Strawberry Festival Parade

Hello everyone!
This is my second attempt at posting about our day. My first attempt was wiped out when I tried to preview it. Note to self: always save the draft!!! ARRGHHH!! Well, I only have three loads of laundry to fold tonight, so I guess I'll still get to bed on time. :)

ANYWAY, my friend Mary invited us to attend the Plant City Strawberry Festival Parade with her today, and I decided to go with much reluctance. I don't like crowds, and I don't like to try to find parking. However, Mary's wonderful husband went this morning to mark our spot by putting down lawn chairs. It was nice to see that no one tried to claim them or move them. I followed Mary to a parking area, thus eliminating my nervousness at finding parking. So I relaxed and found that I really enjoyed myself - thanks, Mary! The girls weren't too sure what to expect with a parade, even after I explained everything, but once they discovered that people were throwing beads and CANDY at them from the floats, they were on board for this whole parade thing. I don't even know how many beads they ended up taking home, and I don't even WANT to know how much candy they consumed in the hour we were there. Yuck. I made a nuisance of myself by yelling "Go Army!" at the Air Force JROTC and recruiters. I was going to make fun of their pitiful marching, but I thought that might be taking it a bit too far. There were no Navy guys to make fun of, and I think Mary and her lovely daughter were a little relieved. We saw lots of bands, lots of tractors, and LOTS of beauty queens. And I do mean LOTS of beauty queens. Even the four year olds were doing their "queen wave." Yikes. It turned out to be a gorgeous day after a slightly overcast morning, so we took Mary up on her offer when she invited us back to their place afterward. The girls played so hard in their treehouse - oops, FORT! (I forget these differences when dealing with boys versus girls) - that the washcloths they used when we got home were nearly black. I had a nice, almost uninterrupted chat with Mary inside while the kids played. It was so nice not to worry about how loud they were...with the houses in our neighborhood only ten feet apart, I'm constantly worried that we're bothering the neighbors on both sides who don't have kids. I'm looking forward to a slightly bigger yard in North Carolina. The last four pictures were taken at Mary's house. Her daughter and son are budding photographers, and I was able to take a shot when her daughter was setting up a shot of the girls next to the azaleas. She probably got much better shots than I did, but I liked the sweet expressions on their faces.

Hope ya'll enjoy the pictures from the parade. Daniel, the pictures of the confederate reenactors, the Dixie float, and the Bonnie blue flag car are for you. :)
Love to all!