (and I'm not talking about Ben, but he does too).