Fourth Fun

I knew it was going to be a good day when I saw this deer with antlers staring at me when I got up. A little while later his two friends joined him further up the hill, and stayed for about an hour.
We got up early this holiday weekend, made waffles, then headed to the high school for the bus pick-up that took us downtown. Our little town only has about a dozen square blocks, and they were expecting about 25thousand people, so we wanted to Avoid Traffic. That's usually our third major goal of all 4th of July's. #1 is to feel patriotic. #2 stay safe.
The theme was, "Liberty and Justice for All."
I loved everything about this. Sitting at an intersection, under a shady spot of trees and the community church behind me, we'd brought our camp chairs and water bottles and were ready. Everyone was dressed in red, white and blue, lots of families and teenagers and elderly and groups of friends. . . truly something for everyone. We arrived about twenty minutes before it began.
First came the children's parade - on bikes, scooters, and wagons
all decorated, with parents close-by.
These two pulled out of the line and onto our street. A second after this occurred, the hat was snatched, the boy was screaming and the girl looked as smug as a toddler can. It really was the comedy moment of the whole thing.
Music was interspersed. These teenagers were first. Sounded great! I love marching bands!
This was one of the last. He was being towed behind a truck, just playing patriotic music down the road . . . so great! Loved all his decorations too. It had that kind of home-town feel.
The fifes were part of the Civil War Reenactment unit. Didn't know there was one close by.
Then came the troops. Everyone stood and clapped and cheered so loudly. It was moving. I almost forgot to take their picture, but at least you can see their backs.
We saw all kinds of military assemblies -

Tanks,
Vets,
Subs?? MyMike looked at me somewhat shocked. We're a long ways from water, so we weren't expecting this, but it was still exciting.
Shriners carrying our flag and those of our neighbors. I took this photo for my mom, Dennis, Debbie, and Julie. You know I love you always!
There were some surprises too. . . Captain Jack? At the 4th of July parade?
He was with the Renaissance group. I was glad to see the camel. I missed it on our trip to the zoo. Now I've had my camel-fill for the year. I like camels. I don't know why, but I do.
Cowgirls, of course. Cowboys too, but this photo is in honor of you know who. Go Brunettes! Love you too always!
Our only float - a Marine!
My new favorite colors this year are orange and turquoise. A beautifully costumed Native American. So bright and neat headdress.
Our local heroes - they took the state 5A hockey championships
Old cars. Yes, there were some really old ones, and some really cool ones, but this was my favorite. I used to have a yellow one. It wasn't a convertible. I never owned a surfboard, but I looked at Mike and said, "That's what I want to drive next - in turquoise. He smiled, "First you have to find one that runs, and they're probably not selling that one." Always has to be the practical one. . . . mmph! Translating that also to mean - no chance am I fixing up an old car for you. Still, I know he loves me. He did all the clean up with the kids after our BBQ while I had nap 2.

There were over a hundred entries in this parade, but this is a good sampling. It was a lot of fun. There was a great spirit of patriotism and values. Lots of signs like "Freedom isn't free" and "Sons of liberty." I loved it all. However, it was THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR. Thank goodness for the shade tree! I drank my entire liter of water, came home, ate a popsicle, went into the basement, where it is always cooler, and fell asleep on the recliner. Woke up just in time to make everything we needed for our BBQ, napped again, then went down the street to the school hill, and watched the Air Force Academy fireworks on the Left, and the Lake's fireworks on the right. We liked the Academy's best. I think next year, we'll go to where we saw the Thunderbirds and get a close-up view and avoid the 50 thousand who were in the Academy stadium. The traffic coming home will be so much better!

AND - - - Waiting still for THE CALL. Today his schedule is noon - eight, so he's coming home on his break at 4 to check. The mailman should have delivered by now. I'm letting him take it out of the mailbox. Just thinking it could be here right now - I can hardly stand it! There may be another blog post later today. I'm on my way to Costco. Got to keep busy and free from temptation (of the mailbox kind - not so good for the appetite kind) until 4!

UPDATE: Sent on the 28th according to the church website, doesn't necessarily mean its in the mail. Our bishop checked - it was just sent Today. We've waited this long. We will wait some more. If it gets here on Thursday that will be 23 days . . . long compared to everyone else we know around here, but sometimes that's just the way it goes.