Independence Day

How we celebrated the day that the Brits seem to go out of their way not to acknowledge.

Oh fourth of July, how I love you. There is nothing better than spending this magical holiday with family and mixing in a little water and fire. In California, the Watkins family knows how to party on this day. We usually sit out by the pool, BBQ, listen to country music, then head to a park to enjoy some great community fireworks. It is always a great day and is one that Leon and I have celebrated together for seven straight years now.

I knew this year would be different, but I didn't realize how different. I went online to find out if anything special was going on in the city for the Americans to celebrate. And I found nothing...literally NOTHING. Mind you, on July 1 the entire Trafalgar square was shut down for a Canada Day carnival. I know that Canada is still associated with England, but seriously the city of London or maybe an American owned business (McDonalds or Starbucks) couldn't sponsor something... anything? Thanks for being lame London.

So, naturally I dressed my kids up in red, white, and blue and hit the streets of London to find something fun to do. I decided to take the kids to the only known residence of Benjamin Franklin that is still standing today. He is a gem of a guy and one who should be remembered on this day. Apparently they were having cake and bubbly. Many Americans had our same idea, so the venue was completely sold out. We then decided to just snap some pictures and go enjoy a good old American meal at the park.

Happy fourth of July (from my daily nemesis: the elevator)

This is how our photo shoot went. Ellie tried the best she could at keeping Jet by her, but her two year old self can only do so much when it comes to this crazy baby.

The best we could do

I thought long and hard about where to pick up our fourth of July lunch, and finally settled on Five Guys. I had never been there before, but you can't get more American than a greasy burger and fries. Apparently this was the restaurant's grand opening and the line was outrageous. But my kids are troopers and I wasn't going to let a line keep my arteries from being clogged on this joyous holiday. So we waited.

The line

The kids were great

Well, we did do a little balance practicing and climbing on things to pass the time

The reward, it was delish

 We ate our lunch at Coarm's Fields park. This park is one of my favorites here in the area because it is about 8 acres of grass and about 5 different parks around a central green for different ages. They also have a paddling pool, but I haven't seen it working yet. We brought our bathing suits just in case, but were quite disappointed when we saw it was dry. We love playing in the sand, climbing on the slides, and riding the "crazy swing". Ellie is so brave. She will hold on tight and fly down this zip line all by herself. It is so fun to watch. She is a blast to play with and I can just see Jet wanting to be big so he can play with her too.

My poor kids didn't even realize it was the Fourth of July. Jet has been completely deprived of this holiday his whole life. No parade, no water, and no fire works. And the truly disappointing thing was that Leon had to work. So we spent the day sands Dad too. We did get to pick him up from work and enjoy some ice cream together. Ellie even squeezed out a dance or two in the living room.  

Those stinkin Brits.

We will celebrate extra hard next year (that is if Obama doesn't take that away from us too). 

Ellie on the crazy swing

She can get off  "All by herself"

She loves this swimsuit. She doesn't care that there is no water, she will wear her suit in protest and love it.