We had a really great time on the 4th of July. We spent the day out in Latrobe starting first thing in the morning with the parade through downtown. G'ma and G'pa Bush helped us get great seats up front so we could see all the trucks and bands and floats. We also happened to be sitting next to one of the local firetrucks parked on the street. Caleb loved that. He kept pointing to it, saying "ooh, wow."
We spread out our blankets and set up our chairs and waited for the parade to start. Sadie had a nice little nap on the way out so she was very happy and excited to see everything. Caleb read stories with G'ma and I was able to look around at all the people. I always find it weird being back in Latrobe, I'm curious to see if I recognize anyone from growing up but at the same time there really aren't that many people from growing up that I would want to see.
Anyways, the fire whistle blew letting us know that the parade was about to begin. Caleb quickly put the books away and watched up the street. Then came the police cars and then the veterans marching. Then a band and more firetrucks. Caleb pointed and clapped and watched it all go by. Sadie squealed and bounced for much of the parade. After 2 hours, I really couldn't have asked for the kids to be happier or more content. They were both very tired but still had a good time.
Caleb loved the firetrucks, the marching bands (even though there weren't many of them) and the puppy dogs and ponies that were in the parade. He saw cousin Heather marching with Derry's band and he caught some candy that was thrown to him but didn't really know what to do with it. He just did it because he saw the other kids doing it. He also got a hug from the Latrobe Wildcat mascot and shook a clown's hand.
Sadie liked the marching bands and the majorettes and practiced clapping for all of them. She also seemed to make friends with another little baby girl sitting next to us.
After the parade, we went back to G'ma and G'pa's for a little picnic and some swimming but the little ones were worn out so they went down for naps. We were hoping to get into the pool but it just wasn't quite warm enough and kept threatening rain so we played with some new trucks that G'pa had got for Caleb.
Later that evening, G'ma agreed to watch Sadie so that Andy and I could take Caleb down into town for the fireworks. We left at about 7 and managed to get a great parking spot down in Legion Keener. We walked around the midway and then Caleb saw the rides set up. He rode on the dragons and these little rocket ships and had a blast. I couldn't believe it, this kid who won't go with anyone he doesn't know and gets shy around people he doesn't know well, went right to the ride operator without even a second look at Andy or I.
We finished up at the midway at about 8 and decided to kill time by walking up into town to get some ice cream. Then we were ready to set up to wait for the fireworks to begin. We sat on a nearby softball field with a great view of where the fireworks would be and plenty of room for Caleb to run around. Caleb and Andy played games around the backstop and had lots of fun. When the fireworks started, Caleb came over and sat on my lap. The booms didn't frighten him at all. He just settled back with his thumb and his hair and watched the sky light up. Every now and then he would ooh or babble something and point at the sky.
After the show we packed up and quickly made it back to the house. We stayed there that evening and drove back to Pittsburgh the next morning. We all had a really great time.
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