I had fun tonight! I'm glad I went!!

:snaps:

Yeah, I'm changing my sig.

Also, learned a new lesson:

1 - don't mix SPFs. OUCH.

Yea yea, those too!

We got to do one of my favorite things on the 4th...drive down the 405 at abtou 9:30 PM. Almost constant fireworks going off all around you, sufficiently early so the drunks are still getting drunk and not yet on the road, and traffic is usually pretty light so taking your eyes off the road to gawk is only mostly dangerous instead of completely dangerous (CP drove).

I came home, washed my feet, and was out like a light shortly thereafter. Waking up at 4 am has its benefits, but man was I tired.

We got to the Beach around 5:45. There was a line for the lot and there were already tents set up on the beach, so I hopped out of the car and walked the beach. I got one of the LAST firepits and sat there for about 1/2 hour - FREEZING - while Chris got into the lot.

We unloaded stuff, drank pots of coffee we had brought along and just enjoyed the morning. BlueErica and Tramspotter show up around 8 with more coffee and wood. We had thrown some stuff into the fire and it started burning from the fire the night before. We added more wood and had a Habanero Sausage Roast for breakfast. YUMMMMMM. Plus, in our tired state, we couldn't help making nasty entendres about sausages. So obvious they wern't even of the double variety. Bar Top Dancer showed up a bit later and the 5 of us just had a nice day lounging in the sun, listening to tunes care of DJ SWANK and enjoying the beach.

People started arriving in drips and dribbles throughout the day. Each person seems to bring some yummy to eat - like meat! YUMMMMM MEAT.

So, we cooked, laughed, and had a generally wonderful time. The wind picked up as the sun was setting and it got rather cold again. People started lighting their own fireworks and the world started exploding. Luckily, no people exploded - although we did see one guy running about with a lit Roman candle in his hands. Someone (I don't remember who) shouted at him later.....Try lighting it from your pants!

We had a great view of the HB Pier Fireworks - something that I've seen countless times in my life and never get tired of. After the FWs we packed up and left the beach, which closed at 10. We couldn't get our NEW, DAMN champ chairs to close. I swear, there were about 10 people trying to get them to fold up. We looked at the directions which siad "Folds Easily". Uhhh, NO! It was the LoT version of the Rubiks Cube. ;)

The only "bad" parts of the day/night were the stupid chairs, the wind, and the 20 minutes wait to get out of the parking lot. It makes me appreciate Mickey & Friends.

I'm sorry Crazy Legs, GD, CP, Eric/Matthew and Ally didn't make it. We missed you guys. I'm also glad Bornieo had the good sense to join us. ;) And it was GREAT meeting Mystyisjofa (Yeah, I got it wrong again, didn't I?). Welcome to the liver version of LoT!

Oh, and everyone who was there (except NM and BABS) got a little LoT present. Thanks Fej for the hard work and great design. The rest of you, we'll get you on the 17th.

I KNOW I'm missing a bunch of stuff. The funny stuff that was said, other highlights. too early for me yet. ;)

I'm up for another beach party at some point. Anyone want to plan it?

Sounds like a ton of fun. Turned out my sister's friend sort of flaked out on their tentative evening plans, so rather than leave her and her husband alone, we stuck around with them. Plus, we got kind of a late start to the day, and killed the afternoon in a movie theater, so by the time we would have had to leave for the beach, it felt like we'd spent no time at all with my sister. Definitely glad we hung around with them. There's no view of an real fireworks show from their house, but we had a supply of "safe and lame" fireworks that we wet off in the backyard, much to my sister's consternation. That, plus the above mentioned mobile display, plus abortive display at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, plus awesome as all get-out display at the Bowl on Saturday and I think CP and I more than fulfilled our patriotic duty to watch things blow up this weekend.

Sounds like great fun was had by all. Sorry we missed it. By the time Matthew got off work, there wasn't really time to get anywhere.

So we had a boring night but at least we had a good dinner. Heard fireworks going off as we started to eat. I think this is the first time that I can remember that I didn't see fireworks on the 4th. Very strange.

You're not supposed to PEE on them!

I KNEW I forgot you on my list! I was thinking about you two ask we packed up. I really missed having you there.

Finally, some details about the day! Sounds like it was Beach Party Bingo fun despite the wind problem. I'm so glad it was a success and that you survived the day, early morning and all.