The fourth of July

When we were deciding on dates for our flight home from America we decided to stay for the Fourth of July festivities. The younger girls hadn't seen fireworks before and we had heard how amazing they were in San Francisco.

I'm so glad we made that decision! During the day we had been in Sausalito so we had a rest back at the hotel and tried to work out a plan. Everybody had told us how crowded it was at the wharf area, so many thousands of people would be flocking down there to get a good spot to watch the fireworks.

Everyone was telling us how hard it would be to see, how we would never get a cab back,

so we began to think twice about going. But how could we not? We were in San Francisco on July 4th!

Of course we had to go!

So Rosie put on her America Dress and we rugged up as best we could and headed out to Garibaldi Square, winding up and down those famous hills in a taxi.

When we got there we found a great spot and waited for the fun to begin. Far off on the horizon we could see some small, but pretty, fireworks. Feeling a bit flat I tried to enjoy them but hmm...not that exciting.

Then suddenly the real ones began!!!  Woo hoo!

And they were AMAZING! The sky was lit up by huge dandelion shapes of colour, great balls of exploding light. It was truly incredible, the best fireworks I've ever, ever seen.

It was magical and special,

and although I kept thinking it was New Years Eve,

that didn't really matter. All around us people exclaimed & shouted, and we did too!

Wow, wow, wow!!

It seemed to go on forever. 

But all good things come to an end don't they? Finally the last firework fizzled downwards and it was time to work out how to get home.  We tried to get on buses that were squashed full of people, we tried to hail taxi's but in the end there was only one way to get back, on foot! So instead of stressing about the long walk back, we made it into an adventure. 

We became spies in the city, undercover and charged with some kind of post firework energy we headed up and down hills. Through Little Italy and then into China Town we walked. The little ones were so tired but I kept reminding them how brave and strong they were, how they could do ANYTHING if they put their minds to it.

Illegal fireworks went off all around us, adding some drama and excitement to the journey.  It was kind of exhilarating really, and the girls did so well - walking over two miles to get back in the middle of the night. I'm sure they will remember this night forever. 

The fourth of July, in San Francisco x