Fun Fourth

The Fourth didn’t quite turn out the way we had planned, but it was fun just the same.  Our original plans?  Stay home and relax. The plans changed in the blink of an eye, of course.

My niece called and asked if she could spend the night on the 3rd.  My father-in-law and mother-in-law decided to wait to go up north so they would miss the traffic and asked to come by on the fourth, which through the grapevine led almost everyone else coming over, too! 

We took the kids and our niece to one of the local Fourth of July parades.  It was hotter than we expected and forgot water, of course.  Thankfully, the cloud cover cooled us every so often.

Before the parade, the kids saw these horses awaiting to line up.  The officers were kind enough to let them pet the horses.  When one neighed loudly, they were thrilled.

As a marching band geek, I am always looking for the band.  As they approached, I heard them playing the Notre Dame fight song.  I will forever associate that song with the movie Airplane! 

When they were almost in front of us, I heard the drum major whistle for a “roll off” and the band played This is My Country.  It was fun to hear that, as it was one we played in parades when I was in band. 

The band wasn’t large by any means, but it sounded great.  One thing I’ve noticed as of late is that more and more bands are marching in T-shirts instead of full uniform.  We never had that luxury!

The parade features lots of tractors, a jeep club, the local VFW, Moose Lodge, political people, and my favorite entry…

The Rockin’ Marching Grannies!  They followed a jeep, which had a small mobile DJ in the back.  As the marched behind it, they did a marching dance routine to songs.  When they walked by us, they DJ was playing Ice, Ice, Baby!

Oh yeah, then there was the guy in knee-high black socks….

Ella, loved when the Blueberry Queen drove by.  “Daddy!  I can’t believe I saw a real queen!!!”

Every Fourth of July, we’ve given the kids a flag and they walk around with them.  I’ve been able to snap pictures of them in almost the same spot every year. It’s amazing to see how much they change in a year.

The one thing we didn’t get, which we have done every year is a family selfie.  By the time we thought about it, family had already started arriving.

My in-laws brought hot dogs for the grill and we had dinner and conversation before the festivities began.  We also had our first bonfire of the year.

Our backyard bumps up against where they do the fireworks every year, so it’s always great to pull up a chair and watch.  They had plenty of new stuff this year.  My phone didn’t catch many great pictures of them this year, but I did get a couple worth sharing.

After everyone left, Sam, the kids and I went inside and promptly fell asleep.  It was a nice birthday celebration.

I hope you and yours had a nice holiday.