Fourth of July Festivities

The Fourth of July is one of the few holidays where we don't have any particular traditions. Thanks to the app Timehop we were able to recall that we have done a lot of different things for the 4th but nothing really in Austin. So of course, living in Downtown Austin we knew this year would be different. We planned early on that this year that we would stay in Central Texas for the weekend.

On Friday July 3rd, we headed just up the road to Belton and joined Billy's family at the Belton Rodeo. As far as traditions go, this might be the only thing we have done multiple times as a married couple. Its funny it has become a semi-tradition because we aren't particularly rodeo people. When you add in nieces and nephews it always becomes a bit more entertaining. We do always enjoy  'mutton bustin' - those kids are always so tough! 

On Saturday, we hadn't made any plans but to attend the fireworks Downtown. We got a much needed late start and headed to Trader Joe's to pick up steaks to barbecue. We were dreading the crowd but it was surprisingly tame with tons of barbecue worthy food still in stock.

Down to the pool we headed just in time to grab the last chairs and table - score! As you can see, after lounging a bit the crowd grew tremendously. The growing crowd was a perfect indicator for us to make our way over to the grills. My grill-master knocked it out of the park!

Happy 4th of July! We are proud to be Americans! @ashleymoyer #pool #grillin #downtownbashley

A photo posted by Billy Moyer (@billymoyersos) on Jul 4, 2015 at 1:01pm PDT

The Austin Symphony Orchestra was performing for the annual fireworks show. After our mile walk, we arrived at Auditorium Shores for the festivities. At first, I was overwhelmed by the crowd but after venturing we found a spot with ease. We packed a few snacks which was a smart choice since all the vendor lines were insanely long!

While we enjoyed the symphony and fireworks show, I think it will be a while before we decide to do this again. It was a fun experience for this year, but not quite worthy of becoming a tradition. We for sure would not go if we had to drive and park and deal with all the traffic.

Waiting for the sun to set!

Such a cool backdrop for a fireworks show!

Look at all these people on the S. 1st Bridge!

On our walk back we watched all the boats on the water.