Fourth of July Parade

After waking up and eating breakfast, The Banana and Mr. Sneaky Pants spent the next couple of hours asking me  every ten minutes if it was time to go down to the corner for the Fourth of July Kid Parade yet.  The Fourth of July Kid Parade is a neighborhood tradition that takes place on our street, and neighbor kids and families come pouring in from all the nearby streets with their bikes and strollers and flags.  It happens to be one of our favorite things about our neighborhood, a morning of festivities, kid fun, and lots of visiting.  The kids and families walk/ride up the street past our house just a bit and turn around and go back to the start, while all the grandmas and grandpas and parents cheer them on from the sidewalk and front yards.

This year I walked in the parade with Squirmy in the stroller.  We made it almost to the other end, chattering away with neighbors, when there was a brief collision involving one of my neighbors’ kids, so I helped her back to her parents.  At the start/finish of the parade is a table of refreshments, an enormously big deal, as you might imagine.  The street stays blocked off for about an hour while people visit and kids zip around on their bikes.

I splurged this year and bought some decorations for the kids to use on their bikes.  The Banana picked out some flags and balloons, and we got some streamers in patriotic colors.  In the past we just sort of used whatever craft supplies we could find in the basement.  We spent the morning decorating, and then about 15 minutes before the start of the parade Mr. SP came whooshing around the house with a gleam in his eye announcing that “they are setting up that table of REFRESHMENTS!”  He loves the refreshments.

Everyone loves the refreshments.  Even Squirmy loves the refreshments.  He was getting a bit fussy because the whole affair happened right during his nap, but a taste of Daddy’s ice cream turned everything around.  

I have such vivid memories of last year’s super duper humid Fourth of July parade, when I was enormously pregnant, ready to burst.  It was fun to have him in the stroller this year for his first parade  instead of in my tummy.

The rest of our holiday was fun too; we had lunch with friends from church . . . a big picnic with lots of kids in one of the family’s backyards.  There was much splashing and much playing and delicious food.  After an afternoon rest, we spent most of the evening outdoors and then went down to the rose garden to watch the fireworks, which are always splendid.  It’s so fun to watch the kidlets get excited about them.