Finally Enjoying Parades

I don't know if this is just a Utah thing but nearly every town around here has some kind of summertime weekend celebration. Frequently, they'll attach "Days" on the end of some term that has some significance to the town and they'll have a baby contest, beauty pagent, parade, and even a rodeo if the cowboy per capita warrants it. Thus, we get "Strawberry Days", "Iron Days", "Pony Express Days", and even "Onion days." Tonight, we attended one of these celebrations in Orem and watched an evening parade with Dad, Susan, Dave, Jen and family, Jennifer and family, and Julie and family.

I've never been much of a parade guy. I remember my Mom dragging the kids out for as many parades as she could take us to. Most of the time, when I think about parades, I think about boredom, tired feet from walking blocks and blocks to parade routes, and blistering heat from watching float after float in July head for four hours (Not an exaggeration. The Provo summertime parade is 4 hours.) but I very much enjoyed this tonight (aside from my lower back hurting after standing with Ben in arms or on my shoulders for the whole time). Most of the enjoyment came from watching my kids enjoy the parade. About every second float threw candy out at the crowds and my kids loaded up on the sweet stuff. Each of them had something they really enjoyed this evening. Ben is getting into a smiley stage so he enjoyed seeing the faces of the family giving him the attention he's always so thirsty for at home. Claire saw some Disney princesses (actors from a local theater group) and loved that. She also loved seeing all the beauty queens from the various towns. Jace said his favorite part was the police cars and fire trucks. Ethan and Emily loved it when Uncle Dave gave them rides on his motorcycle in the Church parking lot.

It was a great way to spend a summer evening.