Parading on the Fourth

It's been a jam-packed Independence Day here in Nebraska, and I've done so much more than I ever expected to do in a one-day vacation. The fun started on Tuesday night when Viv and I got to join some of her old friends from Great Adventures to watch the fireworks at the Rosenblatt Stadium from the 10th Street Bridge. We played some volleyball before the show started, and they played some of my favorite songs during the fireworks. Both Viv and I would have been dancing if we hadn't had such a pretty display of pyrotechnics to distract us. Afterwards, we headed back to a friend Angie's house to play games while the traffic very slowly cleared out over the next hour or two.

On Wednesday, Viv and I got to march (and dance) with the Omaha Jitterbugs in the Ralston Fourth of July Parade. It was a serious workout, doing the Lindy Hop in the July summer heat down a mile of sizzling concrete, but we had plenty of water along with us and we took a break every so often to do a shim sham or some Charleston. It was the first time we'd had a real energetic crowd cheering us on after every song, and it gave us all energy to keep up the pace. I was almost sorry to see it end. I'd love to do it all again sometime. Special thanks to Cliff for getting pictures of the parade.

After the parade, we needed to cool off, so we crashed at a Dairy Queen and stayed past their holiday closing time eating ice cream and stealing each other's french fries. They eventually kicked us out, and a couple of us went back to Viv's to swim for an hour or two and play keep away with a frisbee.

As the sun started to go down, it was soon time for fireworks again. Viv and I drove back to Lincoln to grab some dinner at Arby's and take it with us down to Oak Lake with my brother Nathan to watch the Lincoln fireworks display with music provided by the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. Afterwards, the three of us found a spot to set off some of our own fireworks that Viv has gleefully bought last Sunday. I never would have guessed she was such a "pyro," as we stayed up past midnight lighting fountains, shooting off artillery shells, and playing with sparklers. It was easily the best Independence Day I've ever had.