The Fourth of July is a major event in Alameda. We are home to the longest hometown parade in America, which is kind of a strange distinction to have, but we wear it with pride. Alameda has two downtown areas, so the parade is made to travel a very long distance to show merchants in both areas a little love. Everyone in the town attends - it is such a great slice of small town living!
The parade route travels just one block from our house, so we camped out with GayGay and PopPop and some lawn chairs this year. Virginia donned her Independence Day best - a dress courtesy of Auntie Lynn. She got lots of compliments from everyone at the parade (the parade committee chairman stopped just to photograph her after spotting her on the sidelines), and she seemed to eat up the attention.
After the parade, we attempted (unsuccessfully) for Virginia to take a little nap, and we then went with some friends to our neighborhood block party. Several homes on our street share a common backyard pool, and they open up their homes for a multi-family extravaganza on a few holidays a year. Virginia swam and swam and also jumped on their trampoline for hours. She then slept for 13+ hours that night - the Fourth was a success!
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