Ogii make cupcakes for the Fourth of July.
You can only have fireworks in some cities in Monterey county.
And they have to be "safe and sane."
Which means they can't move in any way.
So you can't even have tiny bottle rockets. Seems like they're restricting an awful lot of our freedom on a day to celebrate our freedom.
I guess we'll buy something.
Ogii with our package.
They can call these different types of snakes, but come on, they're really all the same.
They're snakes.
And they all do this.
I still like them, though.
Ogii setting of our first real firework.
Run!
It's OK.
Another one.
A bit bigger now.
More sparkles.
Bigger.
More.
This one sprayed enough we hid in the house.
winding down.
Let's set off all three of these at once.
Here we go.
Running.
Lots of smoke.
This one was just a long stick. How are we supposed to make it stand up? Guess I'll tape it to this other one.
Lighting it.
Well, it worked.
Bang snaps.
Ogii ready to throw down.
Hmm, I don't remember them leaving this much of a mess as a kid. They even singed the floor a bit.
Clean up time.
Lots of little pellets inside.
I don't think you're supposed to pull the stick out of the container.
One more.
Let's end with sparklers.
Um, they're not sparkling.
Incense punk? What's this crap? Where's my sparkler?
Don't want our house to burn down overnight.
Up bright at early the next morning on the Fourth of July. Ogii is a freedom flasher: closed...
... and open.
Watching Independence Day on the way to Monterey.
The parade route.
People set their chairs out very early.
Fireman's pancake breakfast.
Kids play zone.
Ogii loading up her plate.
Making the pancakes.
Good food.
Lots of seating inside.
And out.
Our spot for the parade.
Police first.
Then an old firetruck.
Then a new firetruck.
The the military.
Twirlers.
A band.
Giant balloons.
The mayor.
George, who hangs out at Fisherman's Wharf on the weekend and lets people pet his birds.
Lots of flags.
Veterans.
Old military vehicle.
More vets.
Jazz dancers.
Living history.
Bagpipers.
The fire station had Star Wars characters for some reason.
Giant dragon.
Doves for peace.
Baton twirlers.
Nice outfits.
Big balloons.
Advertising a Little Mermaid play.
Very patriotic.
Roller skaters.
Belly dancers.
A summer camp.
Wine trolley.
Boy Scouts.
Neat old car.
Older firetruck.
A mermaid.
The civic club has some nice outfits.
I'm not sure how the wolf costume fits in, though.
Chinese drummers.
Cub Scouts.
More flags.
And even more.
Motorcycles.
Police motorcycles.
Writers.
The Monterey trolley.
Girl Scouts.
Horns.
Ogii with some candy.
And getting a high five.
First Night Monterey.
Dancers.
Drummers.
Now time to wade through the sea of people leaving.
And wander over to the park.
Which has bouncy houses.
And live music.
Me in front of City Hall.
Ogii with a bear.
Lots of people picnicking.
Lots of good food.
Plenty of vendors.
And carnival games.
Flip a chicken.
Pig racing.
Lots of people.
On the way back to the car we stopped at this furniture store. This is a really nice table.
A bit expensive, though.
Neat older-style bed.
We were planning on staying at the park longer, but it was kind of boring, so we went and napped in the car for a bit.
Then went shopping.
And then watched the movie Tag, which was rather funny. The theater had this warning for the Incredibles 2 movie.
Next we headed over to Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside for their event. There were lots of people there, too.
It was called Red, White, and Blues and had blues bands playing.
Food vendors.
More.
Those look good.
But the BBQ looks better.
Definitely going with this.
Good choice.
Ogii chowing down on a chicken leg.
What is this thing?
Ah, and art car.
Some vendors.
Lots of kids playing in the sand traps.
Carnival games.
The one thing I didn't like about the Monterey ones where they were almost claustrophobic, all covered in cheap tarps. These were nice and out in the open.
Bouncy castles.
A huge line for the big roller balls.
Nice view.
A climbing tower.
And pony rides.
A long line for the porta potties. Luckily we went right when it opened when there was no line.
Wandered around in the parking area a bit trying to find our car.
They had a fireworks show going, but we didn't want to fight the traffic out of there afterwards, so we went to this nearby park to watch instead.
We could see them just over the trees.
A pretty one.
Multiple.
Red, white, and blue.
Another neat one.
A video of small fireworks at home and bigger ones at the park.