Fourth of July Weekend

Vivian and I had another fancy, fun Fourth of July weekend together. It's always nice when the Fourth falls on a weekend so you can have three solid days of explosive mayhem. We went shopping at a couple fireworks pavilions down in Sarpy county for an array of fireworks to set off, and then we joined our friends up at Jenny's house for a pre-Independence Day party. We had an extended game of keep the volleyball in the air as the sun went down, then had fun like little kids with sparklers, Roman candles, and artillery shells. We also had plenty of dancing, of course, and Vivian got to do some sweet Charleston kicks with Sarah Little on the deck.

On Friday, Vivian and I had a "day date," going out for pasta at Lo Sole Mio and then watching the Wolverine movie together. That evening, we'd hoped to watch the fireworks at Rosenblatt Stadium on tenth street with our friends from GAMe. Unfortunately, the skies decided to unleash their wrath upon us after sprinkling lightly all day long. I was prepared to tough it out under a large umbrella, but everyone else was fleeing for cover and the police opened the street to traffic once we were gone. I hoped the city would have the good sense to delay the fireworks until tomorrow, when people could actually stay to watch them, but they decided to set them all off anyhow. Most of them were likely extinguished on their way up anyhow.

After we dried off, Hugh invited a bunch of us to hang out at his house and watch Liar Liar while eating grilled cheese sandwiches -- a lovely "lemonade" moment if ever there was one.

On Saturday, Vivian and I headed down to Ralston to participate in their annual Fourth of July parade with the Omaha Jitterbugs. Vivian was content to float around with Cliff taking photos and video this time around, and that gave her the chance to nab video of Debbie and me performing and arial for the grand stand at the apex of the parade. It was loads of fun, and the weather was just right: around 70 degrees and drizzling all the way. I'm not sure if I was wet mostly from sweat or precipitation. Naturally, we all crammed into a couple booths at Dairy Queen down the street to replenish whatever calories we'd managed to burn off.

We rounded off the day watching fireworks over Harrah's Casino in Council Bluffs from the picturesque view of the new Pork Barrel pedestrian bridge. The weather was downright chilly for July, and I actually had to bring a hoodie, but the view was magnificent.

Video highlights from the weekend