The Annual Fourth of July Kid Parade

Because we were up super late the night before, Mr. Trouble on Feet slept in on the Fourth of July, waking just in time to get his bike decorated before we headed down to the corner to set up for the kid parade.  I thought I was being so wise when I remembered the day before to purchase patriotic colored helium balloons.  I forgot that latex helium balloons don’t last long, and by morning they were not floating up much, but that didn’t stop us from figuring out how to use them to decorate the bike.  

Kids were lined up, ready to go long before we actually began.  Right at the last minute families flowed in from all directions.

The very best part of the parade for me was that our kid bagpiper was back!  He does so well, walking all the way up and back, playing patriotic tunes the whole way.  It sounds so great, filling the street with drone and melody.  Everyone really loves it. 

We put bigger and medium sized kids in charge of dispensing refreshments, and they did wonderfully!Here are some obligatory ice cream images, because that’s this little guy’s favorite part, and I have pictures of him eating an ice cream cone at the kid parade every year of his life so far.

I love that this parade is a tradition in our neighborhood, that the older residents along our street get out their lawn chairs and wave and cheer everyone by.  I love how we get to see babies in stroller grow into toddlers in wagons, who grow into preschoolers on trikes that turn into big kids on bikes.