Happy Independence Day!

Well, today is bitter sweet.

On one hand, it is Independence Day, and while I am currently disgusted with our Administration and almost everything they stand for, I am privileged and proud to be an American. So, Happy Birthday to us.

On the other hand, it is the last day of "Mommy-Daddy-Bean-and-Bee's-1/2-week-o-fun", and tomorrow I return to the "boring-bureaucracy" that is my life.

We actually spent Independence Day morning at a pretty cool park. I found this quite preferable to the DC-fire works alternative. Not that I have always disliked the "firework shuffle", but since the District started checking bags and eliminated the beer trucks - I really don't see the point. It still goes on though, as evidenced by the fact that we saw people setting up camp on the GW Parkway at 0800 this morning! Since the fireworks generally start just after 2100, they are in for a LONG day of sunburn and mosquito bites! They must be more patriotic then we are.

Early this morning we took the girls to Clemjontry Park. I have been reading about this park for a while, but since it was off the beaten path, it took us a while to get there. It is a Fairfax County Park which was built to accommodate children with disabilities (we went with my Friend, Lara, and her daughter, Annie). Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I am no fan of Fairfax County. Their schools are rigid, their roads are primitive and their people are too Conservative. However, when it comes to this park, they got it right! The kids LOVED it! Of course, I forgot to bring my camera so I missed Ms. Beans constant smile ................ but we will go back.

It is HUGE and has every kind of sensory and motor skill equipment imaginable. My description would not do it justice, and you will just have to go! There is no reason to be afraid, it is barely in Fairfax County, and most of the people I met there were from Arlington and Alexandria. I suspect that the people from Fairfax were setting up camp on the GW Parkway at the time.