Wednesday, July 5, 2017

A Fourth on the Fringes

The highlight of our 2017 July 4th celebration occured first thing this morning. We were on our way to the Clearfield parade, and stopped at the store to get some candy for Audrey to throw at parade goers.  She was in the parade as part of the Clearfield High School Theater Department, which is the only reason we were going to Clearfield's parade in the first place. Truth be told, Clearfield is not my favorite parade, or city for that matter.  The parade route goes right down Main Street, past all kinds of sketchy looking businesses, and there are hardly any trees or good places to sit.

Anyhow, as we were checking out, I spotted a Diet Coke with the name Will on it, just sitting right there in the cooler next to the check out line. Just waiting for me, apparently. I could not let a  Diet Coke named Will spend the holiday in a cooler in Clearfield, so I  promptly bought it, took it to the parade and drank it in Will's honor. It was like having a little piece of  him there at the parade with us.

Awwww.




And then, the day just got off kilter somehow.

It wasn't  a terrible day, just.....different.  Kinda like we were just observers, not really participators.

We sat a few rows back at the parade. Most years we are on the front lines, diving for candy and waving at squirt gun carriers. This year we just sat and watched.  When Audrey came by, I tried so hard to get a picture of her in the parade, an right at the moment she was passing, my phone started ringing and I got distracted with trying to get the call to drop so I could use the camera. By the time I looked up, she was gone. I missed the whole reason I went to the parade in the first place!

After the parade, Duncan had to work til 2, so we all sat around the house for a few hours trying to figure out what we should do. We decided we better head up to the Logan house and check things out and water the lawn.  The renters moved out a few days ago, so the life of the lawn is back in our hands.

We got Duncan from work and headed straight for Logan. He was NOT happy about this shocking development in his itinerary and let us know all the way up there. We tried to convince him it was going to be okay. I told him it was a family adventure. He wasn't buying it, soI told him we would hurry and get it over with. Then Olivia piped up with, "Oh, great, it's a family outing we just want to get over with!" Ah, the girl is learning fast.

Our plans after Logan were to come back home, make a fire and roast hot dogs and s'mores, then head over to see the fireworks. We were so late getting back though, that we didn't have time for a fire, so we just fried up those dogs in the house and wolfed 'em down. Not very celebratory, and not a s'more in sight.

We made it to the fireworks in plenty of time and with a grumpy Duncan in tow, who really wanted to just stay home. His whole routine for the day was off and he was not having a good day. The fireworks were fine. Clearfield usually puts on a crazy good fireworks show, but this year, they just ended. Abruptly and in the middle of a song, with no spectacular grand finale like in other years. Everybody just sat there for a few minutes, thinking that they would start up again, but they didn't. Then the field lights came on, which seemed like a sign that things were really over so everybody got up and left. We were about half way to our car when the dumb things started going off again. So we stopped walking and stood on the sidewalk and watched our grand finale. I guess they had a bit of glitch.

Before we got to the car, a big fight broke out on the other side of the street. Guys were yelling and cursing and crowds were standing around watching. It was a little scary. The cops were right there, but it felt like one of those situations where you just can't predict what might happen. I would say the crowd on the whole was pretty rough this year. A little inner city jibe going down in Clearfiled tonight.  I don't think we will go next year. Next year in fact, we may stay inside in our pajamas, drink  hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie. Maybe Elf. Just so we can say we were swimming against the current. We are celebrating Independence Day after all.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Out of the Frying Pan

At long last, our family closed the chapter on our elementary school days forever.

Olivia's last day of sixth grade was June 30. After stumping to the finish line of year round school, I can truly say that I will not miss one blessed thing about that year round schedule.  I don't know how we stood it for those four long years, and I am actually really pissed about it. It put a huge damper on my last child's elementary school experience and left us exhausted and drained and yearning for the traditional schedule junior high will bring.

I fully realize that last statement is a sure sign of my insanity.  Who longs for their kid to move on to junior high? I'm really not longing for Olivia to grow up any faster than she already has, and I am not ready for the maelstrom the next few years will bring us. I am sure there will be a day when I will look back with longing on the simplicity of elementary school, even with that cursed year round schedule. But for now, we are basking in the thought of a full two months of summer vacation. No homework, no lunches, no carpool for 8 lovely weeks.  When our young neighbors start back to school in three weeks, we will be sitting on the porch in our jammies, laughing and mocking.




last day photo op

Olivia was my only child to go to attend the same school kindergarten through sixth grade. And she did it all with this cutie by her side.  Here is a first day of kindergarten/ last day of sixth grade re-enactment




And here is our carpool group, one last parting shot. Olivia and Ella started out alone in that carpool, and they will now blaze the way to Legacy Junior high.




Olivia and her teacher, Mrs. Wardell