4th of July Parade

Dan and Linda joined us for the July 4th festivities. We had initially planned to go to the patriotic concert the night of the 3rd, but an hour or so before it was supposed to start, it started thundering and I just didn't want to mess with going even if there was a hint of a downpour. We enjoyed a nice leisurely dinner at Katz's instead.

The next morning we got up nice and early so we could secure a shady spot at the parade. We got there just in time to get one of the last spots. But that meant we had lots of time to kill before the street performers arrived. The kids were pretty tired (and sugared up) by the time everything got started.

Finally, some entertainment. Clara loved the mime for some odd reason. (Side note: Chris says the first thing he would do if he ever became invisible would be to beat up a mime. It would be  the performance of their lifetime.)

Clara got a glittery star stamped on her temple and they both got balloon animals.

Good thing Grandma was there to cover sensitive little ears when the firetrucks came by wailing.

When the parade first started, a horse dropped a little surprise for the rest of the parade-goers. I have to preface this by saying that in Pecos, 90% of the parade is comprised of horses, so this isn't an unusual occurance. But here, there were two horses pulling a wagon and I believe that was the extent of equine participants.

At first we were a bit grossed out because we were so close to the pile. But then? Hilarity ensued. The looks on people's faces as they caught sight of it were awesome. Some never saw it and stepped right in it before jumping away. The boy scouts thought it was funny. The twirlers and and other girls, not so much. Those in flip flops, as well as us observers, cringed as they stepped in it and one dog even grabbed a quick snack. Oh my goodness, everyone around us was laughing and just waiting for people's reactions. Hands down, the best part of the parade. I got lucky and caught this girl's expression as she noticed it.

Someone was hot and tired and scared of the loud sirens. The end couldn't have come soon enough for him. In fact, it didn't. There were large gaps in the parade and then it just came to a standstill for about 10 minutes, so we left a few minutes early.