Parade is a Bust

Our little town this weekend is celebrating Oregon Trail Days and has a little Wine and Music Festival. Apparently this is a big deal around here and Dwayne and I just didn't know it. If I hadn't seen the newspaper insert that highlighted the festival and schedule, etc. we would have been clueless about what the noise was all about. I saw that they were going to have a parade in town on the main drive. Luckily, we live close enough to walk to the parade route without having to deal with trying to find parking, etc. So even though it was going to be way too hot for my comfort, I figured I would suck it up, put on sunscreen, pack some snacks and walk down with the kids. We even loaded the camera for those oh so perfect picture moments of our kids experiencing their first parade! We arrived shortly after the parade already started but it was ok because it is a small town. We found a nice spot right at the beginning of the parade route, parked the kids strollers right in front where they can see and started pointing and waving. At first, they just watched the whole thing with great big eyes not really sure what the noise was all about. Most of the parade participants started tossing candy and Sam showed a little interest but there was no way he was getting out of the stroller. So the dutiful Mom that I am, I ran out and grabbed all the candy for my two darlings even though I felt a little ridiculous being one of the only adults running after the candy. And I am large woman. I can only imagine what people were thinking. Oh well, anything for my darlings.

I gave them both a sucker hoping that the candy would help liven them up a bit and they sucked on those thinking it was pretty good. Evie almost immediately became a sticky mess which I hate but I stopped worrying about the mess and just let her enjoy it. Then the firetrucks and ambulances came. Sam pointed at it and said, "Firetruck." We smiled and said, "You are right! Smile and wave at the fireman." Sam started to do that and then they started their sirens. Both kids jumped and started bawling. They were freaked out. And there wasn't just one firetruck. There were several scattered throughout the parade. So we would just start them getting calmed down and they would see another one was coming and start up again. Evie and Sam both wanted to be held which led to sticky fingers all over my shirt and a sucker in my hair. (That is why I hate sticky stuff and little kids.) And in between the bouts of crying I was still running out into the parade route to get my kids their share of candy. About half way through the parade Sam looked right at me and told me that he does NOT like firetrucks. But we stuck it out to the bitter end. At the end they cheered up a little bit because there were a bunch of people riding horses.

We were going to go check out Trader's Row in the park but Sam emphatically told me he wanted to go home and I was tired and hot anyway. It sounded like a good idea to me. And through it all we forgot to take out the camera. Oh well. Apparently, this is a yearly event so I'm sure I'll suck it up and try again next year. But ya, this year was a bust.