Independence Day

Monday was the 4th of July - Independence Day. Last year we were in Chicago so this was our first one in DC. I think this is one of my favourite American holidays simply because of the themed outfits that Americans like to dress up in, it's hilarious! Next year I'm going to have to walk around with my camera all day to try to get some photos of the red, white and blue outfits. My favourite is when the whole family dresses up in the same clothes, it's just brilliant!

Everyone puts out their American flags and all around our neighbourhood they stick flags in all the hanging baskets. Very patriotic.


In the early evening we headed with some friends over to the Virginia side of the Potomac river near to the Iwo Jima memorial to find the perfect spot for watching the fireworks. It was a really hot evening but we found a great place with a few hundred other people on a lawn looking out over the Lincoln memorial, Washington monument and Capitol building. We met up with some more friends and between us we had put together a bit of a picnic.



After a couple of hours waiting around for it to get dark, the fireworks finally started at 9.10pm. Last year we were really disappointed with the display in Chicago, but this year was brilliant. It's pretty difficult to take photos of fireworks especially without a tripod so I only took a couple before giving up.