Me, In 3's

I've been tagged. The task is to list things in 3's, namely:

Joy-joys

1. Snuggling

2. Text messages
3. Grocery shopping

Fears

1. Facial disfigurement
2. Unemployment
3. Bunnies

Goals

1. Stop renting
2. Write a book
3. Laser hair removal

Obsessions

1. Music
2. Making lists

3. Dolly Parton

Surprising facts about me
1. I have O-negative blood (i think)

2. I want to marry a canadian

3. Kangaroo is my favorite zoo animal

I'm tagging Lauren C., Brandon F., and Laura D.

Ocean Park, WA

We have a really beautiful country. The last few years I've tried to experience my 4th's of July in areas other than Salt Lake. I figure if I'm celebrating this great land, I oughta know what's here.
I went to Knoxville in 2004 and enjoyed their firework traditions with Billy, Teresa and Chandler (pre-Brielle). Let me tell you the excitement that comes from cramming hundreds of thousands of rednecks beneath the Sunsphere. They had a lot of live music, dead animals, body odor and a shaved ice stand that made my whole trip worth-while.
I went to Seattle in 2006 and watched fireworks over Puget Sound. It was cool to see all the sailboats anchored out in the water, floating on the fireworks' reflection.
This year, I went back to Washington state but this time I was on the coast. Long Beach Peninsula is 25 miles long, 2 miles wide and very fun!

Welcome to Ocean Park

The Long Beach parade was actually quite impressive. I wish I'd taken pictures of their synchronized grocery cart marching segment. Terry made all of us wear something funky to the parade. I don't know how Max got off so easy. Ayden was wearing a Wonder Woman wig (or something eerily similar) but wasn't happy with it.

Above: Avory, Terry, Ayden, Ryley, Jeni, me, Max.
Below: me trying to get warm...it was like 60 degrees and drizzly.

We did some of our own fireworks before dark. Ayden got scared by one of them and took off running...

He got a little braver with the smoke bombs once he saw Ryley jumping on them.

What happens when you tell five little boys they have to play inside? They turn into five little monkeys...

Ry-guy:

Ayden:

The Hammonds: (thanks for treating me to such a wonderful trip!)

Come to my bosom!

I've been enjoying a lot of concerts lately. So far this year I've seen Tally Hall & OneRepublic with Todd, Alan Jackson with Scott and am due for Sheryl Crow with Jess in August. Dolly will be in Sacramento soon and that one might be too tempting to pass-up but we'll see what the budget allows.

Now, we all know how much I adore Dolly, but I drool for only one country legend: Tim. Yes, Faith's Tim. He has "Faith" tattooed on his arm with a little heart dotting the "i" - so what! Jeni and I scored 8th row (with a price) and it was worth every penny. We passed through four lines of security personnel just to get to our seats and every time we showed them our tickets they would look at us, smile and nod - the only thing missing was the wink. But yeah, we were sumpen special. As soon as Tim took the stage, we did too. We got up close and not-quite-as-personal-as-we'd-hoped for but still touched the man! He would come by and reach down to us earthlings every so often. Jeni's arm is longer than mine and she kept blocking my chance and taking all the love for herself! He would grab her hand, skip over mine and grab the next tall hand. I finally triumphed by jumping and reaching as high as I could and grabbing his wrist, just above his right hand. Joy!

Yes, this is for real:

I didn't even have to zoom to take this picture.

There's that stupid Faith tattoo. I'm not worried about it though because he has enough money to get it laser-removed later.


Hold on, it gets better...


Possibly the best picture I've ever taken: