When I was growing up we would go to a Fourth of July parade every year. They usually go the same way, at least from my experience. You have the flag with the veterans and/or current soldiers. All of that is followed by the marching bands, fancy cars full of waving politicians and of course you have the floats. Floats are your best bet for candy and as a kid that's what I was on the look out for. My brother and I had contests to see who could get the most candy.
Today we took the kids to the parade that was taking place close to the hotel. I was unaware at the time we decided to go that we would be taking them to one of the coolest parades a kid could go to. At the beginning it didn't seem like it would go that great. The heat was intense and we couldn't find a shaded spot. I grew concerned about Ronan and Inara over heat so we put an umbrella over them to keep them cooler.
The jets flew over signaling the start of the parade. We were one block from the end and this made me unsure if the kids would get any candy. I watched the soldiers and veterans go by and a few cars. Ronan started crying intensely and wouldn't stop even when picked up. I knew it wasn't the noise bothering him because I had left his gear home on purpose. I knew the marching bands would be too intense with his hearing aides. I decided he was too hot and needed to go back to the hotel. My parents were there so they told me they would bring the three oldest to the hotel if I wanted to take the babies back. With Ronan crying I decided it would be best to get him comfortable.
When I left with the babies I thought I was right and the floats were out of candy because the ones that had passed while I was there had either very small amounts of candy or completely empty buckets. I got the babies back to the hotel and we relaxed. Ronan was back to smiling and playing on the floor now that he was cool. Two hours later the older ones came walking in the door and they had a ton of loot.
Jadzia took the prize. A float was handing out full sized stuffed animals to random children. One of the workers saw Jadzia wave at him. I have to admit her wave is priceless. She waves just like a little princess. He gave her a big cow puppet. A little while later a lady came by and handed her a t-shirt that was just her size and had jungle animals on it. The boys weren't completely left out. They got small foot balls and tote bags. All of them got a ton of candy. They got pretty lucky, I've never been to a parade that gave out stuffed animals and toys.
We spent the afternoon resting. When evening rolled around I took the kids out to play with sparklers. Jadzia was scared and wouldn't try one out. When we were done she cried about how she didn't get to play with any sparklers. I offered her a sparkler again and she backed away saying she was scared.
We'd seen the big city fireworks display on Friday. For this reason I didn't feel the need to seek out any other fireworks display for tonight. The parade and sparklers had been enough. To finish everything off I let the kids lay in their hotel bed and watch the Washington DC fireworks display on tv. It turned out to be a low key, fun way to end a pretty nice Fourth of July.
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