Independence Day in Independence, Oregon

Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. It's been awhile since I'd celebrated it with my family, so we decided to drive up to Oregon. As it turned out, Matt had a last minute business trip to SLC for a few days following the long weekend, so I opted to stay in Salem to play with the little cousins and my sisters. It was a nice change of pace where we weren't trying to squeeze so many things into a few days.

First thing Friday my early-rising-Evalyn and I went to the flag raising and breakfast at the church with April and her kids while Matt stayed home with sleeping H&L (we'd gotten in late the night before). Later that morning, Heather's family joined ours to drive down and watch the parade in the small town of Independence just south and over the Willamette River from my parents house. The kids had fun watching the floats, horses, balloons, cars and collecting the occasional candy that was thrown their way. No marching band though. What's with that??





Heather's family headed back to town while we explored the Western Days Festival and scoped out a good spot for the whole clan to gather later than evening. I had a couple of yummy authentic tacos and Matt enjoyed a plate of teriyaki chicken and noodles. I also tried a fruit cup Latino style: watermelon, cucumber, mango with salt and cayenne pepper. Very refreshing! It was the first time since leaving Maryland that we were in the ethnic minority, I think. : )




We drove home very slowly so the kids would nap in the car and regrouped a few hours later before packing up the picnic dinner and gear for the show on the river. This was a first for the Moore family since our tradition for watching the fireworks in Independence usually involved parking along the road next to the blueberry fields on the other side of the river but never venturing into the crowded streets of parking madness that would entail seeing the fireworks closeup in the riverside park. I was determined this year to see them how they were meant to be seen!

It worked out great. April's family and ours caravaned there and snagged the last two $5 parking spots within easy walking distance and quick departure post-fireworks. We loaded 3 strollers worth of kids and gear and wheeled cooler down the hill and chose an ideal spot not too far from the crazy playground but near the Umpqua Ice Cream vendor. :) Heather's van with Gma and Gpa were just a few minutes behind us.





The playground was a nightmare for losing kids, but also a good distraction for the long wait. We had to have a strict one-to-one ratio to keep an eye on the kids and employed the buddy system with 1-to-2 ratio for the oldest ones. (Last year one of the little boys in our group in MD wandered off so I was on high alert for this. He was only missing for 10 or 15 minutes but what seemed like an eternity til he was found with another family nearby.) We played some pile on daddy, ring around the rosy, wait in line at the scary port-a-potties, stand in the crazy long Umpqua Ice Cream line that was well worth the wait (chocolate peanut butter and rocky road in a waffle cone=bliss), sit and chat while trying in vain to corral the children within the circle of blankets and chairs and strollers.





The chaos was worth the wait. A great show with an awesome finale. The little girls were covering their ears the whole time and were very ready for the end when it finally came. It was such a nice feeling having all my nearby family in one spot to celebrate the holiday the way we'd been wanting to for awhile. (Well, minus Caleb who took a side job at Diamond Lake helping set off the fireworks show there. A chance our dear pyromaniac didn't want to pass on!) My camera battery died (really need to replace it) so I borrowed my moms for the kids watching the fireworks shots. Still need to get those and see if any turned out.