The 228th good thing about Lagos: An American picnic on the 4th of July

I'm not spending a lot of time in Lagos this summer, but I did happen to be here on the 4th of July this year for the first time. I really enjoy this holiday in the States -- I love fireworks -- and I'm very much a patriotic person who often tears up at the national anthem. Although there's no fireworks here in Lagos this year, there was an all-American picnic at the Consul General's residence where there was lots of red, white and blue in evidence.

There was American picnic food: burgers, hot dogs, ribs, potato salad, cole slaw and decorated cupcakes. The tents were assembled, as it's rainy season here and we can't hardly get through a day without a downpour. But the rain came in the morning before picnic time and the cloud cover kept the heat from being too oppressive. There were games for the kids and the adults. They managed to find someone willing to be dunked in the dunk booth even though the water was kind of brownish...

The adults threw darts at balloons for prizes, including some "Obama" perfume -- probably not an officially licensed Obama product.
Our wonderful Consul General who will be leaving Lagos soon took a turn manning a game at the children's area.

And she led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem, accompanied by the flute

It may be the only Independence Day that I spend in Lagos, so I'm glad I was able to do something with other Americans to recognize the holiday. I hope my American blog readers are celebrating the 4th of July with a bang!