4th of July Parade

  So last week was vacation for us. We once again decided to visit my family in NY during the 4th of July so we could go to the parade and enjoy the holiday with family. There will be many more vacation posts (including one about our holiday in general) and I guess I'm starting with the end of vacation and working my way back but I wanted to get a post up about the parade (this year's theme was Dr. Seuss). I so look forward to the parade!

The parade starts at 1:00 which meant Grant had no nap that day. With the promise of fire trucks, tractors, and candy being thrown at him I didn't have much hope of a nap anyway. He had been telling people all week that he was going to the parade. He was so excited.

So excited!

To top off the day, my Uncle Kevin (my dad's brother who I talk to on the phone but haven't seen since my dad's funeral) came all the way from Rochester (4 hour drive) to spend the 4th with us! It was great to see him and spend time together and Grant was absolutely attached to him.

Grant and Uncle Kevin (also, someone gave Grant a popsicle on arrival)

So, the start of the parade. We hear the church bells indicating it's 1:00 and then we hear the fire whistle/call/horn thingy that is basically across the street and quite loud.

Clearly, Grant wasn't a fan.

We got him over it pretty quick though.

Waving at the motorcycles starting the parade.

Here it comes!

One of my favorites! The Norwood Brass Firemen

Being led by the Cat in the Hat

Grant loved all the firetrucks (new and old)

And of course anything like this

Also a big fan of any floats tossing candy (nothing quite
like a tootsie that you pick up off the street)

Lots of creative stuff this year!

Most (if not all) of the local fire departments march in
the Norwood parade and they always look so nice!

I think this one might be my favorite fire truck

The Original Yanks Drum & Bugle Corps! Another
one of my favorites to see and listen too!

At this point in the parade, the rain that had been holding off for at least 45 minutes decided to let loose and I put away my camera. Then we had a choice: stand in the rain and watch the rest of the parade or sit in our vehicle that was blocked by traffic and go nowhere. So we stood in the rain and that was definitely the better option (although from that point on all tootsie rolls were soggy). The next two pictures I managed to snap with my phone when the rain let up some.

This was what I was willing to stand in the rain for! I love
to hear the pipers. I overheard my sister telling my uncle that
one of these guys was the one who played Amazing Grace at both
my parents funerals - I'm not sure I knew that.

So we stayed till the end and were rewarded with a sunny holiday for the rest of the day. With traffic kind of crazy for a small town after the parade, we weren't going anywhere for a while. The Original Yanks were doing an encore after the parade in the park so we went over there to listen while Uncle Kevin took Grant to the playground (which he'd been eyeing all through the parade).

They really sound great!

After 2 popsicles and 2 [small] lollipops Grant needed to burn some energy!

So that's that for the parade. The rain put a damper on my picture-taking, but you get the idea. Hopefully you can tell from these pictures what a great parade Norwood puts on and why we so look forward to going! 

More pictures from the 4th coming soon