4th of July

4th of July. The BBQs. The smell of sunscreen. The fireworks and sparklers.  Kids running around waving flag., The parade!  And let me tell you, our city definitely makes up for their (dare I say) crappy Memorial Day parade with their 4th of July parade. One hour and fifteen minutes of candy-throwing, siren blowing, band playing fun.  

I really had to laugh at this guy this year...

As most parades do, ours started with fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars.  I just named a third of the things this boy is most interested in.  I can still hear him yelling, "HI! HI! HI!" at every single vehicle.  I swore he was going to develop carpel tunnel by the end of the parade from all the waving he was doing.

He spent much of the parade like this
looking for what was coming next.

What could be better than a parade?  A train going past
just behind you during the parade!  Mind blown.

They both enjoyed the parade but for both of them it was probably 15 minutes too long.  Dan carried Myles to get the car while Nora and  packed up our chairs and the insane amount of candy they collected (not to mention two freeze pops, two cookies, flags, and a water bottle).  By the guys pulled the car around to pick up the ladies Myles was completely out in the backseat, still clutching his American flag.  Dan said he fell asleep on the walk before they even got to the car.

That night we built a fire after dinner and enjoyed an
American classic... s'mores.

And of course there were sparklers. 

There's just something nostalgic feeling about the 4th of July, isn't there?