Sunday, August 3, 2014

Independence Day 2014

We started July 4th in Idaho and ended the day in Utah. 

The Salmon River Days parade was on Main Street in Salmon beginning at 11:00. We've been in this parade the last few years with a float advertising our Pumpkin Patch, but this year the boys were adamant that they didn't want to be in the parade because they wanted to catch candy instead. Josh and I were fine with that because we were pretty busy already and it's always stressful getting everything ready for the parade (plus last year it was super disorganized and the parade line-up was such a mess). So, the boys were so happy to be on the sidelines for the parade in Salmon that morning. It was a longer parade than years' past--it lasted about an hour. Unfortunately, though, the boys didn't get as much candy as they thought they would. We even moved locations mid-way through the parade because they thought they'd get more earlier along the route, but it didn't end up being the case. We started in a spot with not a lot of kids, so not a lot of candy was thrown, but we ended by a ton of kids and although there was more candy thrown, there were more kids grabbing it, too. They were disappointed with the outcome, but it's a lesson they had to learn because they haven't believed me the last few years when we were in the parade and I bought them bags of candy to keep since they didn't have the chance to catch some and they always thought they would've gotten more if they were on the sidelines.  

This is where we first started out--not surrounding a whole bunch of kids:
We were smart & took Kanyon's earmuffs this year. The loud sounds of
the fire engines & derby cars have always bothered him in the past.
The parade had a long break from this float that kept stopping to make and hand out balloons. That's when the boys decided to change locations.

This is where their ending spot was, completely surrounded by a ton of kids:

I love how a simple van decked out in red, white, and blue paraphenalia can easily be turned into a patriotic parade float!

After the parade was over, we walked along Main Street for a bit to shop some of the sidewalk sales, then we went home and got ready to leave for Utah because my sister was getting married the next day in Draper. We arrived in Tremonton late that evening and ate dinner with my parents. I wanted the boys to see a fireworks show that night, but Tremonton doesn't have their fireworks display until July 24th to celebrate Pioneer Day. I found out Brigham City had one, though, so we got back in the car and took the boys to Brigham.

When we watch the fireworks show in Salmon, we drive up to the Old Dump Road, park the van, and sit in camping chairs next to the road. It's not the greatest environment for watching fireworks, so I was super happy for the chance to watch fireworks the way I did when I grew up: sitting on blankets in a park, surrounded by lots of other families and kids. We got ready by packing some blankets and I gave the kids each some glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets.

The fireworks show was at the Pioneer Park in Brigham, and that park was pretty full, but thankfully, there were also two adjacent parks across the street. We found a place to park, and walked to a good spot. We waited for about a half hour, and the boys played and watched neighborhood fireworks until it was time for the real show to begin.

The firework show lasted about 25 minutes and was set to music. It was an AWESOME show!!! The fireworks were different than what we normally see, and there was always multiple ones lighting up the sky. We all enjoyed it!

I loved this red, white, and blue combination:

Can you see the heart in the middle of this one?

Although our July 4th was different than normal this year (we weren't in the parade, we didn't have Josh's family reunion, we spent a majority of the day driving), we were so glad to have the opportunity to celebrate it together. We were at the parade in the morning with Josh's parents, and we saw my parents for dinner and had a good time watching fireworks afterwards.

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