•10:40 PM
Our fourth of July began with my ds bounding into our bedroom and waking us up early with glee to exclaim how it is the Fourth of July and that means the Parade is Today, and he would be getting CANDY! I casually remarked that the Parade didn't begin until 10:30, and no amount of getting up early would make it begin any sooner! 
So we went to the parade, which is, incidentally, the only bonafide Independence Day Parade in this central part of our great state, and I must say, they outdid themselves this year. It was by far the best parade yet. There were more amazing cars, floats, horses, than we had ever seen, plus our own village's Grande Award Marching Band, and a crazy camel (which flipped out mid parade and had to be removed from the procession). Plus it all began with multiple flyovers of 15 antique aircraft, plus 2 homemade aircraft. Not bad, for our little hamlet of ~2500 persons. Our kids collected massive amounts of candy in the bags they brought along for the occasion. Then, we finished off with the typical pony rides, country style kids' games, and our annual listening to the "violano" which has been lent to our community's historical museum. A violano is an antique coin operated mechanical juke box style musical device that is part violin and part piano. It is a large piece of furniture, and very intricate. You can see pictures of them at this link : http://www.millsnovelty.com/pictures.html and hear one at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZBpcSDuV0 .
After returning home from the parade, we made our annual trip to the local S*nny's and had the Bar-B-Q Family Feast for four. We returned home and managed to escape rain long enough to fully cut and trim our grass (no small task around here!). After enjoying the early evening outdoors, we had watermelon and mint chip ice cream. MMMMmmmm -- mommy's favorite. After dark, we put on our own miniature family fireworks extravaganza with our $10 fireworks collection from Wal-M*rt. (Hey - It was pretty good for $10.)
A BIG thank you to all our American troops of today, and yesterday, who allow us to have the freedom we have today to do all these things. We must always keep them in mind and in prayer. All in all, it was the perfect July 4th for our family, and everybody went to bed happy, satisfied, and needing sleep!
So we went to the parade, which is, incidentally, the only bonafide Independence Day Parade in this central part of our great state, and I must say, they outdid themselves this year. It was by far the best parade yet. There were more amazing cars, floats, horses, than we had ever seen, plus our own village's Grande Award Marching Band, and a crazy camel (which flipped out mid parade and had to be removed from the procession). Plus it all began with multiple flyovers of 15 antique aircraft, plus 2 homemade aircraft. Not bad, for our little hamlet of ~2500 persons. Our kids collected massive amounts of candy in the bags they brought along for the occasion. Then, we finished off with the typical pony rides, country style kids' games, and our annual listening to the "violano" which has been lent to our community's historical museum. A violano is an antique coin operated mechanical juke box style musical device that is part violin and part piano. It is a large piece of furniture, and very intricate. You can see pictures of them at this link : http://www.millsnovelty.com/pictures.html and hear one at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZBpcSDuV0 .
After returning home from the parade, we made our annual trip to the local S*nny's and had the Bar-B-Q Family Feast for four. We returned home and managed to escape rain long enough to fully cut and trim our grass (no small task around here!). After enjoying the early evening outdoors, we had watermelon and mint chip ice cream. MMMMmmmm -- mommy's favorite. After dark, we put on our own miniature family fireworks extravaganza with our $10 fireworks collection from Wal-M*rt. (Hey - It was pretty good for $10.)
A BIG thank you to all our American troops of today, and yesterday, who allow us to have the freedom we have today to do all these things. We must always keep them in mind and in prayer. All in all, it was the perfect July 4th for our family, and everybody went to bed happy, satisfied, and needing sleep!
2 comments:
Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog. It sounds like you had a great 4th. We finally found a place to go see fireworks. Hope to do better with that next year. I LOVED your comment to my post. I think if we lived in the country we would be just like you! Except, my husband would keep the TV :) I would like to get away from the noise of city life and have more privacy from the neighbors, but I know we'd be in town all the time. It's good to be realistic about what we can and can't do and what we are and are not good at. I'm learning to crochet; so far I have three sqauares done for an afghan and none of them are the same size, lol. We can't do everything. Oh, and don't tell anyone, but I am completely jealous that you use Calvert. We couldn't afford it when my kids were small (my oldest will graduate next year), but if I had it to do over again I would use Calvert. I'd still read out loud extensively, of course, but I'd use Calvert for their main studies. I can't tell you how much trouble you're saving yourself. Have a blessed day!
What a wonderful 4th! How special to have a great parade for the most important day in our political history!
I would love to learn more about Calvert. I am not currently interested (I may be one day!), but know others who may be and I would like to be able to recommend it based on someone's personal comments.
Very best wishes for a great week ahead!