Other than being Independence Day, it was also my mother-in-law’s birthday. I invited her over earlier in the week for an indoor barbecue. Ro had spent the night with her and so B woke me up at 7am (I could have slept until 9am) anxious about getting the tri-tip ready in time. I had already marinated the tri-tip in soy sauce, garlic, and olive oil per this recipe. Of course, I realized that I forgot to get spinach for a peach salad. And then I forgot to buy a cake. So, I had to run to the store a couple of times during my preparation time. During the whole time, B had Caddyshack (1980) playing on the tv, but he helped arrange the food and serve everyone. . In the end, I managed to grill the tri-tip, chicken sausage, shrimp skewers, aspasagus, and corn. I tried to do squash, but burned it all. My mother-in-law brought over Ro and B’s great-grandpa around 11am when I still needed to finish the vegetables and shrimp on the grill. All of the food was supplemented by watermelon and store-bought potato salad. Everyone seemed to like the food even though Ro didn’t wan to eat any of the lunch until we got to the cake! I bought a chocolate cake from Savemart and we at it with ice cream drumsticks. All in all, not a fail. I did manage to burn myself pretty good on the lid.
Not too bad after two days.
The afternoon was fairly uneventful until it was time to watch fireworks. My mother-in-law and B’s great-grandpa left after we all watched Bonnie and Clyde (1968). Ro played by himself and let us rest and regroup. After a few hours, B went for a quick bike ride. He said he was going because he feeling a little fat and I was, too, but I used my allergies as an excuse to not exercise. And the gym closed at 6pm (oops).
We had many options for 4th of July fireworks to choose from: neighborhood fountain fireworks, Buchanan High School, Clovis High School, Sanger High School, and the Fresno Grizzlies game. Last year, we actually met a few friends and tailgated near the railroad tracks in Selma to watch the Selma High School fireworks. In the end, we decided to watch the fireworks from Tioga Sequoia brewery across the street from Chukchansi Park. We encountered one main problem we probably should have known would come up: there was no parking near the brewery. We ended up parking on the top of our employer’s parking garage. B really wanted to just watch the fireworks from where we parked, but I was worried that there were other buildings that would block the lower fireworks from view. Also, there were other couples there being romantic — so awkward with a three-year-old. In the end, B was thirsty and so we trekked the two blocks to the brewery.
As you could see from the first picture, it turned out to be a really good decision. The picture actually only shows the lower fireworks. The higher ones looked like they were up and directly over us. We ended up drinking only two root beers and a bottled water ($10). Ro doesn’t like effervescence and opted for the water. Until the fireworks started, all he wanted to do was unscrew the cap, take a sip, rescrew the cap, and then repeat the whole cycle. It worked well since we ended up waiting an hour at the brewery for the fireworks until he dropped the cap and until he spilled the water on his shoes. I had to wash the cap off in the bathroom to fix problem one. Problem two was solved when I pointed out the industrial fan and Ro quickly figured out how to dry off his own shoes in seconds.
When the fireworks started, all of the seats had been taken and we had decided to leave the chairs back at the car. We were stuck standing, but it turned out to be a really good deal. We found standing spots in the front part of the patio, B held Ro up to watch, and we couldn’t block anyone’s view if we tried. We were also in a spot where a nicely placed rotating standing fan blew the ash away from us and back toward the street. The show was probably only a half hour long, but the stadium did a really good job. My favorites were the golden “waterfalls” that Ro thought looked like hair and also some green blooms that glittered. The other best thing about standing the whole time? We were able to just walk out of the brewery as soon as the show was over. We left the parking garage and got home without any trouble. Ro even fell asleep on the way and didn’t wake up until I had to get ready for work the next day (Sa-weet!). I asked B later if the walk to Tioga Sequoia was worth and he conceded without any bitterness. ✌🏽
Extra thoughts:
—I don’t like very many old movies. I feel like they are always slow and rarely have a well-developed plot. There is also always some weird introspective character scene where it almost seems like someone is doing a favor or nodding to someone else to get the scene in the movie and it doesn’t flow with the whole rest of the movie. Maybe I’m just an action person. Caddyshack was pretty fun though.
—Has anyone else been having really bad allergies? I feel like I haven’t had a good break since February.
—I feel like my meal was edible, but I still have a long way to go. Maybe it’s just imposter syndrome. But I really like charcoal grilling now. Give me fire 🔥 any day.
We had many options for 4th of July fireworks to choose from: neighborhood fountain fireworks, Buchanan High School, Clovis High School, Sanger High School, and the Fresno Grizzlies game. Last year, we actually met a few friends and tailgated near the railroad tracks in Selma to watch the Selma High School fireworks. In the end, we decided to watch the fireworks from Tioga Sequoia brewery across the street from Chukchansi Park. We encountered one main problem we probably should have known would come up: there was no parking near the brewery. We ended up parking on the top of our employer’s parking garage. B really wanted to just watch the fireworks from where we parked, but I was worried that there were other buildings that would block the lower fireworks from view. Also, there were other couples there being romantic — so awkward with a three-year-old. In the end, B was thirsty and so we trekked the two blocks to the brewery.
As you could see from the first picture, it turned out to be a really good decision. The picture actually only shows the lower fireworks. The higher ones looked like they were up and directly over us. We ended up drinking only two root beers and a bottled water ($10). Ro doesn’t like effervescence and opted for the water. Until the fireworks started, all he wanted to do was unscrew the cap, take a sip, rescrew the cap, and then repeat the whole cycle. It worked well since we ended up waiting an hour at the brewery for the fireworks until he dropped the cap and until he spilled the water on his shoes. I had to wash the cap off in the bathroom to fix problem one. Problem two was solved when I pointed out the industrial fan and Ro quickly figured out how to dry off his own shoes in seconds.
When the fireworks started, all of the seats had been taken and we had decided to leave the chairs back at the car. We were stuck standing, but it turned out to be a really good deal. We found standing spots in the front part of the patio, B held Ro up to watch, and we couldn’t block anyone’s view if we tried. We were also in a spot where a nicely placed rotating standing fan blew the ash away from us and back toward the street. The show was probably only a half hour long, but the stadium did a really good job. My favorites were the golden “waterfalls” that Ro thought looked like hair and also some green blooms that glittered. The other best thing about standing the whole time? We were able to just walk out of the brewery as soon as the show was over. We left the parking garage and got home without any trouble. Ro even fell asleep on the way and didn’t wake up until I had to get ready for work the next day (Sa-weet!). I asked B later if the walk to Tioga Sequoia was worth and he conceded without any bitterness. ✌🏽
Extra thoughts:
—I don’t like very many old movies. I feel like they are always slow and rarely have a well-developed plot. There is also always some weird introspective character scene where it almost seems like someone is doing a favor or nodding to someone else to get the scene in the movie and it doesn’t flow with the whole rest of the movie. Maybe I’m just an action person. Caddyshack was pretty fun though.
—Has anyone else been having really bad allergies? I feel like I haven’t had a good break since February.
—I feel like my meal was edible, but I still have a long way to go. Maybe it’s just imposter syndrome. But I really like charcoal grilling now. Give me fire 🔥 any day.
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