The Fourth of July in St. Louis - Year Two Already!

One of the big benefits of living where we do is that we're a five-minute walk from the Webster Groves Fourth of July Parade, which is one of the biggest draws in the St. Louis area for this holiday. So guess where we were at 10:00 a.m. on Friday? You guessed it - at the parade!

When the Webster Groves Statesmen Marching Band marched by, all that was missing was ….. a Harrison in the band! So we had to think back to some other marching bands (and some other kids)! Peter, John, and Mary are probably not surprised that I got a bit wistful.

I thought an entire float devoted to Battle of the Bulge veterans was a pretty impressive thing, considering it was 70 years ago. All the military floats in the parade got constant clapping. The parade opened with the United States flag, for which everyone stood up. People around here know their manners!

Am I dating myself? We were amazed that kids brought - and this is not an exaggeration - treat bags to the parade. There were SO many freebies, and it wasn't just candy.

After traveling up our main street, the parade turned onto a residential street. Last fall we tried to buy a house on this street. After seeing how festive it is on July 4, we were both a bit wistful that we don't live on here. (But then once we got home we changed our minds!)

And this was about the end of the parade, for us. Because ….. while watching the parade we were out in front of a pretty house, admiring its flowers, when the owner started chatting us up and the next thing we knew we were getting a tour of her house! We had a wonderful visit with her and when we came out of her house - the parade was over - but we made a friend, so it was well worth it!

The weather for Friday and Saturday was unbelievably gorgeous. It was hard to break a sweat with temps in the 80s and low humidity. Christmas in July?!

On the residential street that the parade goes through, there were some pretty awesome neighborhood parties.

After the parade we grilled burgers and had a yummy potato salad, which I tried for the first time. Thank you Ina Garten - you always come through!

That night Allie was a bit concerned about the fireworks. She has one stress bone underneath her chest (it's barely visible), and an identical bone within paw's reach. She is a prepared (and very nervous) pup!

Saturday (and Sunday) morning we went for a walk to breakfast. Allie loves to be out!

On Saturday, Brad tried to outsmart the squirrels by adding an arm to the pole that houses our bird feeders. He hung the feeders far from any pole from which the squirrels can reach.

Meanwhile, I continued to excavate bricks from this patio under our big walnut tree. The patio is overgrown with weeds and once I started taking the bricks off I discovered a cement slab beneath. Brad thinks it might have been the foundation of a one-car garage at one time. (Our house was built in 1900.) I think he might be right.

While I exposed the cement, Allie was happy to lay on it.

The bricks have been there so long that most of them are covered in a pretty thick layer of dirt and moss. When I scrape that off, I end up with a lot of excess dirt.

We interrupt this blog post for a report from the napping dog.

This is how much dirt I get from just a couple of rows of bricks. I'm using the reclaimed dirt to fill some of the many holes and ruts in the backyard, which I'm guessing will save Brad from a future sprained ankle as mowing our pitted yard has been treacherous for him!

Brad's got three bird feeders hanging from his new arm. It took the squirrels a day to figure how to get to the feeder on the far right by shimmying down the fishing line. I think the other two are safe for reasons I won't go into here. Time to put on our thinking caps again for how to further squirrel-proof the one on the right. We're probably going to start by adding a dome on the top of the feeder.

Other weekend events not documented with photos: we spent a lot of the afternoon on Saturday at iTap (the bar where Troy works weekends) watching World Cup with John (while Troy tended bar). Today Brad and I went to a potluck at my yoga studio, where we brought this corn salad. (More thanks to the Barefoot Contessa.) We had a FaceTime call with Mary this morning. (She continues to do great in India.) And we've texted with Peter, who's enjoying his own three-day weekend in DC. (And counting the minutes until his mom's visit starts on Thursday!) Other than that, we've done miscellaneous yard work and a fair amount of doing nothing. A pretty good recipe for a relaxing weekend!