Saturday, June 7, 2008

Time for parades!

Today marked the official start for parade season for us, and it was a doozy! Our first stop was Dairy Days in West Union under a blazing sun with the heat index in the 90's and a strong south wind (thank goodness!). We were one of the last entries in the 2:00pm parade--just before the fire trucks--so our trek to "line up" was 3x longer than the parade itself! Emily did fabulous despite the heat and performed her sole duty flawlessly--to look cute. ;o) Her little t-shirt is adorable. We even shared a very melty chocolate shake that didn't come with a napkin without one drip on our clothes. Amazing! Emily also acquired some shiny red beads, which she thought were great!

David Hartsuch, who is running for Iowa's 1st Congressional Seat, walked--or should I say rode--along with us. He owns a few Segway scooters and is trying to convince Austin to borrow one for parades and door-knocking. I tried it out, and it sure is fun!

While Austin stayed in West Union to talk politics Emily & I headed home. We were having fun watching little girls perform their dance routines, but it was just too hot and windy. We enjoyed a normal supper at home in the cool, quiet house before turning around and heading back to Westgate for the Westgate Day Parade at 6:30pm. It was still terribly windy with the added fragrance of hog manure. :op You know you're in a (really) small-town parade when:

  1. The parade route is 4 blocks long
  2. Tractors outnumber the other entries 2 to 1
  3. The "town queen" is riding barefoot on the back of a motorcycle

Emily did great again despite spending so much time in the van and only dozing for 45 min. along the way. Including the flying solo shopping trip I took to Cedar Falls this morning, I put 192 miles on the van today. Austin drove separate b/c he door-knocked all morning, too. Whew! Emily also discovered the joy of Tootsie Rolls and Frooties. I think she ate at least 5 of them after the Westgate parade until I cut her off. It's only the beginning! :o)

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