Stars and Stripes Forever

Come rain or shine, we were going to be in our neighborhood parade for July 4th...unless our neighborhood canceled it. We've never been here for the 4th so this was our first chance and with all the rain we have had in Austin, no parade was a real possibility. But we chose to laugh at the forecasters who predicted 100% chances for rain. C'mon, when have you ever heard 100% chance of rain. But here we were. Absolutely certain we would be wet. But on the night of the 3rd, we spent our evening with the two kids decorating the stroller and tricycle and taking out our flags and practicing the Pledge of Allegiance (yes, Jack can say it thanks to his school having them say it every morning! Except I think he say "One nation, undergob, invisible, with libirdyand just four.")

And on the 4th, I got up at 6:30am to finish the amazing sweet rolls (thank you Pioneer Woman!) that I would bring to the potluck brunch after the parade. Rolls made, kids dressed, we headed out to the parade...just as it started to rain. The banner you see on Jack's trike started bleeding all over his leg. But dammit, we were going to celebrate our liberty and freedom and all that other crap. So we threw on raincoats and headed out for the walk up the hill to where the parade would start. While waiting around with the few dozen neighbors that had also ventured out, we were approached and asked to be the grand marshals for the parade (I like to think it was our stellar decorating job and the glitter glasses. You can never go wrong with glitter glasses) So we started the parade and were immediately passed up by every kid riding their bikes at top speed to get to the potluck. Which is great because we just rolled along and chatted with neighbors walking along as the rain came and went the whole way to the brunch. And during the brunch. And on the way home from the brunch.

Jack kept his spirits high, shared his flag stickers and dutifully recited the Pledge of Allegiance when called upon. Alex...well, she fell asleep in her Baby Bjorn after about 10 minutes, even with the barking of dogs, shouting of kids and rain coming down all around her.

Happy 4th!