No More Candy!

It was fourth of July. We got up early so we could race to the suburbs and get a good seat at Tom's hometown parade. We shouldn't have worried. No one was there. Maybe it was the weather that kept people away. Or maybe it was past parade experiences. Or both.

We waited for the parade to start huddled under umbrellas and sitting in our chairs that lined the sidewalk. Firemen gave out plastic black or red fire hats to the kids. That was pretty cool. Austen got one of each color. Then the parade started with two Chip-like patrols leading the pack at a slow crawl. This is a pretty dramatic beginning I thought to myself as the sirens blared. However, the time it took for the groups following them to catch up should have been a sign that this parade was going to go on forever.

We saw the garden club, the rotary club, the girl scouts, a martial arts company, a bookstore and many others. You name it, we saw them. In fact, I think they let everyone and anyone be part of the parade and they all seemed to move at a snail's pace. They also all threw candy. This was great in the beginning aside from Austen getting beaned in the head with some Gobstoppers. But, after awhile there was candy lining the streets as the kids grew tired of getting up and stuffing the loot in their already heavy bags. I knew Austen had had enough of the parade when he yelled, "No more candy!" What kid yells that unless they are drowing in it and want to see something more?!

But there wasn't much more to see. The end of the parade was now in sight as we saw the much anticipated firetrucks rolling down the street bringing up the rear. Tom promised Austen 10 firetrucks. There were only two. What a let down.

Next year there will be more room on the sidewalks during the parade because I know there will be three less people there.