First Parade

The Lake Zurich Memorial Day Parade had the distinction of being the boys' first parade.  Gramma and Grampa went along, ignoring the 90 degree temperature, to witness another of the boys' firsts.  Andrew was looking forward to the fire trucks and Nathan was hoping for motorcycles.  We were no novices to parades.  Our children grew up in Schaumburg and had attended their two-and-a-half hour parades, just down the street from our home.  Terry and I sometimes went home in the middle and returned before the end.  The boys were seated in their new wagon that converts to a bench for better parade viewing.  It had an umbrella for in case the sun got too hot.  It was equipped with a cooler on the back.  We had packed snacks, diapers and ready for anythng.  The parade began promptly at 10:00 A.M. with a policeman on a motorcycle.  Nathan was on his feet in a flash, ready to ignore the earlier warnings of not stepping over the yellow line.  Then came a fire truck.  Andrew froze in awe.  Next were the scouts followed by the sound of drums.  Nathan's feet were marching; only slightly over the yellow line.  Then came a police car as we waited in antiipation.  Slowly reality set in and we all realized it was over.  We never found out what was in the cooler.  Ryan Joeph checked his watch; it was 10:07 A.M.  I realize this is the perfect kind of parade for many.  I know the story of this parade will be told at every future parade we attend.



Following the parade, we checked out Lake Zurich.  The boys enjoyed the boats, especially the one with the man hanging on by a rope.  The boy putting a worm on his hook was interesting, too.  We ignored Nathan's pleas that he NEEDED to get in the water.  Gramma asked him to hold her hand, so whe wouldn't be afraid near the water.  Fortunately, Nathan doesn't want Gramma to be afraid.

We finished our adventure at The Coffee Cup for brunch.  There the boys explored the sour taste of lemonade.  When we left, Nathan discovered three motorcycles parked in front of the cafe.  He told Grampa, "I NEED to ride that."