You'll Like Linton..... 4th of July Edition

The 4th of July is upon us, ladies and gents.  Break out your red, white, and blue and get ready for a great holiday.

Our little town we live in does the 4th in style.  We start out ours at a restaurant called The Grill for breakfast.  (There is also a scrumdiddlyumptious breakfast the Civitan serves at the fire station, but we go to The Grill because it is our family tradition.)  After our bellies are full of sweet pancakes we walk down to Main Street where my Father-in-Law has staked out our seats the night before.  (Love him.)  With bags ready for candy we wait with anticipation for the sirens to start.  

This is us at the Parade a few years ago. Rain doesn't even stop the Wades.....

Now, I've seen 2 other 4th of July parades, and our's puts those to shame.  Fire trucks, beautiful floats, marching bands, queens, horses, old cars, and we must not forget the Shriners with their awesome mini-motorcycles.   (Kids, watch your toes.)  Those are just the regular entries too!  You never know what you will see in the parade.  When it is over we cart our heaping bags of candy back to my in-law's home.  My Mother-in-Law serves us lunch (and boy, can this lady cook!)   Afterwards the children plow through the candy and there is not a blue tootsie roll left in sight.

After some re-coop time at home, we come back to the town park for fireworks.  We are not talking about a few blips in the sky.  These are FIREWORKS.  Usually the park is bustling with people....a band is playing music on the stage, the carnival is lit up and in full swing at the back of the park, lawn chairs and blankets are strewn about, and everyone is waiting patiently for the sun to slip below the trees.  At 10:30 the first boom tells you it is time.  (Pst.....this is my favorite part of the 4th.)  I love how time slows, and for a little while you get to just enjoy the beauty of it all. 

I love our town.  Bart and I grew up here, and we are now raising our children here.  Sometimes I will run into someone who started out here but has since moved away.  That is all fine and dandy, and I get that for some people that is a better "fit" for them.  That's awesome.  I'm not ragging on you.  But, it drives me BANANAS when the person looks at me with that "I feel sorry for you that you are still stuck in this small town." attitude.  Listen up, folks.  My husband and I could have moved away after we were married.  The sky was the limit, peeps.  Bart and I chose to stay here.  We want to be here.  Our families are here, our memories are here, and we LOVE this town.   (Can I get an amen?)  Ha ha....

So, I am going to relax and enjoy this 4th of July in this awesome little town.  There is nowhere else I'd rather be.

I hope each of you have a wonderful and festive 4th of July!  Grab that candy, light that sparkler, and celebrate our Independence!