Saturday, July 4, 2009

Freedom To Be

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Happy 4th of July! We celebrate this day in many ways - cooking out on the grill, swimming at the lake or beach, visiting with friends and family, stopping by the gravesites of veterans who fought to secure and safeguard our freedom, being thankful to live in the United States of America, and of course, there are always the parades! Got to get there early to grab a great seat!
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I don't know about your parade, but where we live the parade always starts with fire trucks :). I think the lady in the second shot was a little water-hose-happy in the heat! lol!
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This lady was by far my favorite character in the parade! Her float represented Lake Area Missions.
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Cub scouts, a welcome sight in any parade :).
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The Shriners always "fun up" a parade! I always look forward to the Keystone Kops! a namesake, so to speak.
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People come early to stake out a good spot. What great seats!
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Important components of any good parade: 1) tons of candy to be handed, tossed, or thrown with abandon into the crowds; 2) skateboards - yep! they are everywhere, so why not in the parade?; 3) patriotic clothing - hats, shirts, pants, shoes, bandanas - all in stars and stripes; 4) cameras to take loads of photos to blog with :O); 5) banners everywhere - on booths, trucks, floats, being carried by hand; 6) tailgaters huddled up to watch the parade with family and friends; 7) a huge sun umbrella to attempt to block out the overbearing sun; and 8) tractors - hey! it's a southern thing!
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Did I mention tractors?
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Beautiful young ladies on floats. I happen to know this particular beautiful young lady and immediately thought her mom would like to see this shot :O). Here you go, Peggy!
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A little Civil War re-enactment. The man in the first shot told us to cover our ears when he raised his sword. That would be our signal that the cannon was going to boom! Silly me! All I though about was getting this last shot! Sword up, "fire", click! oh my gosh, he wasn't kidding!!! I can't hear a thing! But, hey! I got the shot :O).
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Once the parade was over, I walked around the grounds a bit looking at the craft dispays and food booths. What a fun way to celebrate our independence as a country. God bless you, America! And a huge thank you to all the men and women who strive to keep our country free! And a big shout-out of thanks to their families for making that sacrifice! Love you all! Happy 4th, America!

I am using this post for my i♥faces entry this week. To check out some more patriotic photos, just click on their logo below. Have a great week!

15 comments:

luke and wyatt's mom said...

These are great, Alice! What fun to see the parade "stop" so I can celebrate again :)

Those canon guys are crazy...I was talking to someone and had my back turned-luckily Stan came along and warned me to plug my ears! Patti's husband really IS a handy guy to have around :)

Thanks for sharing these!

Nana said...

Good pictures Alice. I was at that hot parade with Stephanie, Tanek & Hannah. It was hot but we enjoyed it. I was hoping for a little of that water the lady in the 2nd firetruck was sending out, but she missed us.

Unknown said...

Amazing pictures Alice!

I wanted to thank you for your words of encouragement about my fearful happening yesterday:) I cannot imagine doing the job you did and just not being terrified. But your right, God does love my babies more than I do, and you are absolutely right on that I must be paying attention to keep them safe.

Florida Girl said...

I missed the parade in person but now I feel like I was there without the sweat. Thanks!

Patti said...

Thanks for sharing the photos, Alice.
Being in (the airconditioned van as kid-on-the-float spotter: "STOP!!") the parade was fun but when yer innit you miss the rest of it, clowns, cannons & hose. There were some great bubbles blowing from the float ahead of us though. :-)

Divamom said...

Awesome pictures! Hope you had a blessed 4th! Maybe next year I'll check out one of the parades in our area!

Be Blessed!
~Chondra

Kelly said...

Great pictures--looks like a fun parade! Also, love that shot of the dragonfly : )

Foursons said...

Love your post! Beautiful pictures and I love the layout of them. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

jen@odbt said...

Great photos. Looks very much like our town's parade - everyone can be in it. We love it and haven't missed one in the 10 years we've lived here. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Unknown said...

What beautiful pictures! I love 4th of July parades!

Adrienne Zwart said...

Wonderful story, Alice! I think I would enjoy the water hose postition. :)

Mrs. McFadden said...

grea fire engine photos!! I don't think any parade is complete without a fire truck or two do you? great series!

puna said...

I love seeing photos of parades since I missed ours!

Buckeroomama said...

Wonderful photos. Makes me want to experience a 4th of July parade myself -- seems like a lot of fun. :)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful images that capture the spirit of the 4th beautifully!! :) Great work! Also, thank you so much for the comment you posted my blog! I truly appreciate it!! Hope you had an amazing holiday!!



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