It starts with a parade (and/or race) at 9:00 AM. We live on a double cul-de-sac street. Kids, who have decorated their bikes, scooters, etc., start in one cul-de-sac and go to the other.
Waiting for the kids at the other end is a home-spun carnival. Several game areas are set up for them.
My wife in action on one of our neighbors. Of course, most of you recognize my smiling granddaughter, because her photos have made more appearances on my blog than anybody else. Love that girl! The carnival goes on for a couple of hours. Then it's time for...
The Water War!
The two cul-de-sacs battle it out. The far CDS fills up pickup trucks with with water (using tarps) for water cannons. They also fill up vehicles with scads of water balloons.
To get to our end, they have to run a gauntlet consisting of water hoses, showers of water balloons and even a water hydrant. When the war is over, everybody pitches in and picks up all the broken balloons. Next on the day's agenda is...
Salud!
We always have a party at our house on that day. Not so big this year, but most years it is.
After the water fight, we start preparing food. I spent a good portion of the afternoon at the grill, cooking and possibly drinking an adult beverage or two (or twenty, who knows?). They didn't all involve tequila, I promise. There doesn't seem to be any photos of the food. Pollo Asada, home made spanish fried rice, etc. My wife does most of the work, I just chop and grill. Finally at 9:00, it was time for...
Fireworks!
Because of where we live, home fireworks are illegal. There is a lake at the bottom of our hill and they put on a good show there. We have a great view from our back yard. I have more photos of them, but a), I won't bore you with them and b), they all suck as bad as this one does. I don't own a tripod and it was at the end of a long day. This is where it started to get exciting...
As in six acres of brush fire exciting. This is the view from our back yard. They ended up evacuating some of the houses to be safe. The don't think the fire was caused by the show, but by some idiots ignoring the law. All in all, it was a great day! A long day, but still great. I hope everyone reading this also had a great weekend (and holiday to those of you in the U.S.)
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Grass fire breaks out during fireworks show at Laguna Niguel Regional Park
Posted: 07/05/2011 08:25:05 AM PDT
Updated: 07/05/2011 08:28:49 AM PDT
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What a great celebration of 4 of july:) Very nice post Patrick.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely summer:)
Greetings from,
Berit.
Looks like a great day was had by all.. well, except for those who had to evacuate their homes due to the scary all to close fire.
ReplyDeletebe well and happy, Pat.
Pam
I think the way your neighborhood celebrates is fantastic. There are too many places where you don't even know your neighbors any more, including where we live, although we do know some of them. It seems that a lot of people just don't care to join in and have a good time like this.
ReplyDeleteWow..I wish we have this kind of fun in our neighborhood. Yours look fantastic, and united..
ReplyDeleteI did managed to attend a birthday party at a neighbor's house, and watched fireworks on our street!
tough living in SoCal where it's always dry this time of year. I'd be flipping if I had to evacuate my home because of fireworks. I'm just not THAT patriotic.
ReplyDeleteYour granddaughter is darling. Wonderful smile.
That looks like one great party...except for the water part!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun neighborhood you live in! Everyone out in the street having a great time, can't beat that! Glad the fire was put out before any damage took place.
ReplyDeletewater wars and fire! sounds like a great day ^_^
ReplyDeleteLooks like great times! Wonderful street to live on.
ReplyDeleteFires are usually started by lightning or idiots! And damn, I want to live in your neighborhood. I think our big excitement was a neighbor getting his house powerwashed.
ReplyDeleteSeems like you had all the elements to have a memorable celebration. I feel like I went to your party--which is good because we just lazed around the house on the 4th. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad this had a good ending. How scary!
ReplyDelete*waving excitedly to my little buddy, who I have not seen hide, nor hair of, in way too long... nor her mother, or little brother, who must have grown a bunch by now!
Where the heck is Ashley???
Holy Cow! What a grand time!! Well, except for the fire! But the rest of it sounds so wonderful! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love how your neighbors all get together to celebrate. Wonderful! Too bad about the fire but I'm glad no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteThat water war looks INSANE! I'd love to live on your street. First, get my nails done, then the water war! Awesome.
ReplyDeleteI remember you writing about the water wars last year- such great fun- so exciting to have a small fire- as long as no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about fire works pictures- they are all cool but the same.
What a fantastic community celebration! Shame about the fire...
ReplyDeletewhat a great celebration
ReplyDeleteEveryday Life
I would sure like to attend your neighborhood celebration one year...it looks like a blast, expecially the water war, the grilling, and the beverage or twenty! Except for the fire it looks like another great time in the 'hood.
ReplyDeleteLooks like ya'll had a blast! Too bad about the fire, though. Great pics!
ReplyDelete4th of July! How very American! lol.
ReplyDeleteWe have Australia Day here too so it's no different really.
It looks like awesome fun, especially the water fight, and the people coming together.. that's always great to see. Looks like a nice neighbourhood. And yeah, the booze.. lol..
cheers for the insight Pat and sorry for the folks who had smoke or fire damage.
You have the best block parties..
ReplyDeleteI want to be there for one.....
Berit - Thanks! It's been a good summer so far. I hope yours is good as well.
ReplyDeletePam - It sure was! I'm glad I wasn't one of those evacuated. Thanks Pam, same to you!
Sally - It is a good thing to have a friendly association with your neighbors, but it can get too close also... Hope you are doing well!
Icy BC - The number of people participating changes as kids grow up and new ones take their place. It's fun!
California Girl - It's always a trade off. Low humidity equals an annual fire season. Thanks for the nice words, she's a sweetie (waith an attitude).
Brian - Too bad they couldn't throw all the water balloons on the fire!
Nancy - It was a lot of fun, but a very long day... All is well, that ends well. The fire got pretty close to some houses, but no damage!
Ven - Lot's of fun, but a couple of big messes to clean up also.
Ree - Thanks Ree! We like it a lot.
Alex - Well now, that powerwashing can gather a crowd! It's also a lot of fun on Halloween.
Laura - Yep, it all came together. I lazed around the house on the fifth!
Ms A - Fire is always a concern in socal. Ashley is just too busy to blog lately. She's been working and her little guy is a TOTAL handfull. Non-stop action! I'll give her your regards.
KaLynn - It sure was a grand time! My pleasure and thanks for stopping by!
Belle - It's a lot of fun. the only problem is when somebody gets lost and turns onto our street by mistake. They usually retreat in a hail of water balloons. Only on the fourth though...LOL!
Cheeseboy - I was told that "back in the day" there was even a fire truck involved. Thanks!
Ren - Thanks Ren! I'm thinking to change it up next year, I'll use a waterproof camera and get into the middle of it! As to the fireworks photos, I've never done very well with them anyway!
Nat - Thanks Nat! I'm glad somebody else does the organizing.
becca - thanks! It was a blast.
Chuck - Thanks Chuck, I hear the water war part has been going on for about 20 years. Well, next time you're on your way to Fiji...
Marguerite - Much fun, that's for sure! Thanks! I'm betting you had better food though!
Anthony - Oh yeah! If nothing else, we do know how to celebrate our holidays. It was so much fun! Thanks so much Anthony! Hope you are doing well.
faye - I'll make sure you get an invitation next time!
ReplyDeleteThat water war looks like a blast. That's my kinda fourth.
ReplyDeleteGeez, what a crazy way to end the day. I'm glad at least that no one was hurt.
just stopping by after I saw your comment on Belle's blog; I used to live in Laguna Niguel; I know the area you mentioned with the fire; what an adventure that must have been! Otherwise, it does look like your fourth was a very nice one!
ReplyDeletebetty
What a great photo essay with an exciting end to the day. I imagine you on the roof of your house with a hose fighting the flames.
ReplyDeleteYou have an adorable wife and so beautiful family there! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these nice pictures, they bring good energies to our hearts!
Léia - Bonjour Luxembourg
wow! sounds like great fun!
ReplyDeleteglad you all had a great time!
lovely, lovely photos!
hope you have a nice day, Pat!
betty
What a great neighborhood! I want to live there. It is like Americana.
ReplyDeleteI love your water war pictures. And yeah, I was totally psyched for your weekend until I got to the brush fire part. Glad damage was minimal.
ReplyDeleteTim - Even with the fire, it was a great day. I'm sure there will be many more fires around here soon.
ReplyDeleteThat corgi - Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate it!
Kal - Hey there! Thanks Kal! I'm not that good with high places, so I'd have to send my wife up there!
Leia - Thanks so much for saying those nice things!
Betty - It was fun! Thanks Betty.
Budd - Thanks Budd. I've never lived anywhere like it before.
We can do without grass fires and idiots who set them, but you sure did have a fun family day. Nail-painting seems to be a popular thing for girls all over the world now. I wonder how my mother would have reacted to that today... she was sure against anything that made little girls look older than their years. Maybe face painting would've been okay with her.
ReplyDelete[Looks to me like your photos already do cover your column. To get bigger photos, you'd have to change your blog design. The problem with that is that all your previous posts go wonky. Still, Kaori and Perry gave me the answer for enlarging them on my blog design. Perry puts it like this: So what I do if I want an image larger than "Large", which is [width="400"] I set the image to "X-Large" like you tried to do and it will come in too big and will be lost on the right side. (You already knew this.) The default [width="640"] needs to be changed to around 500 making it smaller by editing the html. Downsizing retains sharpness, up-sizing not so much. :-) There is one other thing to do: Delete the [height="425"] entry, it is not needed. If you leave it in at 425 your image will be distorted. Optionally, you will have to calculate the ratio of downsizing the width and apply that to the height. (500/640=.78 New height would be .78*425=332.) Why bother. :-) ]
I just never get a chance to legitimately shoot people with water guns these days, more's the pity. I could think of a line of people I'd LIKE to shoot with them...
ReplyDeleteThat all looks so much fun and coupled with the weather and the palm trees and the "adult beverages" I'm so jealous I'm ready to come down there and slap you. :) I won't though. I'm nice like that.
the fire sucked...but wow, such fun activities on your street every year over July 4th weekend!
ReplyDeleteWow, Pat...that's how to celebrate a day! And ending with a brush fire just doesn't happen that often, does it? LOL. My double cul-de-sac pales by comparison...I don't think we've seen as much cumulative action in thirty years as your street had in one day!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the Route 66 pics. I hope you are able to do it again, and I hope my husband and I get to finish it!
BTW, your wife and granddaughter are beautiful...:)
I want to move into your cul-de-sac! What a fabulous way to spend the day, you have a wonderful sense of community in your neighbourhood, the photo's say it all. That fire looks pretty scary, a little too near for comfort, eh? Glad it all ended well in the end.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great time and good thing the fire didn't do much damage.
ReplyDeleteWe walked over to the Newport back Bay and watched several fireworks shows at once but I wanted to be closer to the action. :)
Great 4th of July shots! That's cool to have a neighborhood 4th celebration! :-)
ReplyDeleteNow that looks like a great way to celebrate the 4TH, except for the fire of course. I really like that your neighborhood has so many activities for the kids. The Water War looks like a blast.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the fire, there is always some fool who thinks the laws don't apply to him. Most fireworks are illegal here too.
Speaking of fire, the book Fire Monks is non fiction. It took place during the 2008 CA wildfires.
That sounds like such a fun filled day!! Especially the water fight. That would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great neighborhood celebration except for that little inferno thing. Great post.
ReplyDeleteDarryl and Ruth :)
This is what a 4th of July celebration should be. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful people enjoying the day!
ReplyDeleteAnn Best, Memoir Author
a neighbourhood water war!!!! Love it. Sounds like you had a wonderful July 4th celebration. Good on you!
ReplyDeleteRosemary
A neighbourhood water war sounds great!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun neighbourhood.