Cheryl and William: 4th of July

Even though William and I have been "together" for 2 fourth of July's, this was the first one that we spent together. The first year we were dating he was in CA doing his internship and I was in Boston and last year when we were married but I had to be in Boston for my course and my dissertation proposal and William had to be to work at Google. So it was nice for both of us to be together on one of my favorite holidays.

I have loved the fourth of July all growing up. It was such a special time that we would spend with my cousins down in Richfield where we would watch the parade in front of the Days Inn hotel and run for the candy and following the Coke trucks for blocks in a futile attempt to get a free soda. We would then swim at the Days Inn pool and have lunch there (the salad bar). Next, we would head up to the Greenwood's cabin at Fish Lake and play monopoly, go to the lodge, "hike", and sometimes ride horses.

But, my true appreciation for the 4th came after I lived in Boston. I missed the 4th of July my first year in Boston and I watched it on tv and was just bawling because I missed out. And then I made sure that I never missed it again because it became my FAVORITE time of the year. It brings to heart just how important our country is. (I will be doing another post detailing all of the great events).

So, this year, I was looking forward to having a new experience here in San Francisco but I saw this NOVA special on "Fireworks" and it featured Boston and it just made me miss it even more. I admit that I was tearful at the thought of missing out on this. Fortunately, I have the sweetest husband in the world who helped make this day special in a different way.

We went to our ward's pancake breakfast in the morning and it was super fun to be able to visit with so many of our friends. The weather was looking very cloudy and dreary but it fortunately cleared up by the time we left.

Next, we hit HANCOCK at the movie theater and we LOVED the first half of the show (so hilarious because Will Smith does an amazing job of being an "anti-hero" and then trying to be reformed) but then, the second half just turned so WEIRD and it seemed like they were trying way too hard. The highlight of the film though was the POPCORN. William told the girl who was getting our popcorn that he wanted "LOTS of butter". And finally, someone took this request seriously. She was probably squirting butter on it for like 5 minutes. There was so much that about 20 minutes into the film, the popcorn started dripping out of the bag and some got on William's jeans. But the popcorn had butter throughout the whole bag so much so that we smelled of butter afterwards.

Next, we had the quint essential American 4th of July experience- a barbeque. We got together with our neighbors the McPhie's and their family as well as the Johnson's. They installed some bbq grills and tables in our complex so it was nice that we didn't have to go very far and could run home in case of something we forgot. After all of the popcorn, we thought that we would just bring 1 chicken breast (that and previously, neither of us have had very good self bbq'ed chicken). However, I don't know what was different (maybe the briquets? because we didn't marinade it or put anything on it) but this chicken was SO good! We went and got another piece and grilled it because we had to take advantage of the hot coals. There was also chips, this incredible balsamic vinegar pasta salad (I had more than my share), hot rolls, and watermelon. And the company was even better. We later spent time chatting by our pool (William and I were too full to get in).

Dyan was our resident grill master

YUM

Then we headed off to Google where its benefits were awesome as we were able to park for free to walk only a short distance to Shoreline Ampitheater for the "22nd Annual 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular." We went a little early (the performance started at 8) and so we were able to go and visit some of the business booths in that we were able to get free bags of chips and free mini boxes of cereal. The best part is that they had a table where you could register to VOTE! We were so happy because I had tried to register with the DMV when I got my license but it never happened! :-( So at least now I am set for this upcoming election.

Our seats were pretty good- in the upper section just off center. I had wanted actual seats for the show- not lawn ones because they can sometimes be uncomfortable. Here we are waiting for the concert to begin

The San Francisco Symphony performed an amazing FULL concert for us. They began with "Willima Tell Overture" which is perfect to get the show started because it truly brought the excitement into the crowd. Then then did some other American classics such as Copland's "FanFare to the Common Man" and "American Salute" by Goud. They did a tribute to Abraham Lincoln called "Lincoln Portrait" again by Copland and they had Lauren Bacall do the narration. I was extremely disappointed with this because it was obvious that they hadn't practiced it together enough because Lauren Bacall would get to a key point and she would say "He said..." and then would pause for a long time while the orchestra caught up. It really detracted from the message being presented which was disappointing. We were so glad that we had brought our Google blanket because it was starting to get chilly due to the wind. Look at how beautiful the tent was during intermission

The second half of the concert was great in that they were by more contemporary American artists. They played John Williams' "Summon the Heroes" and they showed images from many different Olympic games over the years (very timely considering the upcoming Beijing Olympics). Next, they played James Horner's "Theme from Apollo 13" and they showed images from the actual flight which made it even more poignant. The "James Bond theme" as well as the "Rocky" concert suite were also played and it was interesting to hear them being played by an orchestra. Finally. they rounded out their main performance with "Superman" by John Williams.

Then came my favorite part- the orchestra performed 3 numbers that the fireworks were choreographed to. It truly was so moving to hear the live swells of the orchestra correspond with an influx of fireworks. They performed "Star Wars" and then a middle number that we forgot and finally, the 1812 overture. It truly was so so incredible and unforgettable experience.

Too bad the tower partially blocked our view

I can't believe that William captured this at the right moment

The traffic was at at standstill so we decided to "hangout" at Google until the crowds died down. Apparently, this was the plan for some other Googlers who attended the fireworks, but there were some others that seemed as if they were just there hanging out- playing pool, Wii, or using the massage chairs. I actually don't like the massage chairs- they are too hard and somewhat painful (even on the weakest setting). The highlight of the evening is that I beat William in a game of fooseball :-) I also got to see some areas of Google that neither I nor William had seen. They have their own store where you can purchase Google apparel, a book lending library with titles about computers and business, a giant hand mit,