Independence Weekend

Dan was granted a nice long 4-day weekend to celebrate July 4th…and it much needed to allow him to catch up on sleep, soak his feet and rest his body! Here’s a few more photos from the field….

Hey look, it’s Danno! That’s a whole lot of officers…with a whole lot of gear!

A view from the "Pitz" They take turns setting up the targets for the guys on the end of the field.

Danno & his BCGs in action. He passed all quals (qualifications) Woohoo!

In addition to resting, we successfully cleared out tons of boxes, making room for a new couch in our living room, which should be delivered next week. We’re very excited. Dan will no longer have to come home to sit in a wobbly dining table chair, and will no longer have to watch TV from the floor with his head propped up on a Bosu ball (Google it if you don’t know what it is). Most of all we look forward to accommodate having friends come over. In Cali we were so used to having our small group lounging at our house…they were over so often, it wasn’t unusual that they just walked in without knocking. (btw, we miss you guys!!) We definitely won’t be leaving our door unlocked out here, but we certainly look forward to having company in our house again.

Anyways, for some 4th of July fireworks, we ventured to D.C., taking the metro to avoid the inevitable traffic and parking madness – good move. We decided to stop at the Iwo Jima Memorial Park to watch the fireworks from there, rather than heading to the National Mall – another good move. It was calm, not too crowded, and a nice view of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial and the Capitol Building in the distance. But we forgot to bring an umbrella – bad move. Clearly we’re not from the East Coast, always ready for the sudden rainstorms that pass through! At least we packed a blanket, snacks to eat, and put his textbook in plastic baggy – good move!

Sure enough, we toughed out the rain…pouring off and on for a few hours…we were determined to see those fireworks! In the end, we were glad we went. Their show out here looks like a finale the whole time. Non-stop. It was great! Here’s some pics..

My first time to see the Iwo Jima Memorial in person…the rest of D.C. is still yet to be explored!

Keeping dry hours before the show....We're under a tree…that’s near an electric pole..and at one point Dan was talking on a cell phone…yes, we realize that was a bad combination if lightning were to strike.
What a good student...Danno reading while I admire the view.
Claimed our spot on the lawn. No longer dry.
More waiting in the rain.

We’ll leave the firework images to the pros, since our camera does not do justice whatsoever. Here's diff views, from the memorial and from the park.

Up next...MCMAP - Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. Danno getting paid to learn how to fight people a billion different ways. I know he's really gonna enjoy this...