4th of July Recap

Well we finished up another whirlwind weekend out here, and we hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend back in the states! It's always a little weird celebrating the 4th of July overseas, but Kwaj does its' best to make it patriotic and fun....except for last year, when there were NO FIREWORKS. NONE. What's next...no hot dogs? Apple Pie? Apparently, by the time we got approval to purchase fireworks, they arrived too late, so they were set off on Labor Day, but we missed THOSE because we were visiting family back in the states. So needless to say, we were Jones-ing for some good 'ole fashioned, American 4th of July fireworks. There was a whole 4th of July itinerary laid out...parades, Baggo tournament, live music, fireworks....but somewhere in there someone needed to pencil in Raquel, Linfa, Chan-Hom, and Nangka. These patriotic little rascals are the 4 tropical storms that decided to spawn and swing by our little island just in time to help us celebrate. Queue lots weather warnings, and the entire days festivities getting postponed due to wind, and potential rain. Fortunately, most of the rain and bad weather passed North of Kwajalein, and all we really experienced was some gusty winds that created some fun surf in the lagoon. The Lagoon is always crazy calm, so any waves lagoon side is big news.

**Photo disclaimer...I took approximately 1 photo this weekend and that was of Hadley (see below). All the following photos I may have stolen from various friends Facebook's (shout out Becky and Jane!)**

This may not look like major waves to you, but by Kwaj standards this is MAJOR wave-age

There were lots of kids out there enjoying the waves, and even though the 4th of July celebrations got postponed a day, I think everyone still made the most of it!

Sunday morning it was announced that all the 4th of July activities were a go! It was still kind of rainy and humid, but the sun made an appearance late afternoon, and a lot of our friends got together for a barbeque on the beach. We really wanted to join them, but we didn't have a babysitter, and we thought that Hadley would get really overtired if we took her to the beach for a cookout AND fireworks that were set to go off an hour past her bedtime. So we opted for a little McClellan family BBQ at our house, then walked Hadley down in her jammies to see the fireworks. 

Note on the fireworks: I hate to admit it, but I really didn't have high hopes for the firework show. Sometimes island events can get a little "Kwaj-y," meaning that we don't have access to a lot of the same stuff that we would back in the states, so sometimes we just "make it work" with what we got out here...which ain't much. So I was kind of expecting some poor individual with a death wish to set off some Black Cat Fireworks that his Meemaw mailed to him from a fireworks stand back stateside. Obviously, this did nothing but peek our curiosity because we showed up anyway, and man were we suprised! The show was great! The had a big barge out in the lagoon that shot off a very professional and impressive fireworks show! Plus, because our island is so small this was probably the closest I've ever been! Hadley did really well through the show, and watched the whole thing in a glassy eyed trance. I was worried that she might not handle the loud noises well, especially because she was up late and was tired, but she was a trooper, and I'm so glad we went. It was a great end to our 4th of July.

Because it was Hadley's first 4th of July, I couldn't let her get away without an obligatory red, white, and blue photo. But, as always...best laid plans, right?

It started out promising...she aced her model stare ;)

But she was a little unsure of the nature shots...which I'm sure had nothing to do with the pokey palm tree holding her up

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!!

We are officially 0-2 in the holiday photo department. Easter...fail. 4th of July....fail. I'm not worried though...I'm sure Halloween is when we're gonna turn this holiday train around! At least the beach cooperated:

Happy 4th of July to you all!