We spent the Fourth of July (which was observed on the third of July) in Rexburg with Steve’s family. We had a full day of activities starting with a parade. There is nothing better than small town parades. Everyone gets involved. There are no floats. Nothing flashy. But it’s great. And they hand out chocolate milk. To everyone. It was a little chilly, quite possibly the coldest 4th of July I’ve ever experienced, but luckily it warmed up.
There was a lot of candy. Most of which we tried hiding from Hunter but he did manage to get his little hands on a sucker. It’s amazing how something so small can make such a sticky mess!
We made our way to the park afterwards for some food and to let the kids play. The carousel seemed to be the big hit and the cotton candy is always a favorite.
Well, it’s my favorite. In fact, minutes after our camera was stolen in Peru almost a year ago, the first thing Steve did was buy me cotton candy, two bags. I ate them both. By myself. A comfort food I suppose! Steve’s not a big fan.
Hunter liked it at first, but then got increasingly frustrated as his hands became stickier and stickier.
There was a splash park that the kids were dying to jump in – we of course didn’t bring swimsuits because it was so cold earlier that morning when we left the house – so they jumped in with their clothes on. Hallie thought it was a great idea until she was ready to be warm and dry and there was nothing for her to change into!
The fun thing about being in a small town is you always seem to run into people you know. We were sure we didn’t know anyone left in Rexburg because we’ve been gone for four years. But as we walked around the park we kept running into the most random of people: A friend from high school who also attended college there, Steve’s cousin who is now married and pregnant, a teacher of Steve’s who he really admired, a friend I made in college and worked for her father and our boss from the resort in Zion who is now the fire chief of Rexburg. It was crazy and so fun. We ended the day with some soccer, wiffle ball and some fireworks.
Even at 10:00 o’clock at night, when the children were overly tired and I was prying their little grubby hands off the sparklers, I didn’t want it to end. The day was great. I love this holiday. I wish the fourth of every month was like this!
