Fourth of July

I've always loved the Fourth of July: when I was a kid, it meant root beer floats, crepe paper streamers on our bikes, sparklers, and fireworks. We were in the midst of summer, still with plenty of time to enjoy ourselves until we had to go back to school. As an adult, it means a day off of work, cookouts, beer, and yeah, I still love fireworks. 

Our little town goes all out for the Fourth. They set up a huge beer tent in the park, have live music every day, all sorts of food, a parade, a run, a classic car show - everything you want in a small town festival. Oh, and a tractor-pull! Who doesn't love a good tractor-pull?

We went to the parade, despite the stifling heat and humidity. Some friends of ours live on Main Street and always host a breakfast party. Hundreds of people line the streets, kids with bags to fill with candy. Clare even got her first bite of parade candy.  She enjoyed seeing all of the tractors and fire trucks. She DID NOT like it when a member of the local VFW discharged his rifle 10 feet from where we were sitting. Frankly, I didn't like that too much, either. The rest of the parade was fun, though.

We took Clare to the beer tent last weekend. Ben and I enjoyed the cold tap beer. Clare enjoyed dancing to the live band.

We plan to go the fireworks tonight. That may be proven to be a poor decision, but hopefully Clare will either enjoy them or sleep through them. No sparklers this year, though! We wouldn't want to start a fire. I hope it cools off soon. Now, it's after noon so I think it is time for a beer. Cheers!