So, both Canada Day and the 4th of July will soon be upon us! I myself am Canadian, but I figured this topic can accommodate us both. They both seem to be pretty similar, and they're only a few days apart - so, two birds with one stone. =)

How do you guys plan on celebrating this year? Do you do anything special for the occasion? Have any traditions? What'd you do last year?

Canada Day has always been my favourite holiday. I live in Ottawa (the nation's capital), so it's a big ordeal here. Every year I spend the entire day downtown; I arrive early, take in all the entertainment, get nice and sunburned, then finish it all off by watching the fireworks on Parliament Hill.

When my dad was in his 20s, he stole a flag off of an office building (let's just say my dad's an interesting character). Every year after, he'd wear it like a cape and would call himself Captain Canada. I remember when I was a kid, we were driving on Canada Day with family friends following us in a separate car. We held the flag out the window as we drove - and, when we hit a red light, our friends jumped out of their car and stole the flag from us, then held it out their window as they drove (and, next light we stole it back, going back and forth like that until we reached our destination). When I was 15 I started going downtown independently from my family, and my dad passed the flag down to me. That will have been 11 years ago come this Tuesday, and I've worn it every Canada Day since.

My old circle of friends and I used to have this silly tradition where every year someone would get something either pierced or tattooed (the year I did, I got a conch piercing =P). Unfortunately, over time most of us have either drifted apart or have moved away, so it isn't upheld anymore. Ah well, such is life. We also had this tradition of going to a nice cake cafe in the Market; that tradition I've kept up myself, and I take whoever I'm celebrating with that year.

I'll admit, this year I had been feeling pretty down; most of the people I had hoped to spend the day with either have other plans, or won't be coming out (it's supposed to rain [it always rains here on Canada Day]). Even my fiance has to work (he's a cook in a bar downtown, so that was kind of a given). But! This morning I got a text from my dad asking if I'd want to spend the day with him, since he was thinking about coming out for the occasion - and now I'm excited again! Growing up it was my dad's love of the holiday that made it become my favourite - so it seems only fitting that I celebrate with him (though I'm not sure who will get to wear the flag... haha!).

Anyways, I've rambled on long enough, methinks. =P

So you're Captain Canada, then? xD Awesome story.

Well, we used to celebrate 4th of July by just driving out to where ever the nearest fireworks show was and just sit and watch, but we haven't done anything in the past couple of years. Plus the last fireworks show I went to was kinda lame, honestly -- the fireworks were mediocre and there was too much cheesy music playing, lol.

4th of July was never much of a big deal for us. x:

- It sounds like you had a lot of fun for Canada Day over the years! I hope you have a great time with your dad and don't fight over the flag too much! :P

I'm in the U.S., so I celebrate 4th of July. It's a hit or miss. Some of them were awful due to family problems, car accidents, or being with boring family members. Some were fun and I got to spend time with family I don't see anymore. Most were uneventful and I stayed home and saw the fireworks the nearby park was displaying.

This year, I want to see which friends are available and do something with them. I just hope I'm not alone.

Excellent story. Sounds like you've had a lot of fun on Canada Day. I'm in the US, so the fourth for me. I'm not super proud of my country at the moment though, so I'm not super-hyped to celebrate I guess. I wish I had a great story like yours, but my fourth usually only consists of going to watch fireworks somewhere at night and getting eaten by mosquitoes, no matter how much bug spray we wear. After the fireworks are over, we go back home and hold the cats, who are by this time freaking out over my dumbass neighbors shooting off fireworks all damn night. I'd really like to get my friends together and go have a picnic out at the lake before watching the fireworks, but like your friends, mine are all spread out and doing other things. My parents aren't really into doing things in the outdoors, like picnics or swimming or kayaking, which are basically my three favorite things, and they're not really into celebrating the holiday anyways, so we probably won't do anything.

I usually go to my cousin's house since she has a huge party every year but she has to cancel this year because she hurt her knee really badly at work and isn't up for entertaining. Since my roommate is going out of town, my sisters and I may order some crabs and have a feast on the patio than go to see How to Train Your Dragon 2. After the movie, we may go see fireworks.

My family is Canadian(except for my sister), but we moved to the US when I was four, so we don't really celebrate either holiday...

When I was in late elementary school to early middle school, I'd go with my friend and her dad to his friend's house and we made cupcakes and other snacks and the adults would set off fireworks. There were other families and their kids to play with. It was fun, but she moved at the end of middle school, so that was the end of that.

We used to go over to the neighborhood next to us, or downtown, to watch the firework shows they put on, but not in recent years. We can't even see them through the trees anymore because they've grown so much over the years. My sister still goes out with her friends and watches them.

But I dress up my HA every year :P

Hope my fellow Canadians had a good Canada Day, and now I wish our neighbours a happy 4th of July! =D

My dad and I had a great day - we basically did a pub crawl with one of his buddies (I've known him my entire life; basically an uncle to me). Of course, we started the day off bugging my fiance at work, then made our way from there. We ended up at a bar with a really nice patio that had a perfect view of the fireworks. The best part: I only got a little sunburned this year! (Oh, and I got to wear the flag. hahaha =3)

- Congrats on getting the flag! :P I'm happy you had a great day with you dad! :)

I finally have plans with my sister and some friends! There's going to be food, swimming, and s'mores. Maybe we'll see some fireworks in the neighborhood.

Glad to hear you had a great day! It's still early here and it's supposed to rain because of the passing hurricane but hopefully it will clear up by tonight for the fireworks. It still should be a nice day because I'm spending it with family. And I'm super excited for those crabs I ordered lol.

Glad you had a great day! My fourth today started out with my mom, dad, and I working in our garden in the front yard (moved a bush and did some weeding) and it looks really pretty now. It'd look better if we had mulch, but after lunch at McDonald's, I drove around town to three different stores and only one store had mulch (1 bag of pine nuggets and 1 of black shredded) but it wasn't the kind we wanted so now we'll have to wait and I'm pissed, lol. I'll be making chicken fajitas for dinner and then we'll be going to a fireworks show. So it's going good so far. Except for my cats being scared and hiding under the beds all day because my idiot neighbors keep blowing things up every 10 minutes. Morons.

Yay! I'm really glad it worked out for you. =3 I haven't had s'mores in yeeeaaars - I'm officially jealous! =P

Haha, yeah it rained here on Canada Day, too (we all knew it would, though it wasn't much =P). I hope you guys don't get hit too badly, and that it doesn't (didn't? it's starting to get late where I am) ruin your fireworks.

Man... I've always wanted to get into gardening - it looks like it would be really rewarding. I just don't have much of a green thumb, I guess. I've managed to kill a cactus - and I didn't even know what was possible until then. D=

- Thanks! I actually didn't have s'mores. :( There was so much good food beforehand! By the time the s'mores were being ready to be made, I was stuffed and about to pass out. I ended up leaving before the s'mores were made.

I saw plenty of fireworks, despite it being cloudy! Because of the fireworks, the drive home was pleasant. It was a good day! :)

It rained in the morning but it cleared up pretty fast. We had a nice day. My sisters and I sat on our deck and ate crabs then we went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 (it was adorable!). We decided not to see the fireworks. Instead, we came home, made a s'more's log, and watched 300 and 300:Rise of an Empire. Overall, it was a nice day

It is really rewarding. Especially when your food bill goes way down in the summer because you're eating a lot out of your own garden. One of my favorite things to do though is when I get a plant from somewhere, either a garage sale or Craigslist or a store that has it 75% off because they almost killed it, and I bring it back to life. It's awesome. I got these two different kinds of small pine trees at a garage sale that this lady was going to throw away and they were almost dead, but I planted them and they're doing wonderfully now with just a little pruning and the right fertilizer. That was five years ago and they're the centerpiece of our backyard.