4th of July
by Rebecca on 2011-07-15
We had a pretty nice 4th of July. Emily and I made a flag out of construction paper and star stickers. Not quite a Betsy Ross-quality product but good enough for us. And we taught her “Youʼre a Grand Old Flag.”
Our neighborhood has a little parade thatʼs just right for an almost 2-year old: one firetruck, a handful of police cars, a few civic groups like Boy Scouts and the lifeguards from the pool, and not a single scary clown, all throwing more candy than weʼd ever seen in our lives. It was so much candy that Emily didnʼt really know what was going on until she saw us picking it up. Then she sort of caught on: “Oh, weʼre helping keep the streets clean!” It wasnʼt until we actually opened a piece of candy that she fully appreciated the bounty that weʼd been given. (Side note: most of it is going to the Halloween stash. So, maybe you wonʼt want to come by our house for old candy this year. Youʼve been warned.) (Second side note: you know those fruit-flavored Tootsie Rolls? Those are GOOD. They will not be in our Halloween stash because I already ate them all. Sorry.)
After the parade, we went to Fourth Fest where William and Emily played on the playground, i.e. hogged the swings, for a good 30 minutes, while I sat in the shade and tried not to think about how hot it was. We also celebrated Americaʼs independence by eating tacos al pastor and elote (grilled corn on the cob.) I guess we wanted to remember our Mexican heritage.
I have a story about neighborliness as well. The parade loops through several residential streets in our part of Austin. Since this was our first year at the parade, we werenʼt really sure where to park. We found a shady spot along a tree-lined street, but just as we were getting out of the car, a woman walked up and said that weʼd parked on the parade route. Whoops. But then she quickly followed by saying that we could park in her driveway and sit with her and all her neighbors for the parade. Hooray for friendly neighbors!