We woke up bright and early and headed to Lake City for the parade. It was our first time going, and I had been warned to get there early if we wanted any chance of finding a parking spot. Oh my... was Bridget right! We arrived about 30 minutes early, and next year I’ll be aiming for an hour. Apparently, everyone else had the same patriotic game plan.
Even so, the girls had a great time! My strategy was to set up near the park so they could burn off some energy before the parade started. At one point I asked my husband to rate my “crazy level” from the time I woke up until we got there. He said, “Not bad! I’d give it a three out of ten on the intensity scale.” I’ll gladly take that as a win. No one understands the stress of getting everyone out the door and to your destination quite like a mom.
The parade itself was wonderful, so much community pride, smiling faces, and plenty of candy. Best of all, Autumn didn’t take off running this time... probably because her dad was there. Total daddy’s girl.
After the parade, we decided to stick around Lake City for a bit before heading to Clear Lake. With the parade crowd, trying to leave town right away would’ve meant sitting in traffic anyway.
Once we had everything packed up, we were Clear Lake-bound. We usually spend the Fourth at Silver Lake near Rutland, North Dakota, but that was one of my mom’s favorite places. It just hasn’t felt the same since she passed. Clear Lake also felt like the better choice this year since it has a more contained beach area. At seven months pregnant, chasing two little girls across a wide-open lake wasn’t exactly on my bucket list.
Of course, Autumn had other plans. She took off exploring and made it about five cabins down before I caught up to her. She just has to get it out of her system!
Violet was thrilled to dig into the sand toys, while my little daredevil, Autumn, was determined to test the limits of the lake. Chase and I stayed right beside her, giving her just enough freedom to satisfy her curiosity while making sure she stayed safe. She quickly decided the deeper water wasn’t worth it and spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled up with me on my floatie.
Honestly, floating in the sunshine with baby cuddles was the best part of my day.
We had planned to stay for the big fireworks show, but by six o’clock we were completely wiped out. Instead, we headed home, lit a few kiddie fireworks in the driveway, and called it a night. I do miss staying up late to watch the fireworks, but I know those days will come again when the kids are older. For now, sleep wins... and so does this very pregnant mama.
Happy Fourth of July Everyone! Now I can get ready for baby and spooky season!
