Small Town... Big Time Fun!

Well, we were over 100 degrees today.....again.  This extreme heat is getting old, fast!  However, the heat did not deter us from getting out for our little towns Independence Day celebration, "Freedom Fest".   Our town is pretty small.....maybe 4,500 people, but we do know how to throw a good old-fashioned 4th of July party!  We started by taking the grand kids to the parade.

Kyle, who was less than thrilled to run across the street and get a couple of fans being handed out by politicians.  Mikayla, who stayed in the office until the last minute, because she's too pretty to sweat!  Jacob, who was shoving candy in his mouth as fast as they could throw it! (Yes, they still throw candy from floats in our little town!)
Of course, the parade is like all small town parades......

There were some floats.....here are a few:

 And of course a little music from our "Cutting Edge" band which is actually one of the top bands in the nation.  We are very proud of them!  People actually move to our town because they want their kids in our band!

I was so glad they didn't make the kids wear those hot uniforms today!

The flag team put on a nice little show right in front of us!  Yay!

We seem to have had a lot of vehicles this year.......

Seriously, the septic pump truck was all cleaned up and in the parade!  It's hard to see, but the side of the truck says, "We want your stinkin business!"

We always have a lot of cool tractors!

And what's a parade without pretty girls on horses?  We have two drill teams here...The Trixie Chicks (cute name right?) and Stars and Steeds.

After the parade Jacob's pockets were so full of candy, his shorts were about to fall off!

Time to go to the fireworks and activities that the Dept. of Parks and Recreations puts on every year!  This is what the kids are really waiting for!  We are greeted in the parking lot by:

Police Chief Tom McClain, our State Representative Shane Schoeller and his mom.

  We were just in time to see the skydivers jump in!

We meet up with Sam's brother Craig, his wife Jen and my niece and nephew Jess and Dain.

Kyle manages to convince someone to let him sit in the dunk tank.  Jacob points in two directions of things he wants to do at the same time!  Mikayla spies the watermelon stand.  I think that girl could eat a whole melon by herself!

Kyle checks out Sam's bean bag toss technique.  We see the Pineapple Whip stand.  A duck tank is always fun, but Jen and I are happy to find the Funnel Cake stand and listen to the band.

We see some familiar faces.....my friends Tracy and her mom Kathy, Officer Bob Bell, Parks and Recreation Director Kevin McDonald (who makes it all happen) and Keith Logan, who I am proud to call my friend and one of the two finest Marines I know!

Here's what we've all been waiting for.......