Street Fireworks

 

Today we celebrated Independence Day at the Ashcrafts.

Then we joined our neighbors for some sparklers and street fireworks.

It's nice to lounge around outside and watch the fireworks light up the street.

It's fun to watch the big explosions come out of these little boxes.

4th of July at the Hollywood Bowl

 

Dallas gave us her tickets to the Hollywood Bowl tonight as she recovers from surgery.

We offered the 3rd ticket to Evan, but he didn't want to go so Jeni and I went with Nana.

Harry Connick Jr. was the headliner, followed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and a lot of fireworks.

It has been years since we've been to a 4th of July fireworks show. It was incredible.

The Hollywood Bowl is such a great venue: outside in the Hollywood Hills with the Hollywood sign in the background.

I loved the patriotic music with a live orchestra and amazing fireworks so close-up.

Screening at Disney Studios

 

Today 3 of the kids and I went to an Inside Out 2 screening at the Disney Studios lot.

It was a good movie, and we liked walking around the lot a little bit afterward.

Found the Star Wars plaques.

Last Day in Idyllwild

 

Enjoying some shaved ice on our last day in Idyllwild.

Aubrey wanted ice cream instead.

Aubrey loves finding the deer statues.

Mayor Max and Lake Hemet

Today we took a trip out to Lake Hemet.

We parked and walked around part of the lake.

It's a big lake so no way we were going to explore the whole thing.

The breeze over the water was nice and refreshing.

It was interesting to see the submerged trees on the edges of the lake.

Just a nice, peaceful day.

Came across a bunch of people fishing.

Caught a photo of this squirrel that was running amok.

Aubrey didn't want to walk anymore, so the family waited here while I fetched the van to pick them up.

Family of cute, fuzzy ducklings.

Here's a shot of the town of Idyllwild.

There are some crazy deer statues, like this... unicorn deer?

We even found this wolf statue amongst all the deer.

Aubrey really liked this little, colorful deer.

We browsed some shops and waited for a visit from the Mayor.

And here he is: Mayor Max.

He does daily appearances in the afternoon, so a crowd forms to greet him.

And here he is with Vice Mayor Meadow.

This was one of the things that piqued our interest when we were looking into Idyllwild for our visit.

Several years back, in 2012, the people of Idyllwild elected a golden retriever as mayor.

And the trend has continued ever since!

Mayor Max III is the 3rd and current mayor of Idyllwild.

We all loved meeting Mayor Max.

Playing Uno back at the cabin.