Happy 4th of July 2006!

This 4th of July it's not only Independence Day, but it's also a day of World Cup Soccer (Germany vs. Portugal). We planned to go to The Red Lion, a German restaurant and beer garden in Silverlake to watch the game in real German style. However, when we got there at 11 AM there was a line outside the door, as the restaurant was at capacity and they weren't letting any more people inside. Bummer!

So what did we do? Uwe called up his German friend Pascal who invited us to a microbrewery in Silverlake to watch the game with a group of friends. After an hour and a half wait (today any place that served alcohol and had a TV was packed) we were seated and got to watch the game. In case you didn't see it, Germany lost. Double bummer!

Then we headed home to do some serious bbq'ing and watch the fireworks from our balcony.

My little cutie pie showing off her red, white and blue 4th of July dress.In case you hadn't noticed, I cut Astrid's hair. I didn't plan on doing it myself, but I wasn't able to get an appointment with a hairstylist and her hair was getting way too long in the back. Her hair was getting stuck in her bib (ouch!), was uneven, and it was just too darn hot for the baby to have long hair on her neck.

So one evening after her bath I made two ponytails and cut 2 locks of hair as keepsakes. At first Uwe was horrified. First because I cut it with out him being there. I swear I didn't plan to do it. But he was happy I kept the 2 locks of hair, which we now have in Uwe's keepsake box I got him for Father's Day. And second because he said Astrid was just starting to look like a girl, and the short hair made her look like a boy again. But the short hair has grown on him and Uwe now calls it her "Mia Farrow" hairstyle.

I have a flyer for a salon nearby that specializes in kid's haircuts, so next haircut I'll take Astrid there and will make sure Uwe can join us. So that will be her official "1st haircut" and we can take photos.Checking out the big bag of charcoal we'll be using for our bbq tonight.Q: What do you do if you run out of fireworks?
A: Set a mattress on fire.

Yep that's a mattress on the sidewalk down below, on fire. There's the firetruck to put out the fire.I tried to take photos of the fireworks, but it is like taking photos of lightening. It's nearly impossible, but I did get a few. Last year was the first year we discovered that we had a spectacular fireworks view from our balcony. In past years we always went to 4th of July parties, but last year we came home early because of the baby, and lo and behold the skyline lit up with fireworks ALL night long. Last year I remember going to bed at 1:30 AM and the fireworks were still going.This year there were about 6 different fireworks going off simultaneously; amateur as well as professional ones.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe 4th of July!