::Happy Fourth::

I think the 4th of July is one of the funnest holidays that there is. I think this is mainly because my parents always celebrated it in really fun exciting ways, (please see my mom's post about this for more details). We would have big huge parties, go to parades and hot air balloon festivals, eat all sorts of delicious food and enjoy lots of fireworks.

This kind of celebrating leaves a lot to live up to. Sometimes the 4th just doesn't cut it, no matter how hard we try. This year though, it was great!

We were planning on heading to Bristol RI in the morning with our friends Chad and Melissa to see a famous parade that's been going on there for years and years (supposedly since 1785). But we woke up in the morning and there was a lot of rain outside. And it kept raining.
Finally the rain let up a bit. Unfortunately by that time the parade was already supposed to have started. We decided we would just go out there anyway, and see what there was to see.

We got there an hour or more after the official start time, but after we parked and walked out to the parade route we realized that the parade was going strong! And as we watched and watched we figured out that we really hadn't missed much at all.
It was a great parade. The first thing we saw and heard when we walked up was a fun marching band.
This was Max's reaction.

Yes, it's a super dorky face that he's making, but those of you that know him may be able to tell that he's really excited (but I think he knew I was taking pictures, so he had to be a little bummy.)
He was rather transfixed.

Lucky for Max dad is tall and so Max can actually see over the crowds at the edge of the sidewalk.

This parade was really great and very long. We got to see tons of stuff, and as people got tired and left we got to move closer and closer to the edge of the street, and finally ended up right up there. I was so glad that we went! It really made the holiday for me. It reminded me of the good old days at the Freedom Festival parade, and my time in high school marching band too!
Here are a few highlights:
There were a good amount of little "re-enactment" type groups that marched by. Several drum and fife bands, some platoons of soldiers. I thought this drummer looked pretty authentic.

This group wasn't very small actually.

Max didn't like it when they shot off their guns. It was really loud. And he really didn't like the canons. And WOW were those canons loud, so I can't blame him. He kept his ears covered for quite a while after the canon had gone, just in case.

Chad and Melissa's baby, on the other hand, didn't mind the explosions at all. He just slept through them and hardly flinched. In fact, he enjoyed most of the parade that way.

Just like a good and adorable newish baby should do.


There were a lot of old people in the parade. Lots of veterans from different wars, riding in cars or marching. It was neat to see them--they definitely deserve our applause.
I liked these guys with their flags. They looked so serious.

There were a lot of free masons in the parade as well, my favorite out of all of them was the "oriental band"--a whole bunch of old men playing crazy out of tune weird instruments. It sounded terrible, and they were having a blast as you can see.

The best old people I didn't get a picture of, unfortunately. There was a van from a rest home filled with old ladies with their faces painted up like clowns. They were blowing bubbles and having such a fabulous time. It was awesome.

UPDATE***
Melissa sent me a picture they took of the old ladies, so here you go! It was really funny and cute.

















There was a fabulous chinese dragon.

It was skimming along the sides of the parade route greeting all the kids. I was really hoping it would come and see Max. It did, but of course I wasn't quick enough to get the moment.

It was a fabulous dragon. Max was delighted as you can see.


Please enjoy the ugliest color guard outfits ever. There were guys in this color guard. (Actually in pretty much all the color guards.) I don't get it.

Poor girls.

Everybody enjoyed watching the parade. Here's Chad and Matt taking in the sights.


This band was awesome. They were like a crazy mardi gras group with banjos and the big string bass and crazy outfits. So entertaining to look at. They were having tons of fun.

Just look at the bari sax player down there. He's having the time of his life!


The rain kept the weather relatively cool, and the sun was behind clouds so it wasn't too bright. We didn't get rained on at all during the parade though. All in all it was perfect I think.

One of our friends has an aunt who lives in Bristol who was hosting a BBQ. She invited us to come and join in. We did and it was great.
Watermelon and hot dogs are necessary for a proper 4th.

Max got really really messy after eating several slices. He only dropped one slice all over the host's floor, and only spilled two people's drinks. Pretty good I'd say.

We were so tired by the time we got home we basically just took it easy for the rest of the evening, and didn't even go out looking for fireworks when it got dark. But that's ok. We had a great fourth of july! Thanks for joining in!