Sweating in honor of the founding fathers

Rebekah had a double shift at Lagoon-a-Beach and neither Brandon nor Bryan had any desire to sit around in the heat so I saved seats for only Lilian and myself for the annual 4th of July parade. Julianne hitched a ride but was actually in the parade as part of the high school junior committee, so it was just the two of us girls. And boy howdy, it really was hot. I absolutely adore Independence Day...but sometimes I wish it was not in the middle of the summer, you know? How about the 4th of May? Or the 4th of October?

But then again, apparently the founding fathers during their debates on independence were equally hot, having to deal with the insane heat of summer in Philadelphia.
(Ever watch the musical "1776"? It's delightful, of course. One of my favorites. One of the songs is called "Sit Down, John"...John being John Adams. He's trying to bully everyone into voting yes for independence and everyone else is annoyed because not only is John Adams "obnoxious and disliked"...it's just too hot.)

It's ninety degrees, have mercy John, please
It's hot as hell, in Philadelphia.

Someone ought to open up a window...

No, No, No, 
Too many flies, Too many flies
But it's hot as hell, in Philadelphia

Someone ought to open up a window
Can't we compromise here?

So maybe in honor of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and the rest of the founding fathers, we can sweat it out in July here in Utah as they did all those many years ago in Philly, while we celebrate our great country. Or at least that's the spin I'm going to put on it.

We here in Kaysville are hugely and unabashedly proud of our Davis High marching band.

Remind me why I came out early the night before to save front row spots for the parade? At least I had a chair...

One unique thing about the Kaysville parade is that at the end, it turns into a water parade. Notice is given so as to allow any spectators wanting to stay dry ample time to get out of the way. But the majority stick around to greet the water trucks and it turns into a full on water fight street party. It's ridiculous amounts of fun. Lilian was drenched, I wad drenched...I got hit so hard with a stream of water that it blew my sunglasses right off my face. That's one way to beat the summer 4th of July heat, yes? I bet the founding fathers would approve.

Julianne's Junior Committee was in the water fight portion of the parade. Unfortunately they ran out of water before they hit the end of the route. Oh well...she had a good time.

Higher Ground had been invited to sing at the Kaysville 4th of July carnival so later that afternoon Kami, Julie and I did a 30 minute show. This was our second year performing for the 4th (last year I came home from a camping trip to do the gig). But also our last performance with the three of us for awhile. Julie left the next day for a year of traveling the country with her family...a big RV adventure. It seemed appropriate that our last show together was one filled with patriotic fare...a send off of sorts, as Julie heads off to explore our great nation. I think we all cried a little as we sang our last song, "God Bless America."