The parade started at the south end of Tremont St. (about 15 blocks away) at 5:00, so we had to wait a while before it reached us. It was an absolutely beautiful day, so we didn't mind the wait. My mom had reserved our traditional spot 2 days prior with some blankets claiming the space. It's the perfect spot: mature trees behind us, as well as large trees across the street from us to provide shade.
The parade began with the US flag, and then the Governor of Utah, and then a National Guard truck with more flags. Following that were multiple fire trucks providing a deafening sound that we could hear from blocks away!
The boys had come prepared with baggies to collect the candy that was thrown--and there was plenty of it! I figured since we were at the end of the parade, most groups would be running low on their candy supply, but most still had lots left. It was awesome!
One of the boys' favorite floats in the parade was this gymnastics group. They were doing jumps and flips on the trailer. Jonah and Micah were in complete awe of the kids' flips and tricks! The boys also thought it was so awesome that the semi truck was pulling them! They'd never seen a semi truck in a parade before!
This was cousin Maddie's favorite part: the dancing groups!
The parade lasted for over 2 hours. The boys had never been to such a long parade before. They never got bored, though, and we all had a completely fabulous time! Towards the end of the parade, there was a dune buggy pulling a trailer that ran out of gas, and the parade halted. So I got up, and pushed it to the end of parade (about a half a block). After I started pushing, the driver got out and helped push on the opposite side. I was exhausted after that, but my boys were proud of my for "saving the day"!
We saw so many things that we NEVER see in our own Salmon River Days Parade, like these:
And we came home with MUCH more than just candy! It was unbelievable! We also got popsicles, frisbees, cereal, a water bottle, and dollarbill banner toys. The candy shown here is just from one boy, so times that amount by 3. It felt like Halloween! The boys were SO happy with their loot!
The next day, Thursday, we attended the Brigham City Temple open house in the morning. I am so grateful for this temple that is so close to my parents' house, and look forward to attending it often in the future!
We had tickets for a time during the 9:00 hour, and we were instructed to park at a local business parking lot, and a travel bus came and picked us up in large groups. The boys especially loved riding the bus, and thought it was so cool with its comfy seats & drop-down TV screens.
When we first arrived, we watched a DVD about the importance of temples, and then volunteers placed booties on our feet to keep the new floors clean.
We walked through the entire temple. We loved looking at the distance to the bottom level from the highest floor at the stairwell. I loved all the attention to details, and the peach blossom motife that was evident throughout the temple from the windows to the chairs to the carvings and paintings. It was absolutely gorgeous and peaceful and I was so glad for the opportunity to take my children inside its walls!
After the tour was done, we were invited to have refreshments (cookies & water), and then we went outside on the temple grounds to walk around. The boys liked the golden doors leading into the temple and the cool water fountain outside in the front.
We loved to see the temple!
We rode the cool bus back to our parking spot, and then we [finally] went school shopping. We bought clothes, supplies, and necessities. Then I took the boys out to eat at Pizza Hut for lunch. It was swamped with people who'd also attended the temple open house, but the boys really wanted to eat there, so we patiently waited, and the food didn't disappoint!
Later that afternoon, we returned to my parents' home in Tremonton. We changed our clothes, and then we went to the county fair. It was such a hot afternoon. We walked around inside looking at all the business booths and indoor exhibits first. I particularly loved this quilt that a woman made that was a replica of an old black & white photo.
And we found our last name in the Honeyville town's fair theme display (we have lots of cousins from there)!
The boys really wanted to do the rides next, so we ventured out into the heat. I bought $20 worth of tickets, which equated to 3 rides each for them. Jonah and Micah went on the slide, the boat obstacle course, and the jeep ride. Kanyon went on the boat obstacle course twice, and then rode with the other two boys on the jeep ride.
Then we got some food (I love fair food!). The boys really couldn't agree on what to get, so we ended up with just scones and drinks (we were so thirsty from heat exposure). We looked around in the outdoor vendors tents, and Jonah and Micah bought some cool wooden musical whistles. Then we walked around and looked at all the produce and animal exhibits. I don't think I've ever done such a thorough tour of the BE County Fair, not even when I lived in Tremonton! I couldn't believe how huge it is...so much bigger than Salmon's fair that I've become accustomed to! We were at the fair for hours, but we saw everything that we wanted to there!
We accomplished a lot on Thursday! It was a great day, but we were so tired by the end of looking around at the fair that we just hang out at my mom's house the rest of that evening.
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