Watermelon + Small Town Parade = Good 4th 'o July fun!

Okay, I've been trying to figure out something to blog about for a couple days now and nothing spectacular is coming to mind (its been a fairly mundane week), so I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures from the 4th of July. My mom and I took Alyssa to the parade in a town about 15 minutes from my hometown. My dad and "Johnny" (his restored 1935 John Deere tractor) were going to be in the parade, so that's pretty much the only reason we went. Its always really fun to see my dad having such a great time perched on top of his tractor. He really looks like a kid in a candy shop and you would have no clue that Parkingson's is slowly taking over his life. One of the great times I'll look back on ~ but that's not what this is all about. You gotta love small town parades . . . the local funeral home was giving out huge slices of watermelon, so since Alyssa was dressed festively in a watermelon dress (1 of 3 4th of July outfits that she rotated through) I decided to give her a piece and let her go at it. Of course, cuteness followed . . .
















































The other thing that stuck me as "cute" during this parade was the announcer. First of all, they had a guy standing in front of the court house narrating who was going by and what they were riding/driving. And the gave a short biography. "Here comes Norm N on his 1935 John Deere Tractor. Norm lives on West Park Street and enjoys himself a nice hamburger on summer evenings". Not quite that detailed, but pretty darn close. Makes me miss my youth! Stay tuned for more small town fun . . . the county fair hits my hometown next week and I think Alyssa may ride in the parade with my nieces in my dad's wagon being pulled by the famous "Johnny".