For the sake of the children

I am not sure when I realized that I seriously don't like crowds, (perhaps it was about the time I realized that I seriously despised shopping) but because of my aversion to crowded spaces I realized that my children have never been to a parade. But first I have to say that Doug dislikes crowds even more than I do and so that hasn't helped matters any. We also don't like to get up early on days we don't work or have school. So, you can see how attending a parade has been difficult. Well, no more. For the first time ever we took the children to a July 4th parade. Our church had a float in a local parade and so we thought that we would show our support by attending the parade and cheering them on. In full disclosure, we had the opportunity to ride on the float, but it was a million degrees outside and there was no way I was going to walk for 2 miles behind a car pulling a trailer. So, we found our spot of shade and did the best we could to cheer on everyone else who was willing to walk in the Hades heat behind a trailer.

Here's Sparky showing his total enthusiasm for the event. Sparky spent most of the time with a serious case of pre-teen attitude proclaiming that he just really didn't want to be by anyone and that he just wanted to be by himself. Tough luck my man. You are at a parade! There is not alone time at a parade. In his defense though, he was the only one who thought to bring a bag in which to hold the candy that the floats threw out to the kids. Sadly, it has been so long since I have been to a parade that I totally forgot that candy was a part of this experience. I think the candy was the only bright spot that Sparky was holding on to at this point.

Just another example of our inexperience. We totally left the house without a single thing to eat or drink. I refer you back to the fact that it was a million degrees outside, in the shade. My poor little lambs were melting and wilting and parched in the mouth. It was a sad state of affairs. Getting to the parade extra early because we got the time of the start of the parade wrong didn't help matters any. Luckily these two little troopers were able to keep their eyes on the prize, which was of course candy.

At last the parade made it to our section. Hooray! The kids perked right up and really got into the spirit of things. They even managed to get a little bit of candy which helped to brighten their spirits.

The parade was pretty dinky and by no means impressive by the standards of parades, but we still had fun. Hot, sweaty, sticky, dehydrated fun. We're totally going to have to do this again. Also, Doug totally saved the day by taking us all to the gas station afterwards to get giant sized slushies to quench our thirst and then picked up some pizza for us to eat for lunch. In the end, even Sparky admitted that it was a great time, although the sugar buzz from his monster slushy may have been the cause for his turn around in attitude.