Wow! The Independence Day holiday just keeps going! This morning began early for Benjamin and me. In the 10 years I've lived in Provo, I have never been to the 4th of July parade. Since it is the biggest parade in all of Utah, that is pretty sad! I wanted to go this year, especially since the weather was a little cooler than most years, and Benjamin is the only one I could convince to come with me!
We live about 9 blocks south of the end of the parade route. I figured that parking gets crowded, and since we walked about 30 blocks on Saturday night, we could handle walking less than 10! We were out the door around 7am, wearing our jackets as we walked. I enjoyed seeing the hot air balloons in front of us.
Smokey the Bear
We were almost halfway when a neighbor drove by and waved hello -- then they stopped and offered us a ride. They were on their way to see the balloons up close, but dropped us off at the parade route on their way -- thanks Brimleys!
Since it was just 2 of us, we were able to easily find a seat right on the curb. Benjamin sat in his chair and played his V-smile video games while I cheered for the runners of the 5K that were going by.
A little while later the pre-parade started.
It took Benjamin a while to realize he could get up and out of his chair to get the fliers that some of the groups handed out :)
When that was over, he said he wanted to go home. I had to tell him a few times that the real parade was about to start and that it would be a lot better than what we just saw!
This was the first float, which he loved. He looks unhappy because he was caught off-guard when I asked him to turn around for the picture.
We were located right before the round-about in the street, so a lot of the parade got very close to us as they got ready to go through it. This one was VERY cool up close!
Our neighbor, Izzy, won the baby contest and so she and her parents got to be in the parade!
When the military walked by, Benjamin really got into giving them all 5. So when the Provo missionaries came by, he did it with them, too!
We were located right before the round-about in the street, so a lot of the parade got very close to us as they got ready to go through it. This one was VERY cool up close!
Our neighbor, Izzy, won the baby contest and so she and her parents got to be in the parade!
When the military walked by, Benjamin really got into giving them all 5. So when the Provo missionaries came by, he did it with them, too!
We had a great time (although I was disappointed that there was no candy-throwing like when I visited Hyrum in the summer as a child!), but left before the last few parade entries went by. We walked only 3 blocks before Benjamin was done with walking. Thanks to cell phones, Ryan came and picked us up at about the half-way point :)
We then drove up to Brett and Stephanie's and met up with the rest of the family to celebrate Hyrum's 3rd birthday. How perfect that we went and saw Toy Story 3!
Whew . . . it's been a long weekend of festivities, but it has been SO fun!
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