The Big Parade

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This year, our parade “stake-out” blankets survived a small thunderstorm AND a gigantic windstorm. We thought we’d find our stuff somewhere in Fargo, North Dakota–but no. It all miraculously stayed put. Good blankets.

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Miss Chompy and I hung out, eating Twizzlers while everyone else roamed around in the booths. Twizzlers won…for a while…

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then we joined the crowd and strolled around the concession booths…

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 where apparently, somebody was blowing bubbles.

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The girlie even got to bring home a little brown frog. I know. Random. But she loved it.

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I was tempted to go buy dinner at the big covered wagon, but then I had to wonder if they were serving chuck wagon type food. I ended up being too chicken to even go see because I’m pretty sure pioneer food was nasty. And hey, I’m just not that brave.

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Magoo had had it before we could even decide what food to get. Don’t you wish you were a baby sometimes? Looks good to me.

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Then everyone gathered for the parade…our favorite, silly little thing.

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It always starts off with the police doing motorcycle tricks.

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Incredibly loud tricks.  057

Then the military comes with the American flag. Luckily, people still stand and put their hand over their heart. I was so glad.

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These beauty queens were totally waiving at the Bald Kid like they knew him. He was baffled.

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Pretty cute Rapunzel float…

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and some creepy tiger guys with no faces.

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Then came this fuchsia  poodle. I couldn’t tell how I felt about it because I’ve been looking for non-toxic nail polish and natural mascara and here comes this poor neon colored doggy. I kinda felt sorry for her.

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Magoo dancing to the band’s music. This kid’s got music in him deep down that’s coming out someday–mark my word.

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Cute little fireman clown that miraculously didn’t scared the kids. He was a gentle, quiet sort of clown guy.

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Of much more concern was this odd little dude. I couldn’t tell what his deal was but he just stopped right in front of us and started dancing in his…flag skirt…thingy.

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And this guy made us laugh because he was just sitting on the flatbed of a pick-up truck playing his drums. Just like that. I wondered what his parade entry said…”guy sitting on a trailer playing drums.” Okey dokey.

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Check out this fish man. He was cool pulling levers and strings to make the fish’s mouth and fins move.

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Hey, I know those guys!

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The kids favorite doggy characters throwing out candy.

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Mmmmm…the Menchie’s guy makes me hungry.

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And catch these guys laying in the road letting the bike riders jump over them. Take one guess at one thing I would never let somebody do. Crazy!

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The last bunch were my very favorite bagpipe guys! I’m in love with everyone of them. Where is that Scottish farmer I’ve been looking for anyway?

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We love the parade!!

:}

Outside My Window

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There was a little kiddie fair put on by PartyLand the other day. Miss Chomp and Magoo were sooo excited to go, and me? Well, I’m usually up for an adventure. But this time, I decided to shake it up and bit and NOT go out to the actual fair grounds. Oh, the kids and their momma went in alright, but I wanted to stay in the nice warm car.

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After all, I had my Lemon/Peppermint water…

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a stack of magazines and a good book…

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my crocheting….always–ALWAYS…

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and even my phone…just in case. Yeah, I was ready for the long haul alright.

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Then I looked out my car window and realized that there were some pretty things going on all around me–most of them within arms reach.

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I’m pretty sure after soaking in all that lovliness–I fell asleep and dreamed of a pretty little brook…

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  just outside my window.

:}

 

The Scent of Waffles…

We arrived at our last Farmer’s Market just as the sun was going down. But we had a goal and could not be deterred.

In fact, when Miss Chompy first got out of the car she took a whiff–

and a big, long sniff, and said,

“I can SMELL them!!

We need to go get Waffles...now!

Okey-dokey Miss Chompy. Anything you say.

Ahhh…such wisdom from the mouth of babes.

Last Hurrah

The other day at Riverwoods Farmer’s Market we found a few hints of the last bits of summer still around…

 like warm fountains to toss pennies to…

and bright, happy flowers to breathe in…

and water sprays to soak your toes and fill your bag with…

and spooky old Zoltar to get your fortune from…

and even more waffles to nibble on.

I don’t mind one bit that the evenings are getting cooler and the sun is sinking faster in the sky. Summer is lovely, of course… but I’m a much bigger fan of Autumn…

and to look at those mountains–we won’t be waiting long.