Happy Birthday, America!

Of course it took a Brit to remember and suggest some form of commemoration for America's Declaration of Independence from his country.
Thanks, Paul!

The Gang:
Michael, Paul (TQP), Natalie, Paul (Lil P AKA P-chan), Bill
Youka, Aya, Abbey Megan and Kent

The night kicked off with a pizza party at Lil P's. That may not sound like much unless you live in a country that typically produces cracker-thin crusts with often unexpected ingredients. Not that they aren't delicious, they're just not pizza like you need it.

So Chicago Pizza it was, thick crust, delicious toppings including Camembert cheese, veggies, sausage, ham, etc. etc. etc. Not necessarily all together, mind you.

Paul, Natalie and Megan can't tear their eyes off the freshly-arrived pizzas.

Safety First
The champagne and beer weren't enough to completely cloud people's judgment, and a bucket of water was brought along.

From there we headed to Agigawa Koen (Park) for "40 Minutes of Fun" wrapped up in a 2500 yen package of fireworks and an assortment of sparklers.

And speaking of safety...
Paul wasn't even drinking...

As you can see, Good Times were had by all, no keisatsu (police) intruded on our party, only a handful of Japanese locals were threatened by our presence, and it wrapped up well.

What are fireworks without glow-in-the-dark bracelets?

Paul can be so two-faced sometimes.

Tomorrow I'll be taking a tour of the Nakatsu area as I hop from sports locale to sports locale, watching my kids play their respective sports in a city-wide tournament. And using lots of my 179-yen-a-liter gas. Eeps! Went up 10 yen overnight as we transitioned into July. Someone make the hurting stop!