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

4th of July

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that it's practically August and I'm just now getting ready to talk about the 4th. Sorry...I'm busy, it happens.

Remember last year's 4th of July? Thankfully, this year was much better! We worked out our vacation this year to be the week of the 4th so that I wouldn't have to use as much time. With all my liver stuff, I'm running quite low in the vacation time area. But it worked out perfect because I L-O-V-E being in NY for the 4th of July. While there are many reasons that I would be reluctant to move back to a small town, the 3rd & 4th of July made me miss it very much.

On the 3rd of July there was a concert in the band shell in the town park. The Norwood Brass Firemen give a concert and it seems as if most of the town comes out with lawn chairs and blankets to socialize and listen to the music. I absolutely love listening to the Brass Firemen so when my sister suggested we go, I was all for it. She also promised ice cream, of which there was none (clearly, I've let that go).

In addition to the great music, Grant got to play on the playground...before it started to rain. That pretty much wiped out the festivities. For us anyway. We left the park with some friends of my sister's and headed across the street to their house (also the funeral home) where we had parked. We stuck around there for a bit to socialize and so Grant could kind of play with the kids. They had a children's 4-wheeler there that Grant really liked. And really got the hang of.

My sister is now convinced that Grant needs one.

So the next day was, obviously, the 4th of July. Since the parade didn't start until 1:00 my sister and I spent the morning prepping for our cookout that evening. And we were super excited to take Grant to his first parade. For a small town, Norwood knows how to do a parade and it's generally quite long. I was worried about Grant being able to keep his attention on it the whole time.

Fast forward to parade time. Here are some pictures. I took 178 (not kidding), that's how long it was. So these are really only a few and don't come close to doing it justice.

Grant & Auntie Shauna ready for the parade

Shauna's handsome dog, Lennon, decked out in his 4th of July outfit

Motorcycles started the parade (a favorite of Grant's)

"Bye 'cycle!"

The Brass Firemen

There were lots of old firetrucks on display and Grant loved all the trucks.

"Firefruck!"

This, to Grant, is a tractor and the biggest he's ever seen.
He was shaking he was so excited.

This year's parade theme was Disney

Cubby the Clown for President!

An amazing steel drum band

A band of bagpipers!

The last "float". A huge truck carrying old tractors...it's like
they knew Grant would be there.

And he didn't miss it.

Bye-bye parade.

We should not have doubted Grant's ability to stay for the whole parade. He was amazed by the whole thing and couldn't have been more excited about it. I'm so glad we got to take him.

After that Grant, Husband, and Aunt Bonnie went back to Aunt Bonnie's house to rest while I went to my sister's to get ready for the cookout. The "party" started around 5:00 and that's kind of when I put my camera down. But here are a few pictures:

Lennon (and Grant's doggy BFF - more on that in another post)

You could pretty much find Grant where ever the dogs were.

Auntie Shauna tried to show Grant how to roll down a hill
but he didn't really want to try it.

It was a great time hanging out with family and friends while eating too much yummy food. It was a little bittersweet having it at my parent's house and watching Grant play in the backyard where my sister and I used to play. But I know my parents would have loved how much fun he had that day and what a great time we all had.

Side Note: My Dad's favorite part of the 4th was always the parade. He'd go down well before the rest of us to save his favorite spot to watch from. When we got to the parade where my sister had saved us a spot (not my Dad's usual spot), she was rather creeped out to find the man sitting next to us looked almost just like my Dad.