YaYa and I spent our holiday with Lil’ Sis and her kids. Everyone was out in force for the 4th of July Parade. It was the ultimate small-town event. There was everything from kids on bikes, to dogs dressed up in red, white, and blue. Even the crowd paradeded around in their patriotic attire, and I was right there with them. Of course, I wasn’t as groomed as my niece, whose fingers and toes were red, white, and blue, but I did pull out my stars and stripes.
More than the various floats and oddity that rolled past, it was a blast to see the community come together for the event. The kids even put down there Nintendo DS’ to waved their hands and flags at the those parading past.
One thing that I did find a little disappointing, was the lack of support for the 5K runners. The streets were lined with all of the people who had arrived ahead of time in order to stake out their spots, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the race. It would be one thing to run a 5K 
on empty streets, but it just seemed wrong to have all these people there and nobody even acknowledging the runners and walkers going past.
It was no different for them than it was for Lil’ Sis and I, when we ran a 6-mile run along a lonely bike path later in the day (except a little cooler).
I hope everyone had as fun of a 4th as we did.
That is a little strange that people couldn’t take a few minutes to stop and cheer instead of staking out their turf. I guess those parade-goers are quite the competitive bunch too. :-)
Happy Fourth of July to you and your family, Juls!! Hope you guys are having a great weekend!!
we have a parade like that here in june, where there is a 5k run before hand..and people always just looked confused..it’s a bummer.
They aren’t rude or anything. They are just sitting in their chairs catching up with each other. There just isn’t any cheering going on. It’s just odd – as if they don’t realize that there is a racing going on.
I miss the parades, chicken bar-b-ques and other Fourth of July events. In Germany they have their holidays and celebrations, but its just not like home (sigh).
I hear you about the poor crowd support for the 5K, I’ve been in races like that – it just doesn’t need to be that way!