July 4th - Part I - The Parade

We had a wonderful, busy, fun-filled Fourth of July. We left the house at 9:15am and didn't get home until 10:15pm! First off was the Annual Fourth of July Parade in Brandon. Mommy and Daddy grew up attending and marching in this parade (with Boy/Girl Scouts and the church float). The parade used to run along State Road 60 and stage near Brandon High School, but since SR60 is now 8 lanes, the whole thing has moved south and runs up Parsons from Lumsden to Robertson and then west over to Kings. We met up with Grandmommy, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Dawn and the cousins to see the parade. This was Parker and Wesley's first parade - Parker had a blast and we worked hard to try and keep Wesley cool out in the heat. Here's some pictures from a great time at the parade.

This is the Cub Scout Pack from First UMC in Seffner.



The Chik-Fil-A cow



Parker showing off a whole handful of candy that he scored at one shot!



Daddy ran into a friend from high school who also used to run cross-country. Now Michelle is a wife and mom who coaches softball and runs her own business.



A Scottish Pub had everyone walking by in kilts and some had swords.

Parker's favorite loot of the day - two Progressive cars!

Parker also collected a whole lot of beads - 33 strands to be exact! Here he is showing off his biggest set with a Krewe of Chasco medallion. What are the odds? The Krewe of Chasco is from Pasco County.

Lots of the floats had people squirting the crowd with super-soakers,
which felt great out in the heat!

No parade is complete without the Shriners.

Trying to keep Wesley cool.







And of course by the end, Wesley was crashed out!

We really did have a wonderful time at the parade with the family. The parade lasted two hours and while there were a lot of people, it wasn't overcrowded - there was plenty of elbow room and you didn't have to fight to be able to see or to catch the candy, beads and other loot. Two very nice highlights of the parade were: 1) the members of Bell Shoals Baptist Church handing out free frozen Flavor-Ices to everyone along the route and 2) the fire truck at the end of the parade hosing down the crowd! We had a lot more fun for the Fourth and promise to post more about it in another update soon.