::happy 4th::

We were lucky enough to be able to get together with some new friends from church for some yummy food and fireworks viewing tonight.
Then we let Max do a couple of sparklers in his PJs.

I hope everybody else had a great Independence Day/weekend.

::grand prize::

I can't believe I almost left the best parade outfit out! This guy is serious about the fourth of July, let me tell you.

Really he looks to me like an upgrade on Rex Kwon Do from Napoleon Dynamite.
I think he's probably put in his two seasons fighting in the Octagon.

::the 4th part 2::

After the parade we went home, relaxed and watched some bike racing. Then in the late afternoon we headed outside to start cooking our delicious hot dogs. The temperature was so nice, and it was fun to spend time out back. Really it's amazing it wasn't pouring outside, the 4th was one of the first non rainy days we've had.
Kris picked up poop. Which, contrary to (Max's) popular belief, he does do. See, I have photographic proof. Just for the records.

We played a little ball.
Max is getting better at catching, though I don't have much photographic evidence of that, unfortunately.







And if anybody is wondering what I was doing, I was taking pictures. Just so you know.
There was some work being done. Some diet coke drinking being done also.

And some companionable relaxing, evidently.

Then there was some trampoline jumping.







(Max, momentarily contemplative. Why? Who knows.)

Then it was dinner time.
The Trader Joe's hot dogs are so dang good. They're the best hot dogs I've ever had. And add in some of their relish? Wow, that's a delish dog. And watermelon is a must on the 4th.

Sultan thought they would be good too. Please overlook the weird bread slicey eastern buns. They're weird.
Bad Max came to dinner.
He's usually not invited, but I made an exception since it's a holiday.

We were so glad to have Ken and Kathy with us for the holiday. It was so fun. We love having family around!

And the fact that he posed for this photo means he deserves to have it posted for all the world to see. So world? Enjoy.

::parade attire::

When we were at the parade on the fourth we noticed lots of patriotic attire. So much so in fact, that I started feeling the need for a photo study. If I only had a zoom lens I would've been able to get a lot more, but as it is, I got a lot of interesting material. It's the people that feel like they need to wear flags as pants that I think are a little nutty.





Is it really respectful to be sitting on the flag? I'm just not sure.

Then we have the girl who thinks she's super hot--so much so that her little flag "top" shows so much of her top that I didn't want to put her front on my blog. I'm surprised somebody who thinks they're so cool dresses like a flag at all.


And then the old men in their many and varied flaggy americana shirts.





That last one can make you a little nauseous if you look at it for too long.

Then you have the people that go for a little of everything. Flag shirts, flags, flag hats, stars and stripes everywhere. At least most of them are kids. Well, some of them.


And last, we have the matching couple in their red white and blue tie die. They get points for at least being original. They lose points for not wearing more shorts though.


Next time I think I'm going to have to do a study on New Englanders that think it's patriotic to wear a Red Sox shirt on the fourth of July. That's a whole nother story.

::the 4th part 1::

I'm a little behind, but that's ok, right?

The fourth of july was one of the first days all summer that's been truly sunny and quite hot actually. We got up and headed over to the other side of the bay for the Bristol parade. Supposedly this parade has been happening since 1785 (wow). So it's quite the institution. We went last year and had a really good time, so we didn't want to miss out this year.
We had to drive separately since Kris was on call (boo). But luckily since Kris's parents were here we all had people to keep us company.

Max is lucky to have a strong dad who can still carry him up on shoulders. It won't work for too much longer I'm afraid!
We got there after things had already started. We walked up the sidewalk as far as we could, then at some point it was just so crowded we had to just stop and stand and watch from the sidewalk. Which was great as far as the view went, but terrible as far as shade. We were in full sun. Luckily there were some whispy clouds in the sky, but not enough to make us comfortable.

Anyway.
One of the first things we saw were guys dressed up like old time baseball players. This guy was throwing a ball to people in the crowd. They looked really fun.


We saw pretty horses that I know my mom will appreciate.

These guys are gorgeous:



Every time a horse came along Max would yell, "UH OH!!" and tell me that I needed to hold my breath so I wouldn't sneeze.

Max found a little friend to talk to for a bit.



I always like to see the marching bands--especially the sharp looking groups with lots of members. They come from all over for this parade. I especially liked the uniforms on the following bands:



I'm glad it wasn't me wearing those unis marching in the sun though. Torture.

The Navy guys looked sharp. There are a lot of military in the parade since there are a lot of bases and stuff nearby. It's fun to see them marching in uniform.

We always like the Shriners in their little cars.

And Max liked seeing a scotty dog--what's a parade without at least one dog?

And the reinactors are fun to see--lots of drum and fife groups and soldiers and maidens/wenches.
I like the drums.


What we don't like? The guns and the cannons. They are SO SO loud, and so startling. So at some point Max just kept his hands over his ears constantly.

I don't blame him. I had my ears covered most of the time too. I'm just glad he's big enough to cover his own so that I can keep my hearing.

POW!!

We left before it was all over--crazy that we could stay for two hours and get there after it started and leave before it was done. It's a long long parade. We didn't have a lot of traffic getting home which was nice.
To sum it up, we had a good morning.

More to hopefully follow soon!

::happy 4th::

We're having fun, hope you are too!