To celebrate the 4th of July, we trekked down to Midtown and picked up Uncle Alan and Aunt Valerie. After the usual shrieks of joy, we walked down to Taco Mac and picked up some vittles to-go, and then headed up to Buckhead to stake out a place to enjoy the fireworks. We staked out what we thought would be a nice parking space in the Target/Publix parking garage.

It worked in our favor that the Peachtree Road Race ended a few hours prior (congrats to Alan and Valerie!) there were plenty of barricades still up to route people, and consequently there were plenty of open spots on the grass just across the street from Lenox Mall. We secured some soft grass, spread ourselves out and consumed some good comestibles. Across the street in the mall parking lot there was a huge soundstage and live music, which made for a nice dinner. A helicopter buzzed about at a low altitude overhead, and that catapulted the kids into a frenzied state of "oh-my-it's-a-bit-warm-but-I'm-full-and-there-are-flying-machines" euphoria. They ran around on the grass like...well, like kids do.

Shortly thereafter the police blocked the streets, and we were able to watch the awesome show! The show was complete with music and ended with... well, a bang, and the usual Lee Greenwood music. We said goodbye to Alan and Valerie and headed back to our van... and the ensuing traffic snarl. Our choice of parking, previously regarded as inspired, was not so much so at the conclusion of the show. But, to our advantage, there was a convenient Publix, and it was open. We ducked in, got some beverages and snacks, and waited out the traffic and got ourselves back home before the end of July 4th. Good times! Note: I've geotagged the photos so you can see where we were for the show.

July 4th