Over the weekend we...

Went to the Wamego Independence Day parade and fireworks. Here are the highlights!

Jimmy found the motorbikes a little noisy... little did he know how loud the fireworks would be.

Oh don't mind the really big American flag, held up by two crane-type-things, creating an arch over the parade.

Funny little cars and old tractors caught Jimmy's attention. So did the horses, and the huge sprayers and harvesters.

Somehow Dorothy brought a few friends with her when she made it back to Kansas.

The local bus service made an appearance in the parade! I was pretty excited. Later, we found our favourite bus driver, and I think we made her night - it was definitely a highlight for Jimmy.

Can you see the big slide? It's right in the middle of the photo, at the back, almost in the trees. Jimmy kept bringing it up, and our friends kept pointing it out, and I had to keep breaking Jimmy's little heart because he is far too little to go on it... Perhaps in a few years he might get to go on something similar. As you can see, the street carnival was pretty crowded, and I think we would have avoided it completely if one of our group wasn't interested in getting funnel cakes - we know what they are, but I'll give them a miss next time.

Between the funnel cakes and fireworks we had a picnic potluck - these are the leftovers. We were all very hungry, and it was hard to believe that we were eating dinner around 9pm - it was still really light out.

It was between dinner and the fireworks that Jimmy and I caught up with our favourite bus driver. And once the fireworks started, Jimmy stayed in my lap, one ear against my chest and the other covered by one of my hands, and he went to sleep there.

Jimmy found the fireworks a little overwhelming, but he was a good sport and told us the colours of the small fireworks that people were setting off in their yards. He pointed to the small hot air balloons, and seemed to be excited to see those. The big fireworks were loud and caused my sternum to vibrate - I was glad Jimmy was able to settle and sleep through it. I'm glad he wasn't upset by the noise.

We wanted to know if Jimmy actually enjoyed the fireworks, which was a little tricky, because he usually repeats what we ask him:

"Did you enjoy the fireworks?"

"Did you enjoy da firewooorks."

Hmmmm, so we asked him if he would like to see fireworks again:

"Would you like to see fireworks again?"

"Want see firewooorks agaain."

So, yes. Jimmy enjoyed the fireworks, because after this conversation he became agitated, wouldn't settle and go to sleep, because he wanted to see more fireworks. Win.

I want to thank our friends who invited us, and drove us, to see the Wamego Independence Day fireworks. They organised the group of people we shared dinner with, and it was a lovely afternoon and evening. And I have Michael to thank for the first photo and the last two photos in this post.