Spectacular!

Alright, I suppose I should update. ;) I'm trying to keep on top of this.

I've been lured away by free photo software I found. I've been having so much fun playing with my photos I kinda forgot that I never actually blogged about the fourth. Oh well, I'm here now.

We had a blast. We went to The Philharmonic's Star-Spangled Spectacular. I love the the Fourth of July. I love live music. I love being outside. So, this was just perfect for me. I will walk you through the festivities with pictures!

Me. Note the cute 4th shirt. It says "lifelibertyhappiness"

We got to the park when the gates opened at 4:30. The show wasn't set to start until 8. (I neglected to tell Mike this little fact. I wanted a good spot!) We had packed a cooler full of snacks and drinks. We brought a blanket and low backed chairs. We were set.

Note Mike's shirt as well. It says, "Why be Walken when you could be dancin'?" Anyone else love that video as much as us?

Mike passed the time like this.

He read even while the concert was going. *grrrrr*

The Umbrella Cocoon

I spent my time reading some but mostly doing people watching and taking pictures. There was this group that fascinated me. I named them "The Umbrella Cocoon." See the picture. See where they are in relation to the stage. Yeah, right in front of it. And there must have been 20 umbrellas by the time they were done. And they weren't dainty little parasols either. Those are mega beach umbrellas. (I don't even know where you would find such a thing in Las Vegas.) They were covering just about every inch of space a sun ray *might* be able to get through. The weird thing was, security was allowing it! Anyone else who even thought about having a high backed chair or umbrella was shut down and told to move to the sides (where chairs were allowed). Thankfully, they all came down in time for the concert.

Sunset

More sunset.

We had an absolutely beautiful sunset that night. It was kinda bittersweet seeing it though. I know that the reason it was so gorgeous was because we're getting some of the smoke from the fires in Cali. But isn't it pretty?

Then, while I was running around the park taking pictures of that pretty sunset, the concert started. Of course! Ahhhh, what do I do? I heard it but I couldn't very well go running back to my seat while the National Anthem was being played. (Speaking of moving during ceremonies, have you ever been on a base during the lowering (or raising) of the flag? It's bizarre. Everyone stops wherever they are and whatever they're doing and is still and at attention. I mean, middle of the street, walking out of the commissary, statue-like and quiet. Very eerie the first time you experience it. Anyway, I digress. Back to the story.) So, I missed the presenting of the colors while I stood still and listened. Then went back to my seat.

And watched this little guy.

He kinda broke my heart and made my uterus do little flips. He was so dang cute. And he must have been around music his entire little life so far because the kid had rhythm. He conducted his little heart out with his flag (you can barely see it in the pic because he was waving it around). And when I say he conducted, he really did. He was on beat and everything. Then, when the song was over, he would take the biggest and most dramatic bow you've ever seen. It was amazing.

The Phil.

(In the above picture, does anyone else think it looks like the Phil is being swallowed by a whale? Because let me tell you, that's all I could think about while the lighting was like that.) The music was, of course, great. Lots of patriotic music (duh). They did a tribute to the armed forces where they played all of the branches songs and had people stand if they'd been in that service. Mike got to stand for the Army. as he pointed out, he was the youngest one standing my at least 2 generations. But he got kinda teary all the same. They even had a broadway guy come in and sing four songs. Hooray!! And to the list of things I love Broadway showtunes. This just gets better and better. And then, there were FIREWORKS!!! Yaaaay!!!!

Perfect. One of the best Fourth of July's in a long time. Hope you enjoyed yours too!

(Oh and the free photo software I found is picnik. It's totally free and really, really easy to use. I LOVE it!!!

(In completely unrelated news, it's cd13 and I got a high on my CBEFM! w00t! And I'll be caling the doctors office today to hopefully get the results of the bloodwork.)