We spent the fourth of July in Yale, Iowa. Derek's grandparents all live near there and the town has a FULL day of festivities every year. As always we really enjoyed ourselves!
We started out our day with the omelet breakfast, but apparently none of us saw that as picture worthy. Or maybe we didn't want any proof of what we looked like so early in the morning. :)
Next we headed to main street for the parade. First we stopped by to see Derek and the guys preparing to drive Grandpa Gordie's tractors in the parade.
Then we went to get our seats to watch the parade.
Derek's cousins, Michelle & Miranda, rode on an old fire engine.
Here come the tractors!
Cooper met a lot of friends and family during the day. Including our good friend, Norma. She is like a grandma to us.
Next we headed to main street for the parade. First we stopped by to see Derek and the guys preparing to drive Grandpa Gordie's tractors in the parade.
Then we went to get our seats to watch the parade.
Derek's cousins, Michelle & Miranda, rode on an old fire engine.
Here come the tractors!
Cooper met a lot of friends and family during the day. Including our good friend, Norma. She is like a grandma to us.
Then after lunch, we went to the bath tub races.
Let me explain just a little... This is the bathtub. (it's filled with water)
Each team that enters has one driver and four people to push. They must complete the course down main street through the cones and back with the fastest time. They will also have time added for the amount of water lost from the tub.
Oh...and did I mention the 4-H group was there and sold over 9,000 water balloons to pelt at the teams???
We had a team in the bathtub races this year. Derek's cousin, Megan looks happy...does she know about the water balloons? She must...she's wearing a helmet! :)
Derek's sister Mallory was the driver. And other than Joe's bloody nose and the team not making it fast enough to place, I think the cone stuck under the tub got the worst of things!
We took turns taking cover inside with Cooper. He even had a short nap.
Later we went to the talent show.
Derek's cousin, Michelle, sang:
Mikiah and Miranda (Michelle's twin) watching:
Let me explain just a little... This is the bathtub. (it's filled with water)
Each team that enters has one driver and four people to push. They must complete the course down main street through the cones and back with the fastest time. They will also have time added for the amount of water lost from the tub.
Oh...and did I mention the 4-H group was there and sold over 9,000 water balloons to pelt at the teams???
We had a team in the bathtub races this year. Derek's cousin, Megan looks happy...does she know about the water balloons? She must...she's wearing a helmet! :)
Derek's sister Mallory was the driver. And other than Joe's bloody nose and the team not making it fast enough to place, I think the cone stuck under the tub got the worst of things!
We took turns taking cover inside with Cooper. He even had a short nap.
Later we went to the talent show.
Derek's cousin, Michelle, sang:
Mikiah and Miranda (Michelle's twin) watching:
After it got dark we went to see the town fireworks display.
Cooper actually enjoyed watching them!
But even though he slept before we went, being so far past bedtime proved too much for him. He fell asleep about half way through and missed the finale.
We ended the night with yet more fire works (on a smaller level) at Grandma's house:
At times it seemed Derek's 10 year old self was trapped in his 27 year old body. Once he came in the house and I heard him say, "Grandma, can I have a tin can?"
Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post! Wow! It was a long eventful day!
I'll be posting pictures of other events of the weekend in the next few days!
Cooper actually enjoyed watching them!
But even though he slept before we went, being so far past bedtime proved too much for him. He fell asleep about half way through and missed the finale.
We ended the night with yet more fire works (on a smaller level) at Grandma's house:
At times it seemed Derek's 10 year old self was trapped in his 27 year old body. Once he came in the house and I heard him say, "Grandma, can I have a tin can?"
Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post! Wow! It was a long eventful day!
I'll be posting pictures of other events of the weekend in the next few days!
Great post! I have to admit, my favorite part may have been your comment about the 10 year old and the tin can!
ReplyDeleteLooks like great fun! :) Andy is the same way, he is a little boy on the inside and he gets great joy out of blowing stuff up.
ReplyDeleteFun, long post. Hey, did I pick up that there are twins on BOTH sides of the family? That could mean something for you and Derek someday!!!
ReplyDeleteI love Iowa!Where else do they race bath tubs and have tractors in the parade?? Maybe Derek's family can adopt the rest of us. It really looks like all American fun! What a great tradition for Cooper to grow up with.
ReplyDeleteI love small town celebrations! The bathtub races look fun!
ReplyDelete