HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....

AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(part 2)

So.  Where was I?  Oh yes.  When last we spoke I was in DC.....

First, here are some more pictures of the parade:

Here I am getting ready to leave:

One of the bazillion high school marching bands:

These guys held this pose for the WHOLE parade route!  Amazing!

There were a whole group of these guys.  They even did tricks on the bikes!

LOL!!!  Nothing says "Fourth of July" like a flamingo on a drum!  This group is from California.  Need I say more?  ;)

After the parade, we walked back to the Metro and rode up to DuPont Circle.  I had never been there before and apparently, it isn't a place that you want to go to alone, especially at night.  Who knew?  We ate brunch at a hotel restaurant, of which I forgot the name.  It was really, really good.  You got your choice of appetizer, entree, and dessert.  You also got to choose a drink. :)  You could choose a glass of champagne, a Bellini, a Mimosa, or a Bloody Mary.  I tasted champagne a looooonnnnnggggg time ago and frankly couldn't remember what it tasted like.  A Mimosa is champagne with orange juice, a Bellini is champagne with peach somethingorother, and a Bloody Mary is nasty. ;)  I had a Bellini and, to tell you the truth, I didn't like it all that much.  I'm really not much of a drinker.  The taste was ok but it was a little strong for me.  The brunch was A-mazing!  I chose the individual quiche for my appetizer.  It was made with puff pastry!  Yum.  For my entree I had a quesadilla.  That was really good, too.  It had corned beef hash in it.  That gave it a very unique, but good taste.  For dessert I had fresh fruit.  Yummmmmm!!!!

When we finished with brunch we walked back to the Metro and rode back to Chinatown.  There is a movie theatre connected to the Verizon center.  Since it was so blazingly hot outside and there was still time to kill before the fireworks, we went to see the movie Grownups.  I hadn't heard good things about it but I like Kevin James and Adam Sandler so I was willing to watch it with an open mind.  It was stupid and kind of goofily predictable, but it wasn't as bad as I heard it was.  Besides, I was with family so it really wouldn't have mattered to me what we saw. :)

I had to get home to take care of miss raven so I left after the movie.  I still got to see the fireworks on TV so I didn't feel too cheated.  Besides, who can resist this face?

(In case you were wondering, she is singing the Star Spangled Banner.  Just kidding.)

I have to say that being in DC on the Fourth of July is something special.  There is nothing like being in the nation's capital on the nation's birthday to make you feel patriotic.  Well, that and a bunch of Hare Krishnas:

Ok.  That was truly an inside joke between me and the BFF.  I will share with you but please don't be surprised if you can't truly appreciate it.  My first summer here, sixteen years ago, my BFF and a few other people were going in to DC for the Fourth of July.  Because she is the most awesome person in the world, my  BFF (who was not my BFF at the time) invited me along.  I was, in a word, ELATED to be included.  We spent the whole day in the city and, if I remember correctly, it was hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks that day, too.  At one point during the day we were walking down the sidewalk when, seemingly out of nowhere, a band (herd, bevy, gaggle??) of Hare Krishas came dancing toward us, singing and chanting and dancing and twirling.  It was all quite amazing to me.  We ended up smack dab in the middle of them all and I am surprised that none of us got proselytized that day.

See?  I told you it wasn't going to be all that funny to you.  Truly, you had to be there.

Do you want to know what the best part of the day was?  Getting to spend time with her:

She is my very favorite aunt and I am so glad that she moved back to this side of the country.  I am really looking forward to being able to spend more time with her.

Ok.  This is super long now so I am going to say goodnight.  Well, goodnight and I made chocolate-peanut butter ice cream.  Yum.  ;)

Oh, and, BFF.....this one's for you!