Happy 4th of July!
It was no surprise that I woke up early. Chris appeased me by going on a walk. I hadn't done any formal exercise for almost two weeks and was feeling wholly out of shape. We walked down to the ferry which was a nice gentle slope for about a mile and a half. That gentle slope wasn't quite so lovely on our return trip.
After breakfast, the girls made a 4th of July cake for later in the day.
We took the 12:30 pm ferry to Steilacoom across Puget Sound to participate in their 4th of July festivities. The parade was pretty home town small. We walked a short distance from the ferry and were just in time to see the parade pass by. (We happened to be at the end of the parade route which helped.) Either the parade entrants were out of candy or were looking for smaller kids than Kristen; she didn't get much tossed her way. Sad realization for her that smaller kids usually get the candy.
Linda was festive in her red, white, and blue cowboy hat, but it sure helped us find her in the crowds.
People kind of swarmed the parade route even before the parade was finished when they had to stop the parade to let the ferry cars pass by. The road became a crazy jumble of people as we reached the booths further up the street.
Kevin and Candace flew into Portland, rented a car, and then drove to Tacoma. They met us after the parade in all the mass of people crowded on to two blocks of Steilacoom. We finally made our way to a covered tent and ordered pizza from a food truck complete with a pizza oven. Sadly, we ordered three pizzas, but they were running out of food and we only got one. A bag of kettle corn and pizza was enough to satisfy the hunger.
We caught the 2 pm ferry back to Anderson Island. Kevin and Candace drove their rented van on while the rest of us were walk-ons. Grandpa chose not come over to the parade since he has a hard time walking and keeping his balance.
Linda had reserved a tiny house for Kevin and Candace to stay in for a few days until we leave on Wednesday. They spent some time getting checked in and organizing kids clothes. Candace had already been on vacation with three of the kids for awhile, so I could understand the need to get things in order.
The kids played outside for the afternoon. After Kristen's accident the other day, Grandma decided that only the only three older grandkids were going to be able to ride the scooters. They had fun driving back and forth past the house, honking the horn, going backwards, going slow, being annoying. They were having a blast though.
We had a BBQ in the evening and just enjoyed hanging out together. As they sun went down, we had to put on jackets and then even heavier jackets to head out to watch the fireworks. It was a rather cool evening. The fireworks were a crazy affair. Totally not safe, but the volunteer firemen were in attendance and buckets of water were placed all along the road paralleling the shore. Grandpa had some fireworks he had purchased in Montana and others all around us were setting off big and large fireworks all around us. We could look across the Sound and see 15 to 20 other firework shows happening at the same time.
Steilacoom, directly across the sound, did not start their show until 10:30. I was so tired. Amy was asleep on a blanket on the ground next to me. Pretty unusual for her to fall asleep before the rest of her family.