My 4th: The Day in Pictures
Gary and I woke up early to participate in the McKinney “Red, White, and Boom” parade. We met up with the rest of the group at the director’s house and carpooled to the staging area near downtown. It was only 10 am, but it was already 95 degrees outside — a sweltering day. I was glad I didn’t have to be in costume.
Our “float” is below. It was filled with actors from the upcoming production of Hartburn Hotel and girls from the Young Actors Guild.
“I’m on a float. I’m on a float. Everybody look at me cause I’m on a float.”
MacKenzie practicing her “miss america” wave
Janye resting before the parade begins…trying to keep cool!
Flying the colors
Dennis (“Pa”) before the parade
The line-up in front of us
Bagpipes!
Me and Gary waiting in the shade for the parade to start.
Other parade participants
Unfortunately, I didn’t think about taking pictures once the parade started. At that point, I was waving to the crowd and trying not to fall as we rode through the streets on the trailer. The parade route was short, but the streets were pretty crowded — and it was downright packed in the historic McKinney square. Even though it was miserably hot, we had a great time. Thanks to Mom and Dad for coming out to cheer us on!
After the parade, Gary and I grabbed lunch. We also did some shopping and then headed home for some “fun time” in the pool.
We gathered together with my family in the evening for a different kind of fun…blowing stuff up (otherwise known as shooting fireworks). It’s so much more fun than watching a prescripted 20 minute show.
Andrew discovers how much fun sparklers can be
Andrew spinning the sparkler
LeEllen, Kevin, Mom and Nick in front of our arsenal of fireworks
Nick enjoying the sparklers as we waited for it to get darker so we could get to the really fun stuff
Let the fun begin!!
Fountain, sparks, and fireworks
Andrew shooting a Roman candle — and Kevin making sure Andrew doesn’t get any “ideas” about aiming it elsewhere
What do we shoot off next? We have so many!
More Roman candle fun.
My little camera isn’t great at capturing fireworks, but I tried anyway. The pics here are my feeble attempt at capturing a few of them. Most of the time, I just got an empty sky. My camera is too slow!
Texas Star fountain
Another attempt at capturing one of the big ones
We bought a lot of fireworks this year. It took us about 90 minutes to shoot all of them, but no one was complaining. It was a blast!
Family, food, fun, and fireworks — a great day indeed!
Happy 4th of July, and God bless the USA!
