Fourth of July Celebrations

We are in Wrangell, Alaska (http://www.wrangell.com/) for the Fourth of July this year. My parents both grew up here and my mom is living here again for her "retirement". It is a pretty fun place to celebrate the 4th even though it is a very small town. Maybe because it *is* a small town? Anyway, we got our fill today. Started at 10am when J1 and the mister went to check out the fire trucks that were staging for the parade. J1 had the opportunity to ride on one of the fire trucks in the parade and was even sitting on it but then they started to play with the sirens and he was done. He didn't like the loud motorcycles either so apparently he is sensitive to loud sounds this month. Anyway, they came back to just go watch the parade so off we went to meet my uncle and aunt (my mom's brother and sister) to watch. We were at the very beginning of the parade and if you are after candy, this is the place to be. J1 had very little competition and he scored. Not that he can eat a bunch of it (allergies) and he really shouldn't eat any of it but I am giving him a bit.









After the parade we strolled a bit and then went to the "toddler games" which was basically just behind mom's house. They had candy grabs for the different age groups. All kids got .50 for participating and then $3 for first place, $2 for second and $1 for first. J2 got to do an animal cracker grab and he won. Anyone who knows him shouldn't be surprised. They had the crackers thrown on a blanket and the kids were around the perimeter. Most of the babies were just calmly sitting in their mom's arms and J2 was straining to get to the crackers. He got them so fast the coordinator didn't even see it. At least the other moms did and set her straight. J1 did his candy hunt and he got Hershey's Kisses. He apparently tied for third but didn't get any loot. That's what happens when the mister is in charge - I would have spoken up but he didn't care. J1 insisted on eating one even though I warned him he shouldn't because of his milk allergy. Well, he liked it for the first few seconds and then was pretty unhappy. He said it hurt his mouth and he looked a bit woozy and ill. Oops! Probably should have been more forceful but I guess things like that will help him learn and take us more seriously. After that they had a ball chase which the kids had to get the ball and themselves to their parent - that was it, no other rules. J2 was unopposed so he won another $3 plus the .50. J1 came in third in his age group (and, yes, there were more than three kids). After that they had a free-for-all where they just put down all the candy and money they had left. No age group, no specific winner - just grab what you can. Luckily for us, most of the kids were wanting the candy and J1 was getting the money. He ended up getting $7.50 in quarters from that plus a few pieces of candy. J2 ended up with a one dollar bill somehow during the free for all - just walking all over the field with the bill clutched in his hand. J1 left the toddler games $9.50 richer and J2 had $8. A successful money-making day for all boys.




We went back to mom's and put J2 down for a nap then took off again. We ate lunch and brought lunch back to mom and then we went to let J1 jump in the jumpy house and eat blue cotton candy. Then we watched a dunk tank for awhile because J1 was fascinated by it and moved on to the logging competition. There were many events within that and the mister wanted to see something involving chainsaws but when we got there they were just doing the big hand saw thing which he didn't care about. We moved on to the Craftboat races which are handmade, non-electric boats that race. Pretty funny. We stopped at a food booth for funnel cake and J1 got an airbrush tattoo of a dragon and tried his hand at a ring toss. We watched the egg-on-a-spoon races for a bit and finally strolled home. They were having an egg toss after that but the mister didn't want to participate. My sister and I did the egg toss two years ago when J1 and I came up here for the fourth. That one was an attempt to break a world record. I don't know if they did but we did get a certificate. Okay, I just Googled it and apparently we did hold the world record - http://thewrangellsentinel.com/Stories/111507eggtoss.htmewrangellsentinel.com/Stories/111507eggtoss.htm - but apparently Skagway didn't like that, so the next year they beat it. http://www.skagway.com/index.html











Tonight are the fireworks and they set them off so close to my mom's place it is deafening. Not so good given J1's dislike of the loud noises earlier. Time will tell.



Tomorrow morning we are headed to Petersburg to visit my mom's other sister and my cousins. We are taking a boat with my aunt and cousins so that should be fun.