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!

One Enchanted Evening

Our fourth annual chili cook-off was yesterday and oh what a day!  We had a great crowd of friends, new and old, this year and and a pretty good one to one ratio adults to kids (37 adults/34 kids)!  The day was steaming hot, so perfect weather for a gastronomical competition, plenty of games for kids and adults alike, and lots of cold beer flowing (for the adults of course)! 

The evening ended with glow sticks, a few fireworks and several children turning into pumpkins~ ah as any party should end, with tired rosy cheeked kids.  :)  Hopefully sweet dreams all around!  To illustrate just how jam packed the evening was....I didn't take a single picture!  Sheesh, not a shot, nothing, zip, zero, zilch!  In fact the above photo is of one of the centerpieces I had placed around, and I took that shot this morning!!

In case you were wondering, all of the entries were fantastic.  This years chili winner was an amazing buffalo chicken chili, and our secondary pie contest was taken by a key lime meringue that was to die for!

Thanks to all of the participants and great friends who came out to celebrate a wonderful warm summer night, on this fourth of July weekend.  It was one enchanted evening!

Silent Sunday

June In Review

A quick look at how June went down, through my lens...

Thankful Thursday

This week I am oh so thankful:

::  that Tuesday evening I was reminded that old friendships never die, they return like time has stood still, even after many years of dormancy.

::  for the loads of giggles that we have experienced from our family bad mitten rounds each evening this week.

:: that I have been able to watch a very diligent mama and daddy robin tirelessly feed the two babies that are in the nest outside my window at work.

::  for fireflies

::  that we are almost ready for our fourth annual chili cook off Saturday!

::   for the amazing, rich, cold brewed gold that I made last weekend, it's almost gone!!

::  warm sleepy good morning snuggles from the kids before they embark on another fun filled summer day.

What are you thankful for this week?  If you don't blog, leave your thoughts as a reply her or a comment on my facebook wall.  Thanks to Miss Buckle for this weekly post!