137 - 4th of July

As you might have gathered from reading some of the camping posts, my little brother Jacob has been visiting us in Philly. Even though I should really just refer to him as my "younger" brother, since he's a good 5-6" taller than I am now, he's still 10 years my junior, and I changed his diapers, so he'll always be "little" for me (sorry, Jacob... it's just the truth).

Last year Jacob came out from Seattle to visit us for about a week, and this year he decided to stay a little longer. So, he was an honorary East Coaster for almost 2 weeks, and we made sure to keep him busy. (He also called the day after he got back to "yell" at me -- apparently he got used to our 90-100 degree weather while he was here and returned to Seattle during a week of highs in the mid-60s... oops...)

Since we did most of the "traditional" Philadelphia stuff during his visit last year, like visiting Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Elfreth's Alley, Reading Terminal Market, The Franklin Institute, and made sure we got cheesteaks from Pat's and Geno's,dim sum in Chinatown, and Rita's water ice, this year we focused more on fun "hanging out" kinds of things. Things like camping, and celebrating the 4th of July -- Philly style.

The 4th of July in Philly is a pretty big deal, complete with a week of events to celebrate. This year, after a BBQ at church, we went on down to Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the "Party on the Parkway", which includes a free concert (this year it was The Roots opening for the Goo Goo Dolls) and fireworks over the art museum. It's a pretty fun event, people get pretty excited, and you see some great things. I think this is probably the most awesome wig I've ever seen:

But before the fireworks can start, you have to wait (and wait, and wait, and wait) for it to get dark...

But once the fireworks start (around 11:15pm this year), the wait doesn't seem to matter so much. The first shot has Jacob standing on the right, then another with a fireworks display that makes me think of Jupiter. =)

It's pretty crazy, pretty crowded, and most definitely an adventure, but we all had fun (including the mad dash to the subway to beat the massive crowds afterwards). Hope you also found a great way to celebrate your 4th!