A RACE, A PARADE, FIREWORKS AND A WINNER!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th yesterday. I had a fun filled day packed full of activities. I think I'll just stay home and rest up today.

I started my day out getting up early and heading out to pick up my sister's good friend, Beverly. From there we headed out to Huntington Beach. My great niece, Trinity, was going to be the parade with her Brownie Troop.

We met up with more friends and family and had a nice big spot under a tarp that we set up our chairs.

Every year this parade just gets bigger and bigger. There are tons of people who go to watch and that are in it. It lasted 4 hours! They even had it on the news. Even though it's a big deal here it still has a small town feel to it.

We sat near the end of the parade route and about 8:00am we noticed runners were coming in to the finish line. I didn't even know they were having a race. So many people entered. There were several women.

Lots and lots of men of all ages.


Grandparents with their grandkids. Moms and dads. Even dogs ran with their owners.

But, it was this sweet little girl that really touched everyone. She did the whole race with her mommy. She had two braces on her legs and used her tiny little walker. She made it! She finished and had the biggest smile on her face when she did.

It was fun being at the finish line cheering everyone on.

Then it was finally time for the parade to start.

Of course there were bands playing Patriotic songs.

Bikes decorated with red, white and blue.

Costumes from our early days.

Horse drawn buggies all decorated for 4th of July.

Different groups from around the county. My favorite was when the Brownie troops came! There is my dear Trinity. They handed out bottles of water and stickers to the crowd.

It was pretty hot so I'm sure the people that got the water was very happy.

Now I loved all the people, floats, bands and animals that were in the Parade but it was when the Military people walked by that I felt the need to stand up, clap loud and show my appreciation to the men and women who wore those uniforms. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be celebrating the 4th of July!

Above are the men and women of the Navy.

There were vets from World War II that survived Pearl Harbor.

Our brave men and women in Green.

Even General George Patton Jr. was there.

When the parade was over, we all packed up our belongings and fought the crowds to get home.

I went to my sister's, Maureen's, house and we looked up the movie times. We found one that was a good time for us and off we went to get out of sun for awhile and enjoy two hours in the air conditioned theater.

The rest of the crowd went back to my house to swim in the pool.

We had a BBQ and then it was time to go outside for Fireworks!

Here in my city we are still allowed to have the street fireworks. Most of the other cities have made them illegal to do anymore.

I'm not a big fan of these kinds of fireworks but the kids really like them and they do take me back to the days when I was a little one myself.

Now, show me these kinds of fireworks and you'll hear me ooh and aah. We were able to see a few shows from around the area doing these kinds.

My one dog sat outside with me and was calm as could be. Nothing bothers him as long as he is on my lap. But my other poor dog went crazy. Running around, barking and was just a wreck. I felt so sorry for him. I think next year we need to get him something from the vet to keep him calm.

It really was a nice day and one I shall always remember. How about you? What did you do yesterday to celebrate? Whatever it was, I hope you had a great day and if tired like me, can rest up today.

Now on to the WINNER of the giveaway! I didn't feel up to writting everyone's name down so I did the random number on the computer and the winner was.....MICHELLE from TREASURE THE MOMENT. I'm sending her an email now.

For those of you entered but didn't win don't be to sad. I'm going to be doing another one in a few days so check back often.

Hugs,
Joanne