Be Happy Anyway

Be Happy Anyway
From Brave Girls Club

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Things We Do...

...for our children.

Today is the Blue Springs Fall Festival. Caitlin's band marched in the parade. It didn't start until 10, but she had to be at the high school, in her place by 8 a.m. So on a Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:45 to make sure she was fed, dressed and out the door by 7:30.

Gas is not cheap. Caitlin's school is over 10 miles away. Parking at festivals and parades is in short supply. With these givens, it was decided that the entire family would load up into the car and drive together and stay in Blue Springs (we don't live in Blue Springs) until the parade started. This meant hanging around for 2 hours. Normally this would not be a bad thing. You can wander around, look at booths, admire the town and do a little exploring. Unfortunately, this morning it was 45F and misty. What does one do when she is from a warmer clime and ill prepared clothing-wise? You sit in the car for two hours.

The time was not wasted, however. We ate breakfast. We listened to the radio. We did reconnaissance. We found the perfect parking space.We found the ideal place to stand during the parade. By the time the parade started, we were set. Then...James had to use the restroom.*rolling my eyes.* Fortunately, Gary was with us. I would have been beside myself. Okay, so NOW we are ready.

The parade started with the mandatory presenting of the colors. However in this parade, they had three different color guards. The first one was the American Legion and the JrROTC groups from both high schools.
 



Next came the floats, vintage cars and tractors.

 



The high school bands were mixed in between the other entrants.

 Blue Springs High School

 Blue Springs South High School



Then it began raining but the parade marched on. We jumped into the car which was parked streetside so we could still watch the parade.


When the parade was over, we went straight home a little saddened because we couldn't go to the festival, but the day was not over. Caitlin's band had volunteered to work as runners at the bingo fundraiser. (They are going to Disney World.) Her job was to go to bingo players who didn't want to leave their cards and take their snack orders and either go to the snack stand in the tent or run down the midway to get whatever food the players wanted. She was working for tips. For her 2.5 hours of work she got $6. Meanwhile, I didn't want to do the driving back and forth thing between the two towns so I got 2.5 hours of walking in. Okay...I sat for 20 minutes, and looked in some stores along the way, but I did walk the entire midway (all of Main Street) at least two times if not more.


The best part of the day was when the sun came out.


The rest of weekend is forecast for more rain. We will have to see if the sun can win a little time or not. If not, it's back to the sketchbook and water colors. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Today's Music Note: You are listening to Barbara Streisand singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" from the movie Funny Girl. It is appropriate not only because the subject matter but because of this fab $1 find I acquired while shopping in an estate sale store today. It's the album "Butterfly." It caught my eye because on the front it had a stick of butter with a fly on it. I thought it was strange. Then I noticed it just said "Barbara" on the left corner. I flipped it over and it had this beautiful image. I don't know if I will frame it the way it is or be as bold as Michelle and use it for an art journal. We will see. It is definitely inspirational.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey there. what a great find! i love the album cover. stay warm!

miruspeg said...

I am exhausted just reading this post Annemarie!
Pity it had to rain on the parade.
On a brighter note, that album cover is fantastic.
I must go through my albums (about 150)and reminisce and see if I have any interesting covers.
Peggy xxxx

MJ said...

The band's uniforms look significantly more comfortable with jeans & a t-shirt than the wool jacket & pants (& short sleeve shirt & tie) plus ridiculous hat I used to have to wear! I truly think you missed the portion of the parade with horses as the bands are always placed after horses so that we had to walk directly thru horse poo. Yuck!

Enjoy your new Babs album!

McMGrad89 said...

Re: Band uniforms.

Yes, they have some amazingly beautiful brand new uniforms. The director didn't want the first time out to be in a rainstorm so they opted for band shirts and jeans but they at least all had their band shoes on.

Adriann said...

You took some great photos! Your walk sounds wonderful. Good for you for getting a little work out in too. Enjoy your week!

Adriann said...

Oh yeah...I like what Michelle did with her cover. Makes me want to go to a thrift store and find an interesting album cover.

Cozyflier said...

Hey Annemarie! Wouldn't you know it would rain on all your fun. I hope you all don't get sick. Those poor kids having to march in the rain!

And only $6 for 2.5 hours of work! Poor Caitlin! Her band should look into Mixed Media recyclable bags. they are 'plastic' bags like for groceries that you recycle, plus they have all other sizes and uses. Makes a great fundraiser. I love mine!

I hope she gets to go to WDW when it is less busy and not during Spring Break! Any way, she will LOVE WDW!!

Hugs
Carrie

Eva Helen said...

Så artig med parader, og de fine uniformer!
Kan minne litt om 17. mai-feiringen vi har her.
Og.. du er en veldig god mamma:).

Shan in Japan said...

I love marching band! It is one of the things I miss about fall here in Japan. Thanks for the little walk down memory lane with your pictures! When I was in high school we got new uniforms and the hats were cowboy hats with plumes. Our band director gave us strict instructions to get that thing off of our hats and into our jackets if it started raining!

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