Fourth of July Weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun. It was supposed to be a 3-day weekend, but Steve worked Friday morning to make-up for a day he took off earlier last month...and for me, there was a bit of work drama on Friday due to the fact that the communications center in Seattle that houses the server for my organization's website had a fire late Thursday night, so our website and email went off line for about 24 hours from Friday-Saturday. Still, we had some time to chill out in the backyard on Friday before the temps got too high.

Bright and early Saturday morning, Steve and I headed over to northern Idaho to the region's largest amusement and water park. His station was broadcasting from the waterpark, so we spent a few hours there. It was wicked hot (95 degrees) and while Steve had to work under the station tent meeting and greeting fans and running some prize drawings, I had the opportunity to cool off in the water. As usual, I was a little bit self-conscious about being in public in a swimsuit, but once the temps topped 90 and I saw all the thousands of folks (of all shapes and sizes) stripping down - I decided to go for it - I grabbed an inner tube and floated the lazy river right along with the rest of 'em - and it was heavenly!

After the station promotion was over, we had planned on exploring the rest of the amusement park, but it was just too darned hot - so we skipped out and headed back into town - stopping for a late lunch in Coeur d'Alene along the way.

Personal fireworks were banned in the city of Spokane several years ago, and with the $500 fine heavily enforced, it was nice and quiet around our neighborhood - perfect for afternoon naps! Later in the evening we decided to head downtown for the public fireworks display over the river. After grabbing slushees at Sonic, we decided to avoid the crowds and head straight over to the station to watch the fireworks from the TV news weatherdeck - which has a great view overlooking the city.

A few other station employees were there with their families, including one family that has adopted from China (twice) so it was fun for me to meet them and watch their girls enjoy the fireworks show. Steve snapped about 200 photos during the fireworks show and several of them turned out great. What a great weekend it has been. Enjoy your independence everybody!