HOT!

     Anyone who would stand outside in 90+ heat has got to be crazy.

     This year for the 4th of July weekend we headed to town as a family 3 days in a row.

     On July 2nd a hot day - we loaded our trailer with bikes and headed to town to do some biking on the bike trail. Afterwards we ended up at the outdoor pool and I even put on my swimming trunks and got wet.\

     On the 3rd - again hot - we loaded up and went to town to take in some of the 4th of July festivities.  I hit the chili cook off to sample 7 different kinds of chili, the kids played at the park for a while, we went and watched a lumberjack show and than we chased paper plates, or at least the kids did.  Each year Warroad sponsers a paper plate drop from an airplane down by the lake.  The plates have different "prizes" on them and this year we got a  50% of any size tornado (like a blizzard for DQ) and a $5.00 off newspaper subscription for the local paper.  The kids also caught a couple other plates but gave them away.

     On the 4th itself we arrived in town about noon and stopped to fill up a 64 oz jug with pop at the local Holiday Station and than headed to the point down by the lake to participate in the activities.  Starting at noon was the nickel registration and ice cream cones for 12 and under sponsored by Marvin Windows.  That was followed at 1:00 by races for the kids and adults sponsored by a local church with the winners getting a dollar, 2nd getting $.75, 3rd getting $.50 and everyone else a quarter.  4 of our kids raced in three different events, running, sack race, and 3-legged race.  In the 3-legged race they had a father/daughter race and I decided I would go with Tracy (the oldest) and we took 1st place in our heat.  I surprised myself.  My wife had told the kids earlier they had to race to earn money to by cotton candy.

     After the races it was time for the kids to go on the big blow up mazes/climbing things/jumpy things.  4 of the kids got arm bands so they could go on them over and over and over again.  It was suppose to go till 8 but a storm brought it to a close 2 hours early.  While the kids were doing this I took the youngest and went and claimed our spot for the parade with hopes of getting him to sleep - It worked.  An hour and a half later the parade got under way and the kids loaded up with candy.  Even David the 19 month old figured out what to do and was having a blast - he'd get a piece - bring it to mom to unwrap - shove it in his mouth and go get more.

     After the parade we went and filled out jug up again with pop, went and bought sparklers and than headed back to the point.  On the way we drove by the bank and the sign in front of it said the temp was 90.  Earlier it had read 91 at hear at home our thermometer said it reached 94. Twenty to thirty degrees cooler would have been much better.  We did have one year we needed coats on the fourth.  Anyways, back at the point we bummed around until fireworks time, dodged a storm with quite a bit of lightening. and listened to the local band.

     Finally, at about 10:30 the fireworks got underway. - they had to wait that long for it to get dark - I put the 2 little girls on top of the van and we watched away.  Once the final barrage went off, I got the kids down and we did sparklers while we were waiting for the traffic to thin out. Once we got done with those we headed home and headed to bed - It was probably 11:30 when we got home and midnight before I got to sleep only to awake by 4:00 to get ready to go to work.

     Yes, I 'd do it all again and more than likely will next year. I just hope it's cooler so I don't end up sunburned again.  By the way - did I say it was hot over the weekend?