Fourth of July
It was a hot and humid morning! We all woke up close to 10am and Riley had been asked to hold the sign and lead the children's parade in the neighborhood. I texted Vivian's mom to let her know that Riley would be there by 10:20 after breakfast - thankfully we only live two streets away so it takes less than five minutes to get to the clubhouse! Riley and Jeremy left for the children's parade while I stayed with Julia to help her finish getting ready before heading out around 10:30.
Our neighborhood celebrated it's 60th year and each street in the neighborhood can sign up to build a float to represent the theme. Our street's theme last year was the "Marquis." This year we were the "Memory Makers: the Greats of 1958." We get together at a neighbor's house the night before the Fourth of July for food, drinks, and fireworks. Everyone chips in to help get the trailer and truck ready for the morning.
One of the traditions at Sparkman is the Annual Water Balloon Fight on the Eve of the 4th. The neighbor boys got loads of balloons ready in several coolers. Around 8pm the water balloons began to be thrown. Some parents would ride their go-carts through the street while kids had super soakers and threw balloons. Other parents dropped kids off with coolers of balloons and the various groups of kids began throwing them at each other before the parents came back to pick them up. The girls loved it.
Cathy allowed Riley to turn on the hose at the front of her house so that she could spray some of the boys on the 'other side.' The end had a softer nozzle so the force of the water was fairly gentle. However, it still sprayed well! Since many parents had driven by in go-carts, Riley was on a mission to get them if they came by. Not too long after she held the hose a go-cart came by. Riley began spraying the street and bringing the hose up and down so she could get the go-cart people wet. What she didn't look for was whether they were participating in the water balloon fight. There were two elderly ladies on the go-cart. The driver swerved slightly away, but then continued on her path. Riley definitely got them wet. They both smiled and waved. The driver put her hands in the air as if to say "What are you going to do?" and had a great attitude about it. Was so funny to watch!
For the float, one of the neighbors built a large space shuttle to represent the first space shuttle launch. He spray painted three garbage cans and then put them together. NASA letters and details were added. Looked amazing! Also represented was the Sparkman Gator (full costume), space costume, and Ken Langdon wearing an Elvis wig and glasses.
The girls and some other neighbor kids rode in the back of the truck and threw out candy to the crowds along the street. This is their second year to participate and they really enjoyed it. Julia was really wanting candy and had thought about standing in the crowds just so she could catch some, but we shared that we'd get her a few pieces. When the girls passed us on the float, Riley yelled "Mom!" and threw a load of candy our way.
We collected candy on our way back to meeting the girls and put it in Jeremy's short pockets. It was crazy how much candy we arrived home with! We were all extremely sweaty and chose to shower. Then chose to relax inside for most of the day (and some shopping for Jules and I in the afternoon - but still inside for the most part).
Happy Fourth!!
Our neighborhood celebrated it's 60th year and each street in the neighborhood can sign up to build a float to represent the theme. Our street's theme last year was the "Marquis." This year we were the "Memory Makers: the Greats of 1958." We get together at a neighbor's house the night before the Fourth of July for food, drinks, and fireworks. Everyone chips in to help get the trailer and truck ready for the morning.
One of the traditions at Sparkman is the Annual Water Balloon Fight on the Eve of the 4th. The neighbor boys got loads of balloons ready in several coolers. Around 8pm the water balloons began to be thrown. Some parents would ride their go-carts through the street while kids had super soakers and threw balloons. Other parents dropped kids off with coolers of balloons and the various groups of kids began throwing them at each other before the parents came back to pick them up. The girls loved it.
Cathy allowed Riley to turn on the hose at the front of her house so that she could spray some of the boys on the 'other side.' The end had a softer nozzle so the force of the water was fairly gentle. However, it still sprayed well! Since many parents had driven by in go-carts, Riley was on a mission to get them if they came by. Not too long after she held the hose a go-cart came by. Riley began spraying the street and bringing the hose up and down so she could get the go-cart people wet. What she didn't look for was whether they were participating in the water balloon fight. There were two elderly ladies on the go-cart. The driver swerved slightly away, but then continued on her path. Riley definitely got them wet. They both smiled and waved. The driver put her hands in the air as if to say "What are you going to do?" and had a great attitude about it. Was so funny to watch!
For the float, one of the neighbors built a large space shuttle to represent the first space shuttle launch. He spray painted three garbage cans and then put them together. NASA letters and details were added. Looked amazing! Also represented was the Sparkman Gator (full costume), space costume, and Ken Langdon wearing an Elvis wig and glasses.
The girls and some other neighbor kids rode in the back of the truck and threw out candy to the crowds along the street. This is their second year to participate and they really enjoyed it. Julia was really wanting candy and had thought about standing in the crowds just so she could catch some, but we shared that we'd get her a few pieces. When the girls passed us on the float, Riley yelled "Mom!" and threw a load of candy our way.
We collected candy on our way back to meeting the girls and put it in Jeremy's short pockets. It was crazy how much candy we arrived home with! We were all extremely sweaty and chose to shower. Then chose to relax inside for most of the day (and some shopping for Jules and I in the afternoon - but still inside for the most part).
Happy Fourth!!
Comments
Post a Comment