On Independence Day Parades, Baseball, Inflatable Swimming Pools and Prohibitions on Swine Rental-Part I

Just wait.  It all comes full circle.  As the title suggests, we have been a very busy crew for the past few days.  When we last left you, my lovely wife had just mixed up a big ol' batch of sweet and tangy Memphis love for all of our friends here.  Well, there was plenty more lovin' going on around here on the Fourth.  We loaded up Walt's all-purpose, all-terrain, all-little-girl-haulin' wagon for an appearance in a real, live, sanctioned parade sponsored by a nearby neighborhood association.

That's Ella on the left, Clara on the right and patriotism all around.


This float was all Daddy-powered.  That's close to a hundred pounds of toddler if you're scoring at home.  Since it wasn't windy, we decided against those tether ropes like they use in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.


Local Boy Scout Troop with the Colors, Memphis' finest on bike patrol . . . hey, I told you it was sanctioned.

Here we are at our big moment in front of the main "grandstand."  Note: even Daddy's getting in the spirit with noise maker positioned for maximum noise making potential.

There was a congressman, a judge, a mayoral candidate and plenty of sweaty, wagon-draggin' lawyers, but let's get to the really important photo.

Walt and Clara IN a fire engine WITH a fireman.  One of them is clearly more impressed than the others.

Did I mention the free popcorn and two completely wiped out Bassett Hounds?

After the sweat dried and Clara's daddy and mommy cooked up a date-appropriate lunch of burgers, hot dogs and fixins, Walt and I headed to our respective beds for a pair of three hour naps.  (What?  It's a holiday.)

After the recharge, we were off to a not-so-date-appropriate but equally yummy meal of Indian food and a jam packed evening baseball game at Autozone Park featuring "a post-game fireworks extravaganza."  We had our fingers crossed that the long nap and plenty of parental hype would make the fireworks truly "extravagant" for young Walty, but it was not to be.  The game featured about  27 home runs and lasted way past the time before which toddlers can apparently enjoy pyrotechnics. 

Less palak paneer, more popcorn please!

Baby Henry and his parents were there, too.





Obviously taken well before controlled, aerial detonations began.





Things are still going well when neighbors Tom and Heather showed up with the coolest giant, foam finger ever.  (That's Henry's dad, Landon, at the tip of the finger.)





Previewing this photo on the camera made us all realize we were in serious trouble.


Here we are realizing!

Happier times to come.  Check back Tuesday for Part II and the answer to the oft-posed question, "Does Laurel Hill Cattle Co. of Puryear, Tennessee rent pigs?"