After we finished reading scripture the boys got dressed and quickly ate their breakfast (or didn’t eat at all as the case may be) because they were so excited to see what was going on outside! The pre-parade was passing our house and we first noticed it when Darth Vader and the various Jedi Knights and storm troopers were passing by our house. That was the final straw that broke the boys anticipation backs. It would be only minutes later that we would notice the back gate unlocked and open to the park and the 4 older boys were missing.
Imagine, for a moment, 4 boys running off into the social mayhem that we common call a parade! Luckily the boys had taken their wheeled toys to get a closer look and were coming back to the house when Michelle went to look for them at the back gate (I still had to get dressed first). The second attempt didn’t fare much better. While distracted getting the stroller and the jean blanket our boys escaped out the back gate again! This time we caught up to them on the sidewalk of Center St. (at least they stayed together).
We found a spot near the 700 E roundabout. Some older kids had set up blankets and then decided that they would take up seat in the median and left their blankets unattended. Hey, at least we got an unobstructed view of the parade! The pre-parade was still going when we arrived but then there was a significant lull before the real parade finally reached us. While we were waiting for the real parade to reach us Cheyenne and Autumn found us on the parade route! That was an unexpected surprise and we’re glad that they were able to join us. The boys were excited to see the various entries but we decided that all the entries fell into 3 categories: (marching) bands, political statements, or commercial advertisements (especially banks). The parade lasted about 2 hours.
Here are some of the better entries in this year’s parade:
After the parade Autumn and Cheyenne came over to the house to allow the crowd time to dissipate. So while they waited we all sat down to lunch. Abby had an enjoyable time playing with Michael and Aleky. Once the crowd finally thinned out my sisters were able to head home. We put Aleky and Quinten down for naps and we decided to take the 3 older boys to Grandpa Jones’ house and shoot his pellet gun.The boys thought it was great fun to shoot the pellet gun. It’s a semi-automatic rifle and has about a dozen shots per clip. David was getting pretty accurate at hitting the pop cans across the garage. Donovan and Michael’s arms aren’t quite long enough to allow them accurate aiming so they didn’t get quite as much thrill (mostly because they were missing more shots than they were hitting).
After shooting the boys headed back in the house to play with the rest of Grandma’s toys. Michael started on the computer but David quite appropriated it for himself. Donovan and Michael spent the next couple of hours playing with the various cars, blocks and parking structure in the living room. They were disappointed when it was time to pack up the toys and head home for dinner. Before we left Grandma Jones suggested we take the movie “E.T.” for the boys to watch. So the boys started watching the movie as soon as we got home, while dinner was being prepared. After a short pause in the movie to allow time for eating, we finished watching the movie together.
David had a couple of funny quotes while watching the movie. First he said, “I don’t like this movie because the alien is getting the boy into trouble.” The second quote was, “I think this movie is going to make me cry because the alien died.” How wonderful to have such great kids in our family. It has been a wonderful family day. I probably haven’t gotten enough work done but I’ve had fun with my family. It has been a great Independence Day holiday.
