Independence Day, Montana small town style...
Wayland and the kids, headed to the VFW hall to meet Grammy Karen for the parade.
The hats make me laugh, because they're so....used up, for lack of a better description. My kids aren't really all that particular about their hats and it makes me nuts. For the longest time, Angus wore his cowboy hat backwards...deliberately! He thought it looked better that way.
They wanted to wear cowboy clothes, because Cowboy PopPops was taking them riding after the parade...thrills!
The Jordan VFW has erected a really wonderful memorial for all the men and women in the county who have served and are continuing to serve our country in all branches of the armed forces. You can't see the wall of names, but it starts with the Civil War and continues through to those currently serving. We stop and look at the names, often; the kids find names of their grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins, and we visit about what it means to be in the service. It's such a good thing, that they have an appreciation for who has provided the freedoms we enjoy.
Anyway, this is a metal statue that's part of the memorial and the kids are entranced by it. We say hello to the soldiers every time we go to town, even if we are just driving by.
Waiting for the parade! They came home with quite a haul of candy, actually. What am I going to do with 25 pounds of Starburst and Tootsie Roll candies?
It's really a tiny parade, mostly made up of the old car poker run, but this year there were kids on bikes and a great float from the greenhouse!
And every year, the VFW has a float with all the veterans they can gather up. This year, we got to the VFW hall pretty early, so the kids went in and visited with them. I went in to check on them and found a whole row of veterans listening to Maggie and Angus telling big stories and asking questions. I don't think they could probably hear much, but they were just so pleased to have the kids there! When they all came out to get on the float, we had to sort the kids out; I truly believe they'd have just tromped right up the ramp and ridden the float with their veteran friends! Being friendly with soldiers really pays, too....the Pluhar kids got double candy rations.
I love the following pictures, of the kids watching their Cowboy PopPops in the parade!
And here's the riding! It was so nice of Dad to load up an extra horse to give them rides. Isn't the country beautiful and green? It was a lovely 4th of July...only in the low 80's.
Grammy Karen hugged the one left behind, who maybe felt a little sad...
It's the boy's turn!
And Maggie gets the hug, this time!
I don't think Angus stopped smiling, from the time he was boosted up on the saddle until he was walking away from the horse trailer...
Time to load up...
This makes me laugh! Ace, rolling his eyes at us. He was pretty bouncy that morning and thought hauling kids around was a pile of nonsense.
We returned home, took big naps and had fireworks that night...it was a really great 4th of July!
2 comments:
PopPop was riding Ace and the kids rode Doc. Beautiful pics and it was so fun to have all of you come to "town."
As if we weren't homesick enough for Montana, you had to go and post this! :) Your pictures tell such a rich story, Mary. We especially liked the images of the kids in their hats and men in their uniforms (complete with cowboy boots and hats in some cases). It's heartwarming to see a community that takes time to celebrate its country's independence and to honor its veterans. Many big cities could learn a thing or two from little Jordan, MT!
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