Our 4th of July

I had forgotten all about Alton's 4th of July annual tradition. Each year the day starts off about 6 o'clock whether you like it or not. How does it start off every year about the same time you may ask???

With this!  

  This dang fire truck turns it's sirens on and drives up and down each street several times. Being our town consists of about 8 streets, 4 running N & S and the other 4 running E & W it seems like the truck is always close to your house.  This year I'll admit the fire truck sent me into a panic. At the time the Shingle Fire was a very live threat. We had many, many people in our ward and surrounding areas that had been evacuated. People here in Alton had opened there homes to families that had no where else to go. We were told that the fire was about a mile away from highway 89. If the fire were to jump the highway we would have been evacuated as the fire would have only been about 4 miles away with not much more than dead grass and brush between it and us! We had had an emergency town meeting a few nights prior to the 4th and one of the points brought up was how to notify the town quickly and effecently that we were to evacuate. Especially if there were no phone services and our cel tower out by the highway had burned down or shut off! Sending a police car around with it's sirens was something that was mentioned.

My first thought waking up to the sirens was why on earth was the fire truck in town? Why wasn't it still on the mountain fighting the fire? My second thought was Oh my gosh! We are being evacuated now! I jumped up and out of bed so quickly. I went running out of my bedroom with the intent to find my family and get us out of town! As I came running into the kitchen I hear Emily coming down the stairs asking Kory what the noise was for? Before he can reply she than says, "Daddy does this mean our house is going to burn down and we get to move?" Kory's immediate reply was "No, it's just the fire truck waking everyone up becuase today is July 4th". Emily "Why do they want everyone to wake up?" Kory, "Because there are some CRAZY people here that like to get up early and run 5 miles into town to start off there day today".

Oh yeah! I had forgotten that today was July 4th and this was just tradition.

My panic eventually subsided but with the sudden adrenaline rush, and the fire truck waking EVERYONE up including baby there was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep.

After a few hours the parade eventually started. Our Scouts led the parade, Hunter included (wearing the yellow hankerchief around his neck). 

 We had clowns this year,

 families on horseback,

 and Art with his train pulling his family members.

 The parade was short this year that after watching it go by in front of our house we walked up the street and watched it a second time.

 Here's my pretty girls. 

Later in the day we headed over to the park for some games. This picture isn't very good but the kids kept moving to fast for my slow camera. Someone had stacked about 8- 5 gallon buckets on top of each other. Some piles had 3 bucketts other's had 2. Then a group of kids circle all the bucketts and hold hands. They than try to pull someone to close to the bucketts that they either knock em' over or let go of the persons hand next to them. If either happens they're out of the game and have to sit out. The last one standing is the winner. These older kids + the teenagers played this over and over and over! It was quite the hit.

 There were relay games, Art's train and water games to play too. Kory's boss decided that he'd rather have a 3 day weekend. So Kory had to work the 4th but got that friday off. Being I was by myself at the park with 5 kids and too many other people around for comfort my camera wasn't used as much as I would have liked. With Emily being  in her non-walking cast I had to push her around in one stroller and then used another stroller for Brayden and Kylie. Sometimes I had help from the bigger kids but for most of the time they were off playing leaving me to push the 2 stroller's with 3 kids inside. Not fun for me!

   

  

After work, Kory was able to join us for dinner at the park. After dinner I went home and crashed! I was so tired. It was a very long day for me but my kids had fun. Even Emily being stuck in the stroller for a lot of the day said she had a good time too. I'm glad they all had fun!