Fireworks that disappear in a silvery cloak Explosions swallowed by the hungry night Illuminated splashes of colour pierce the air Sparks rain down from a translucent sky Loud rumbles echo overhead as the gods battle in the heavens Colours flood along the seamless sea Light fades away into the endless wall of nothing But the magic is everywhere

Because its such a long way to Florida from nz we had a stopover. We came to see cousin stevie and Aunty Tara and also the Fourth of July fireworks . We took stevie and the dogs for a walk around the top of a mountain where we could see the whole world: the sea, San Francisco, hills, Alcatraz, the famous bridge and of course, the fog! It was such a cool walk and we saw lots of little lizards. We saw signs for rattlesnakes but luckily didn't see any of those... ...

A bit late but here it is! Gemma Today we left our motel on the edge of the desert and went on to Yosemite national park. The Tioga pass had been closed for snow but it opened just in time for us to go over it, although some side roads were still closed. We drove up to about 10000 feet, and it was weird to eat our lunch at 8000 feet. Along the way we saw a lot of snow, 2 squirrels, and an elk! We had to keep our food locked away because the Bears were coming out ...

Today we had a farewell brunch with the newly wed couple (it went on for hours) and said goodbye to all our cousins from around the world. Then we trundled back over the Golden Gate Bridge again, to spent our last afternoon/night in the city of San Francisco. We spent the afternoon exploring Pier 39, Fishermans Wharf, which was very busy and full of tourists. We couldn't do our treasure hunt because there were too many people, and we couldn't ride the famous caro...

So today was UncLe Zos' wedding! The whole reason we actually came to America. We had already been to the pre wedding meet the friends and family BBQ, and the pre wedding dinner, so by now we felt we kind of knew everybody...all 200 of them! We spent the morning hanging out with our cousins in the hotel pool. It was a beautiful day, the historic church looked magnificent, and so did the bride. We all got dressed up and felt a bit funny because we never dress like...