Fireworks on the 4th

For the past four years, the only fireworks we have witness have been what we can see over the roofs in our neighborhood. This year we got a chance to attend the San Francisco symphony and firework show for free, so we couldn't turn down that offer, even though we knew we would be keeping the kids up late. We let them take long naps, packed some dinner and headed to the festivities.

It was a night of firsts. First dry ice encounter.
Leo waited his turn for a balloon animal from these clowns. They definitely fell in the category of "creep clown" and the one making Leo's balloon had a disturbing gap in his shirt that revealed more than I wanted to see, but of course, I couldn't stop staring at it.
Leo was happy with the result.
Serafina was happy with hers too.
There was a good deal of running around just because.
This clown wasn't too creepy and actually had the adults chuckling.
Leo liked him too.
Posing with James, Daisy and the clown.
The symphony was great. They played a lot of familiar music and the second half was medleys of music featured in Popeye, Warner Brothers cartoons and classic Disney cartoons with video clips of the cartoons. Leo enjoyed it but Serafina was tired and overwhelmed so she mostly just clung to me and rested her head on my shoulder. I was very worried that she would freak out during the fireworks since she seemed already so unsettled.
When we first arrived, I visited the concert medicine booth and got ear plugs for both kids. Here's Leo modeling his pair.
I'm not one to photograph fireworks and it was too dark to snap shots of the kids, but they did really well. Leo was fascinated and has been talking about it a lot today. Serafina clung to me, but watched most of the show and released her grip to clap when the rest of the audience was clapping.
Unfortunately, we got caught in some of the worst post-concert parking lot traffic I've ever encountered. Tom and I both have been stuck in that lot after shows plenty of times, but when you're young and the biggest concern is hitting the drive-thru before it closes, it's not so bad. But when you have small children already up way past their bedtimes, it can be a little stressful. The parking attendants gave me a story about a lady going into labor and the street being closed down temporarily, but I'm not sure if I believe that. We eventually made it home at midnight and we learned an important lesson about where to park in the future.