It has been a necessary regression. Three years ago we all went down to the Hill as a family and watched the fireworks up close. Two years ago we left a few kids behind in hopes of managing the oldest few. Last year we parked ourselves blocks away on a bridge to watch. This year we stayed out of the downtown core entirely.
Those of us with young kids decided to try something new. We had a BBQ at Melrose, then walked down to the river. After some deliberation, it was decided that higher is better, so strollers and kids got hauled up the hill. We settled up above my old train bridge and waited in the relative comfort of elbow room and fresh air. No smelly throngs. No elbows in the ribs. No foul language and questionably weedy smells. Just a picnic blanket on a hill, along with a few other families strung out in a loose band across the crest of the hill.
Boom!
