Monday, July 05, 2004
FIREWORKS!
We wanted to take Benny to the fireworks this year because we knew he would enjoy them in the extreme. But how to execute this fine plan? Here in Hampton Roads there are multiple little fireworks displays... Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Norfolk, there are some in various parks and whatnot... it's ridiculous! So. The plan was that we would go downtown to Norfolk's fireworks, which were being set off as part of a fourth of July picnic thingy in Town Point Park on the waterfront. Dan thought we could get good access if we parked in this sort of industrial part on the water, or if we got to the top of a parking garage. Sadie went to bed early so we had to get her back up and put her in the car seat. I *almost* stayed home so she wouldn't have to be disturbed but I couldn't miss it -- Benny was jumping out of his skin with excitement and I knew his reaction was going to be so rich. He had been playing with this applet all day. So I pried her out of bed and after a few moments of irritation she settled down with her giraffe and was okay.
So when we got downtown there were a million zillion people and we couldn't find a single legal parking spot. One problem was that we didn't know where exactly the fireworks were going to be... directly next to the park, or where the river gets wider, or what? We saw people looking out over the back end of the USS Wisconsin, which is parked next to the Nauticus museum there... so we parked illegally behind a row of parked cars and set up. We flipped the rear seat of the Odyssey back so it was like a tailgate couch and WOW WAS THAT AN EXCELLENT SET UP! As it turned out the fireworks WERE in the wider part of the river, directly behind the battleship, so we saw the entire show perfectly, even sort of framed on the bottom by this giant ship. We couldn't possibly have had better seats -- so comfortable on the back of the van with that awesome flippable seat!
BENNY WENT INSANE!!! There were lots of people gathered around -- by the time the show actually started, the whole street was full of illegally parked cars and people had gotten out and gone over to this bench area right across from the ship. Benny was shouting, "FIREWORK!!!!!! A FIREWORK!!!!! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE RIGHT THERE!!!! LOOK!!!!" and he was hollering to people in cars and around him directing them where to look and explaining what was going on, "WE ARE SEEING SOME FIREWORKS" he yelled to a person in a car trying to get down the street. Hehehe. He loved it all. He was so excited he didn't get to bed until M I D N I G H T because when we got home we watched the Boston display on TV and he also played with his applet endlessly, jumping up out of his computer chair and rushing in to call to us, "DADDY I FIREWORKED FOR YOU! COME AND SEE!" At bedtime he said, "But I just need to make some more fireworks right here, Mom." It was definitely a fantastic experience for him -- made a big impression. And Sadie, the ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS LITTLE DARLING CHILD, watched the whole thing from the tailgate. Biggest, roundest, most interested eyes I have ever seen. She didn't cry or even get upset -- during the finale I did put my hands over her ears because it was really loud. She watched with deep interest -- like she wanted to turn her head to rest her head on my shoulder, but she couldn't pry her eyes off the fireworks. Like Baby Einstein live, only with earsplitting explosions instead of Mozart. Hehehe.
Anyway, that was our holiday. It was great.
We wanted to take Benny to the fireworks this year because we knew he would enjoy them in the extreme. But how to execute this fine plan? Here in Hampton Roads there are multiple little fireworks displays... Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Norfolk, there are some in various parks and whatnot... it's ridiculous! So. The plan was that we would go downtown to Norfolk's fireworks, which were being set off as part of a fourth of July picnic thingy in Town Point Park on the waterfront. Dan thought we could get good access if we parked in this sort of industrial part on the water, or if we got to the top of a parking garage. Sadie went to bed early so we had to get her back up and put her in the car seat. I *almost* stayed home so she wouldn't have to be disturbed but I couldn't miss it -- Benny was jumping out of his skin with excitement and I knew his reaction was going to be so rich. He had been playing with this applet all day. So I pried her out of bed and after a few moments of irritation she settled down with her giraffe and was okay.
So when we got downtown there were a million zillion people and we couldn't find a single legal parking spot. One problem was that we didn't know where exactly the fireworks were going to be... directly next to the park, or where the river gets wider, or what? We saw people looking out over the back end of the USS Wisconsin, which is parked next to the Nauticus museum there... so we parked illegally behind a row of parked cars and set up. We flipped the rear seat of the Odyssey back so it was like a tailgate couch and WOW WAS THAT AN EXCELLENT SET UP! As it turned out the fireworks WERE in the wider part of the river, directly behind the battleship, so we saw the entire show perfectly, even sort of framed on the bottom by this giant ship. We couldn't possibly have had better seats -- so comfortable on the back of the van with that awesome flippable seat!
BENNY WENT INSANE!!! There were lots of people gathered around -- by the time the show actually started, the whole street was full of illegally parked cars and people had gotten out and gone over to this bench area right across from the ship. Benny was shouting, "FIREWORK!!!!!! A FIREWORK!!!!! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE RIGHT THERE!!!! LOOK!!!!" and he was hollering to people in cars and around him directing them where to look and explaining what was going on, "WE ARE SEEING SOME FIREWORKS" he yelled to a person in a car trying to get down the street. Hehehe. He loved it all. He was so excited he didn't get to bed until M I D N I G H T because when we got home we watched the Boston display on TV and he also played with his applet endlessly, jumping up out of his computer chair and rushing in to call to us, "DADDY I FIREWORKED FOR YOU! COME AND SEE!" At bedtime he said, "But I just need to make some more fireworks right here, Mom." It was definitely a fantastic experience for him -- made a big impression. And Sadie, the ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS LITTLE DARLING CHILD, watched the whole thing from the tailgate. Biggest, roundest, most interested eyes I have ever seen. She didn't cry or even get upset -- during the finale I did put my hands over her ears because it was really loud. She watched with deep interest -- like she wanted to turn her head to rest her head on my shoulder, but she couldn't pry her eyes off the fireworks. Like Baby Einstein live, only with earsplitting explosions instead of Mozart. Hehehe.
Anyway, that was our holiday. It was great.
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