4th of July

It's funny to try to figure out how to explain the Fourth of July to a two year old, since I am not inclined to raise her believing that our country is superior to all others for reasons both earned and pre-ordained by God. Which reminds me, can someone explain the bumper sticker I have seen on a few different cars lately, that has a swoop of stars and stripes, and says "Power of Pride"? I have so many questions about the meaning of this slogan, I don't even know where to start. So if it is in fact the name of a drum corps or something, please tell me that so I can just let it go. But back to Independence Day. We talked about how it is like a birthday celebration for our country, the USA. Naomi, who likes to hear us talk, apparently, then asked what the name of some other countries are. Hee.

Where I am going with this is a general question of whether you are starting down a certain path if you focus on how you celebrate something and leave until later the question of why you are celebrating. Because a lot of Fourth of July activities are super fun, and talking about them in advance (and even learning about them when you are too young to stay up late enough to take part in them) is part of the fun, too. I don't know why we have parades on the Fourth of July, but we do. I am not sure what the apple pie thing is about, but yum, I made one! (It was ugly but tasted good.)

Anyway, yesterday was an amazingly beautiful day, and we went north one exurb to Kirkland for breakfast and the Fourth of July parade. We have a library book about a Fourth of July parade, so I knew Naomi would be into it, but seriously, it was like she had been waiting her whole life to be an appreciative spectator of a Fourth of July parade. She clapped and shouted hooray and waved.

The first part of the parade is the Children's Parade, wherein Kirkland's forty thousand children (seriously, it went on and on and on) pass by on their scooters and bikes and Barbie Power Wheels Corvettes, all decorated up with sparkly red, white, and blue doodads. Naomi kept saying, "Hooray for the children!" Ha!

Despite my problematic relationship with patriotism, I still cried outright when the World War II former POWs went by. Damn!

All the veterans got a lot of applause. After the veterans came a bunch of corvettes, each carrying a member of the Little League Championship team from like 1982, or something. Which means a bunch of 39 year old guys, riding above a blown up photo of themselves, age twelve. Weird. Coming as they did right after the WWII POWs, they didn't get quite as good a reception. There was some gigantic military vehicle (a Striker?) covered with signs that said "Support our Troops- and their Mission." Remember the sucker's choice? Sheesh.

My favorite parts of the parade? The retirement home group was awesome, with a couple of Rascal scooters and a fully ambulatory Statue of Liberty impersonator leading the way, and the retirement home bus (complete with shaded windows) following behind, clearly packed with residents, bringing up the rear. Yea!

And shortly after them- the DeLorean club. Hee!

Naomi's favorite was all the marching bands. She loves her some marching bands! The inner band geek in me is, well, geeked. Happy Birthday, USA. Thanks for letting us assemble peacefully, bedecked in patriotic colors.