Small town parade

My kiddos and I packed ourselves up and went to a 4th of July parade on Saturday. What a neat experience. The town of Northville is very small and Main street really is "Main" street. American flags flying along every light post. Total small town Americana! We went into the Five and Dime, which nothing in there was five or ten cents, but I was a treat! We bought sunblock, a towel to sit on during the parade and Peyton got caps for his cap gun! 

There is a place in this town that David loves and introduced me to the first time we came to New York, it's called "The Red Barn". Antiques, junk and homemade crafts galore! There is so much to see inside this little red barn and I found a few trinkets for a decent price! I must say even after 15 years of being away from Europe I still sometimes scoff at the price of antiques here in the U.S., but for the most part this place was decently priced.

After exploring the stores we explored the local gas station...Stewart's. Gosh gas stations here are just soo different from the ones in Colorado. First of all, Stewart's has ice cream...I have yet to try it. Second, the gas stations all over are stocked to the brim almost like a grocery store and bagels with butter or cream cheese pre-packaged. Their YUMMY! We gathered a few items to munch on for the parade and some water and headed out to find a seats.

Their was a lovely shaded spot that wasn't "saved" for others and we plopped right down. We ate our hot dogs and chips and chit chatted. It was real nice. Xander was pleasant as usual...just looking around and taking it all in. A lady came up to Peyton with a popsicle...she gave it to him for free. She says she passes them to all the well behaved, patient children waiting for the parade to start. Just a side note...of course we have patient, well behaved children...their ours...our little angels.  Hee Hee yea right...anyways it was a nice treat in the hot summer sun. It was really neat to see how the street lined up with people of all ages. It reminded me of the Monument parade we have in Colorado. People from all surrounding towns come to see the parade. I seriously think it only lasted thirty to forty-five minutes but it was absolutely exciting to watching. Peyton made out like a bandit with candy (some of the older folks helped him find hidden pieces) and Xander was just amazed at it all. Not sure his little head could look back and forth quick enough.

We came home afterwards to such a treat...homemade hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill with potato and macaroni salad. To top it all off pomegranate lemonade. To say the least I ate till I almost burst and then relaxed the rest of the evening. What a day full of memories. I love having moments like this. I just wish my husband was here to take it all in with us. It just means that next year when he comes home we have to go out and make more family memories.

God is good people. We are blessed.