Fourth of July Fun

We had a great 4th of July. What fun it is to have a kid! Despite down pouring rain, we went to the parade in Coralville. It is a huge parade and lasted 1.5 hours, despite the marching bands not marching, and probably other floats not appearing due to the rain. It seriously did not stop raining at all during the whole parade! They tossed lots of candy and goodies, most of which landed in the gushing water on the side of the street. We managed to save a good deal of it. Luckily, rain in Iowa doesn't mean cold. It was only in the low 60s, but that doesn't feel so cold here. Flipflops are a perfect fit for Iowa.

Wally and I tried to huddle under an umbrella, while waving and catching candy. We were both pretty soaked, but happy!

There would be short breaks in the parade, and Wally would get so excited when he saw it coming again...hence the song and dance.

During nap time, Joel decided to take a self-portrait to show that our corn is a bit taller than "knee-high by the 4th of July,"

After naptime, we set off a few smoke bombs, a monster truck, some fountains and a few sparklers. I think Wally takes after me... he loved all of them!

Joel then worked on his parenting skills and locked Wally in the new dog kennel. Wally seemed to think it was fun.
We finished out a perfect day by going downtown to watch fireworks. We first decided to go to a park on the hill to avoid crowds, but then started worrying that we wouldn't be able to see them. So, we packed up, and walked downtown.

It was a great fireworks show. The picture below is pretty bad, but it kinda shows what we got to watch. We were right by the Pentacrest (the old Iowa capital building) and the fireworks were being set off on the other side. It was rather patriotic feeling seeing the flags on top of the gold dome. They also had music playing which added to it. Wally thought it was great. He still talks about the fireworks..."Boom!"