Farm Show

It's going to be a long time until Herb and I buy a house again, but when we do, there are several must-haves... 3 beds, 2 bath, a space to teach music lessons, a space for a drum set, a crafting area, a playroom, on the parade route, and walking distance to the annual fair.

I just added those last two requirements tonight, because, guys, living in the "downtown" area is TOTALLY my thing.

For instance, this morning I jogged past the new music store, a coffee shop, two thrift stores, and a farm show.  At lunch time, Levi, Charlotte, and I popped in to the farm show for some quick playing time in the corn box.

And then this afternoon, Levi and I dragged the bench from our patio set to the end of the block and parked it on a main road (sidewalk) in order to reserve the best seat in the house for the Farm Show Parade that took place this evening.

A few hours later, Herb got home from work, the Bowman family met at our house to use our driveway and enjoy our company during the parade, and then we walked to the fair for dinner.  I HATE crowds, but I loved seeing pretty much the whole town getting dinner together.  Then, around 6:40 I was starting to panic, wanting to make sure we got back to our bench before the show started.

"The parade is starting!" I said when I saw a rush of people walking in one direction.
"No, that's everyone leaving the fair to go watch the parade," Herb assured me.

And as we walked back to our block (about .5 a mile away), I took in the scene.  Every house was lit, even on non-parade route streets.  People were tail house-gating everywhere.  It was so small town happy.  I LOVE it.

Our parade-watching group included Kylee and Justin (our friends from college, who actually were our neighbors during our first year of marriage), and their children (one of whom is a little boy Levi's age).  We quickly discovered that the louder you cheer for EVERY float, the more candy they throw.

Anyone want some tootsie rolls?  I was really loud.

Of course, Kylee and I were all sappy talking about watching thing through our sons' eyes...everything is new and special and exciting.

So, that's my recap.  Community is awesome.  Friends are awesome.  Fair food is awesome.

My heart is full!

PS - Do you see the older guy in the background in the picture above?  You see the cane in his hand?  He definitely used that cane to LITERALLY steak candy from babies.  Reaching for that Laffy Taffy?  Bam!  Cane attack.  It's a dog eat dog world, folks.