July 4th Weekend, 2008

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Originally uploaded by spolay

Here's some shots from our annual march in the July 4th parade in Sandwich, where anyone may participate. Got to love that Sandwich is still a small enough town for that to be the case.

It was Mason's best year so far in terms of actually making it to the end of the parade, but his heart still wasn't in it 100 percent. Benjamin, on the other hand, was all in. And this year, he stayed awake for the whole thing (last year's money shot, now published twice in the Cape Cod Times, is here).

Later, Mason and I rode our bikes from the house to the grocery store so I could pick up a couple of vegetables for dinner. It was Mason's first relatively long-distance bike ride (little over 3 miles roundtrip), and I was happy that he and I could have some one-on-one time. His agility on the bike amazes me. Seeing him yesterday, you'd never know he's barely been training-wheel free.

Once we returned, Benjamin had finished his nap, so Mason and I rode to the playground while Brandy walked Ben in the jogging stroller.

I prepped dinner, and while the boys started in on theirs, some friends stopped by to deliver an impromptu invitation to the beach for some evening festivities. It turned out to be the beach equivalent of a block party, with bonfires, beverages, food and fireworks.

Mason and I tossed around a tennis ball with lacrosse sticks, and all was well until the fireworks started. He was not keen on their proximity., so we had to depart a little earlier than we would have liked.

If the weather cooperates, Mason agreed to try watching the Bourne fireworks from the comfort and security of the car. Hopefully we can find a good spot on this side of the canal to watch the show in Buzzards Bay. If we get rained out, I'd be betting on Wall-E being the backup plan.

UPDATE: Mason decided he did not want to brave the fireworks after all, and we still haven't seen Wall-E, but it was still among the best July 4th weekends that we can remember having.