It wasn't as if Jeff and I sat down and had a discussion about which family traditions we wanted to incorporate into our annual celebration of America's Independence Day; but somehow along the way, we started repeating certain Fourth of July activities. So here we are, in July of 2014, following a familiar path of celebration on the Fourth!
I can identify four specific elements to it: 1) a race downtown, 2) a special food, 3) a patriotic book, and 4) a parade downtown.
First, the race...
In years past, Josiah has run a 5K; but this year he felt like he hadn't been training for it (which was true), and he didn't want to wing it (which he has done in past years), so he opted for the mile run.
So did David.
So did Tobin--his first official race. :)
It was an absolutely perfect day for running. The Fourth is often hot and muggy, but not this year; the temps were relatively cool, the humidity was low, and it was a joy to be outside, gathered near Court Square for the race to begin.
We got there with time to spare, so what better way to entertain ourselves than by taking pictures? :)
Hey, who's sneaking into these pictures?? ;-)
My five make my heart melt...
After a little while, silliness ensued...
...which was good, because it helped Shav have a more natural smile than in the first picture I snapped of just him. :)
Shav is so kind to his little sister; it does a mom's heart good to see that kind of love.
Waiting for the runners...
I expected Josiah and David to cross the finish line way ahead of Tobin, so I was quite surprised when, before Josiah and David showed up, Tobin appeared! I was looking towards the finish line when suddenly I felt a pair of arms around me from behind, and it was Tobin. As it turned out, he got a little lost on the course, which actually didn't surprise me too much; because there were three distances of races being run, I can see how he might have gotten confused about where he was supposed to go, since the mile race turned off the starting road before the longer races did. At any rate, on the way, I had carefully explained to Tobin what he should do if he got lost; I knew there would be police officers at each intersection, so I instructed him to go up to one of them and ask for help if he needed it. Which is precisely what he did, so hooray for Tobin! :) He got the pleasure of being given a ride on a golf cart driven by a policeman all the way back to the finish line where I was waiting. Not a bad outcome of getting lost! ;-)
Well, I had hardly figured out what was going on with him when suddenly, here came Josiah across the finish line, and I barely got the camera up to snap a picture.
And then, not too far after, came David.
The mile race wasn't officially timed, but my unofficial results using the timer in my hand showed that Josiah had a time of 8:47 and came in (probably) 4th in that race, and David's time was 9:20, putting him in the 6th position (probably). Between hugging and listening to Tobin, making sure Shav and Moriah were safe and accounted for, trying to take pictures, making a mental note of the time on my timer, AND watching to see how many other racers crossed the finish line, I was a little distracted and *might* have made a mistake about what place Josiah and David were in. ;-)
After we congratulated them and rejoiced together, they went over to get their picture taken by the official photographer...
...and then we went off in search of Daddy, who was busy being a police officer at one of the intersections in the race! :)
It was
only two days before this that he had been officially sworn in, and it was fun for us to watch him in his first official duty after the swearing-in. :)
We headed home to recuperate from all the excitement of the morning...
...and Shav and Moriah decided to use our laundry baskets as boats (and Moriah decided to borrow Shav's shoes, but I don't think he minded too much). :)
By the way, I'll mention here that I got Moriah's dress for a couple of dollars at a thrift store quite a long time ago. At the time, I just
knew (well, I
hoped, depending on whether she grew enough)
it would be perfect for the 4th of July (although she had worn it other times previously, too); and sure enough, it was. I love finding bargains like that! :)
Well, now that the race was over, it was time to think about making...
A special food!
...and oh my stars! It was DELICIOUS!
I wish I had another one right now. ;-)
Then it was time for...
A Patriotic Book!
David had the honor of reading it to his little brothers...
...because I still can't make it through that book without tears coming, and I didn't feel like crying just then. :)
And then - oh, joy! -
The Parade! :)
Once again, Jeff was doing police duty, so we found him first thing and settled ourselves down on "his" corner. :)
I noticed David's serious, thoughtful look...
...but as soon as he noticed me noticing
him, his face broke into a huge grin. :)
It might be silly...
...to post four pictures of Moriah drinking milk from a sippy cup.
But I happen to think she's so beautiful.
Sippy cup or not. ;-)
Our friend Kevin the Painter had gone along...
...and Moriah took a liking to him.
Almost time for the parade to start! :)
Here it comes!! :)
Whenever we watch a parade, I spend part of my time looking at whatever happens to be rolling down the street in front of us; but the rest of the time, I watch my children. I love to notice the expressions on their faces when they see the various parts of the parade.
This old man was one of my favorite parts of the parade (I can see David doing that when he's 88!). ;-)
If I had a car like this, I'd be proud to drive it every day. :)
I didn't take a picture of nearly everything in the parade, but I'm sure you can imagine what a typical small town parade is like. America at its finest on Independence Day! :)
One thing I didn't expect, but which amused me to no end, occurred after we got home. The boys sat around and traded candy from the parade with each other.
Would you believe me if I told you they literally did this for hours? They did it outside for a long time, then came into the house and continued the discussion.
I got tickled, listening to them trumpet the merits of whichever piece of candy they were hoping to trade for a "better" piece.
Their skills of persuasion and negotiation got quite a good workout that evening!! :)
You might expect us to end our celebration with the customary fireworks, and in years past we have. But not this year. By the time Jeff got home, he was pretty worn out from the 13-hour shift he'd done; and the rest of us weren't exactly energetic either. I'm pretty sure we all went to bed happy though--perhaps with thoughts of a race, some fruit pizza, a sentimental book, and a patriotic parade filling our minds.
We're glad to be Americans. :)
Thanks for all the neat pictures.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Aunt Helen