Fourth of July

Now, some may wax eloquent about Independence Day and what it all means to us as a nation and as a people, and don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for our nation and for God's blessing on it, our rich history and more, but that's not my topic today.

Nope, I'm writing about our local Fourth of July parade! We are not in it every year, but we usually are. Last year, we opted out and had a great time sitting front and center, seeing all the floats and local businesses go by, collecting candy, toothbrushes, stickers, and sponges (hey, the 3M resort is in Park Rapids...what else would they give out???).

This year we once again were in the parade. We had several of our workers, a good collection of Carter family, and a couple friends who were desperately trying to find someone who would let them walk in the parade with them and hand out candy (we were short handed...it was a good fit!).

We usually hand out strawberries...we're usually in the thick of strawberry season. This year, our strawberries are just starting and there was no way we'd have enough berries to hand out. We passed out strawberry taffy and information about u-pick (starting on Wednesday, for you locals!) as well as our pumpkin parties....and had several of our pumpkin party characters along for the show! We were missing our bear and gorilla, but had a blast with the crow, scarecrows, and the newest addition...our giant chicken. Our kids looked forward to walking and passing out candy, but neither made it very long...Susi couldn't keep up the pace (shoot, the chicken could barely keep up!), and Luke quickly got tired...but they did keep Grandma company in the back of the pick-up while I drove!

The person riding the chicken asked not to be identified, so I won't tell you who it was...but you may be able to figure it out! I think he probably got the most attention out of anyone in the parade! (and people think he's so quiet and reserved...if they only knew!)