How Cool is That??

I know that I have marveled in the past about how much I love our smallish town's Fourth of July parade.  We get up bright and early, fill our iced-coffee cups and hoof it up to the start of the pre-parade (yes, we have a pre-parade).   As we are walking we are mesmerized by the sounds of sirens, not the kind that woo you into debauchery, no, the emergency vehicle type.   Those vehicles representing departments from all over the county and a few from around the country lead off the pre-parade.  We head to our friend's house for their annual parade front bash and get to chat with loads of friends and neighbors.   When the parade proper starts, shortly into it, we see this!

This was so exciting, you see this is an original horse drawn milk wagon from the Progressive Dairy!!  Don't get the excitement??  Well that is our farm!  The original Gifford operation for the Progressive Dairy.  This float was sponsored by the Racine Heritage Museum.  What?  I had no idea, must investigate if they have a current exhibit on the Gifford family and what is now our precious homestead.

 The day progresses to amazing and carefree relaxation time at a dear friends lake cabin.  It has been a tradition of ours for the better part of the last 8 years and now with the kids older and lake activities.. all . that... it was really special.  The below shot is the pontoon 4th parade that is so cute...this year however, I was on the phone dealing with a work emergency for 3 hours including during this parade and missed it.  So this lovely shot was taken by B.  (That's all I'll say here about said work emergency, but good grief!!, lets out exasperated sigh)

The lovely fun filled day ended with exhausted, yet glowingly happy kids and a intimate fireworks display for four back on our homestead. 

One of the best weekends all year to be in this awesome community!