Independence Day In Houston

Since all of you were wondering how we spent our 4th of July, here it is in pictures: First, I was determined to make some type of festive food. Paula and Logan are always good about doing that (like making a green breakfast for their kids for St. Patrick's day)- so I am trying to get into the habit now. Being festive is fun, right? So I just dumped a bunch of delicious fruit in a pie plate, covered it with whipped cream, and made a semblance of the flag using blueberries and strawberries. But we were trying not to eat too many sweets or fatty foods so it was the best I could come up with. I'm not quite up to Paula and Logan caliber yet, I know. But baby steps...

Festive Food

Then, we headed to Sugarland, Texas for their Red, White, and Bluefest. We had a few options to choose from. Houston actually has a huge festival with reportedly the best fireworks show in the nation. And this year, Sara Evans and Billy Currington were going to be singing there. Downsides: you have to pay and work your way through crowds of people. Another option was going to an outdoor Houston symphony concert accompanied by fireworks. Downside: It just didn't sound as exciting as a Red, White, and Bluefest.

So we headed to Sugarland, parked at a football stadium where huge greyhound-style buses were waiting to shuttle us to the park where the fun began. It seemed like the city of Sugarland had a pretty good system worked out. The park was beautiful and nice and bayou-ey. (After visiting Ben and Ry in Gonzales, Louisiana, we realized that Houston is really just an extension of Louisiana. This park was no exception.) Upon entering  the park, you cross a bridge over a river of alligators and turtles. There is a sign that says not to get within 15 feet of a gator. Makes sense to me. The park was pretty crowded with food booths and people. Unfortunately Sara Evans did not stop by Sugarland before heading to the Houston festival. Instead, some crazy band called Thunderpants were trying to sing 80's rock music. One of them was dressed like Beetlejuice. I have no idea what was going on. I'm sure the local talent could have outshone these guys. First of all, why were they singing 80's music at a 4th of July celebration? 2nd of all, who names a band Thunderpants. 3rd of all, why was the guy dressed as Beetlejuice? I'll try not to dwell on that anymore.

We were going to get some classic festival food like hot dogs and funnel cakes but that line was too long. Forrest hates lines. So we got in the shortest line there and were rewarded with some delicious brisket. Then we stopped by the "stage" where we recited the pledge of allegiance and heard a few snippets of the Declaration of Independence. Do you remember how at every 4th of July celebration in the Little House on the Prairie books, the recite the entire thing and everyone already has it memorized? Then Pa always starts singing some patriotic hymn and everyone joins in? And they have fresh lemonade that you can drink by the dipperful. I miss those days. I was jolted back to reality when Thunderpants resumed the stage and started singing some AC/DC song that no one should be singing but AC/DC. We quickly moved away from the stage and ran into this guy:

The HEB Bag Person

In case you were wondering, HEB is a southern grocery store that is actually quite delightful. At least, the one in Austin is delightful. Their fruit selection is usually fabulous and they have much better deals than they ever did at stores in Provo. We got peaches there for like 33 cents a pound once.

It was really hot, so I made Forrest stop by the Ben & Jerry's booth and buy the smallest size of ice cream for us. It was $4 and we only got a tablespoon of ice cream each, which was rather disappointing, but sometimes that is what you have to do in 100% humidity. When the time for fireworks drew near, my belly became heavier and I wanted to sit. So we moved towards the entrance of the park (for a quick getaway) and we found some rocks to sit on by a little pond. Here we are waiting for the show to begin.

I promise I look a lot more pregnant when I'm standing up.

I'm sure Forrest was a lot happier than he looks, despite the 100% humidity.

Taking pictures of fireworks is hard.

The fireworks were really good. The finale was way better than the one they had at the last stadium of fire. But then the show ended and within about 5 seconds, several thousand people surrounded us in an attempt to leave the park. We were seriously only 20 yards from the park exit, but it took us 20 minutes to get over that alligator bridge...and people were seriously right up there against you. Personal space ceased to exist. Once we were over the bridge, things got better until we made it to the spot where the buses picked people up to take them back to their cars at the stadium. You see, there was a line for the bus, which was fine, except most people didn't want to wait in line. So Forrest and I were with the 100 people who got in line to wait...and wait we did, while hundreds of other people walked past us and joined the line closer to the front.

After about an hour of not moving in line, we decided to follow the couple ahead of us who decided to just walk to the stadium. Surely, a distance that only took 5 minutes by bus was walkable in 15 or 20 minutes, right? Wrong. We stopped and asked a friendly cop the way back to the stadium. He told us to turn on this road and that it ran right into the stadium. It took us an hour to make it back to the stadium. By the time we made it there (after singing 'Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked' in my head a million times) our car was one of five left in the parking lot and it was past midnight (the fireworks ended at 9:40).  There was a time when an hour walk would have been okay with me. This was not that time. Forrest, hero that he is, did offer to carry me the rest of the way...On the drive home, we stopped and got us the largest size cherry-sprite possible at Jack-in-the-box. Sprite has never tasted so good. All's well that end's well.

Last but not least, we put together this 1,000 piece patriotic puzzle masterpiece. Forrest devoted many hours to its completion. I helped some, but he definitely deserves most of the credit.

Patriotic Puzzle