Fourth of July

PARADE

 

all ready to hit the road

Prestonwood Forest has an annual neighborhood parade for Independence Day.  Part of the parade are the neighborhood kids and their bikes, scooters, go-karts, four wheelers, etc.  In the parade are also classic cars, fire trucks, and the Knights of Columbus.  The firetrucks blare their sirens and repeatedly honk their horns for all of the spectators.  At the end of the parade the fire truck puts up its tall ladder and sprays a hose into the street for all the kids to play in.

the kids playing in the firehose spray.

Memorable parade moments:

1.  There's a bike decoration contest at the end of the parade.  This is Halle's fourth year and Arden's second year to participate.  They've won a ribbon each year, but have never won first place.  This year Halle aimed to win, so we decked out her bike in the best Happy Dollar had to offer!  :)  Arden and I decorated her tricycle and I decorated a wagon for Jack, too.  We did Arden's tricycle because the training wheels broke on her bike.  Both Halle and Arden won first place for their age groups!  They received blue first place ribbons.  Halle was thrilled.  Arden, on the other hand, was upset because she wanted a yellow ribbon (like the "participation" ribbons the others received) since her favorite color is yellow.  Geez. 

Maggie and Cole also placed in the contest.  Cole won third place, and Maggie won second for their age categories.  They were happy as well!

2. This was Maggie and Cole's first year to ride their bikes in the parade..  We were right in front of the firetrucks in the line-up and the Muse kids freaked!  Remember the trucks are super loud with their sirens and horns.  Cole and Maggie must have thought the trucks were coming for them and were going to run them over; they were peddling as fast as they could go with tears streaming down their face.  Every few seconds they would turn their heads around to gauge the distance of the fire trucks from them. If they felt the trucks were gaining on them, they would pedal even harder. It was hysterical to watch.  I feel bad that they were scared to death of being run over, but at the same time it was so funny because the fire trucks were literally going 3 miles an hour.  They eventually relaxed, but initially they were petrified.   

3.  Usually Brian is with me at the parade, but this year he had to work.  John was also out of town, so Jess and I corralled 5 kids on our own.  In order to get to the start of the parade, we have to walk (or ride) 1/2 mile.  The parade itself is another 1/2 mile and ends at the Prestonwood clubhouse.  It was stressful managing all of the small kids on bikes, making sure they weren't darting in front of cars, not falling, and generally staying together.  Meanwhile Jack was fussy from riding in the wagon on the way to the starting area.  I had to carry him the entire length of the parade while pulling the wagon behind me because he was screaming his head off.  Jess helped, too, but she was busy tending to her kids.  At the end of the parade the small kids were sopping wet and tired from the sun, water, and excitement, but still had to make the trek back home.  On the way home we had to manage wet clothes, shoes, cups, ribbons, and cranky kids.  Jack decided to ride in the wagon on the way home, but thought it was fun to chunk shoes out of the wagon every few minutes.  Are you getting the picture?  I'm telling Jack no, stopping to pick up shoes, yelling at Arden up ahead to stop at the stop sign, all the while feeling sweat pour down my back.  We were a mess and desperately needed the hubbies with us.

Two moms that got it all together..... right?.... so it seems anyway ;)

Cole got mad at Halle for letting Arden get in front of him (he didn't want the girls to beat him, ha!) so he gave up and pouted on the curb.  Jess cracked me up.  "Cole, it sure is going to get hot sitting on that curb all by yourself."  He finally decided losing was better than baking, so continued on.  Arden and Maggie were also tired of riding, but we finally all made it back to our homes.. in one piece.. to the amazing invention of air condition. 


When it's all said and done, it is fun, but exhausting!

My CRAZY family

Before I get started, first let me say that I love my family because they have a super strong bond and will do anything for me or anyone else in the family.  I wouldn't trade them.... but they are crazy!  They frequently get together to cook, drink beer, and be animated, to say the least.  I've got a huge number of first cousins (over 100!), aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.  A small get together for my family means 50 people. 

My brothers, sisters, some cousins and uncles got together at my mom's house and barbecued.  We stopped over there and hung out for a few hours.  As usual, Pauline and Melinda were outspoken, vulgar, and loud.  Rodney and Raul are also loud, but nothing in comparison to Pauline and Melinda.  Every sentence is laced with an F-bomb and stories of night club fist-fights are relayed.  My family shows their affection by putting each other down, coarse joking, and one-upping each other.  Voices get louder and louder as they try to talk over one another.  I always joke that I'm so quiet because I never had a chance to talk growing up. 

Jack is scared of my loud family members, and physically hits them if they get too close to him.  My family is not racist, per se, but they like to jokingly attribute anything and everything to skin color.  For example, my family insists Jack's scared of them because they're brown-skinned and he's not used to being around Mexicans.  ;)  I'm used to the jesting since I grew up being the only "white" one in the family.  Growing up I was referred to as "white girl," "gringa," "guera," and "guerita."  but it sometimes takes time for outsiders to get used to the banter.  After Brian got off of work he headed to my moms.  I guess Jack finally felt safe when his daddy arrived because he calmed down.  If you ask my family, though, it's because Jack finally had a white ally.  Gotta love 'em.  :) 

FIREWORKS

We headed to Faithbridge Church for their Fourth of July celebration.  The church offers free food, popcorn, sno cones, moonwalks, face painting, live entertainment, and of course, fireworks.  The band played lots of oldies music and the kids had fun dancing.  It got really windy and rainy in the beginning.... we almost left because it was cold and wet.  I must say this was the first time I was cold on the fourth.  But thirty minutes later it cleared up and the weather was great.

The miracle of the purple plastic tablecloth:  Amanda Davis brought some cheap table cloths to sit on for the fireworks.  Once it started raining the table cloths became umbrellas, tarps, ponchos, and blankets from the rain and wind.  Then Delaney got hungry so Crystal used a table cloth as a nursing cover.  Who knew they would be so handy?  Ha!

Jessica and Maggie using a tablecloth as an umbrella

Arden and Myleigh got some use out of their red, white, and blue recital outfits.  This is a girl from their dance class that recognized them by their dresses.  They played and danced and played and danced some more.