well-behaved again for a holiday
town pride time again
It was Bedford Day today, and we very much enjoyed the festivities. The day started with a family meeting to address certain issues, and since the discussion was well-received we packed up and headed out to the parade. Like last time it was plagued with candy-crazed youths, but once we got a couple pieces ourselves we were able to relax and enjoy the sights.
all is right with the world
Politicians, boy scouts, high school band: all just as you'd expect. This being a liberal Boston suburb, there was also a group of young violinists and a large anti-war group. Alone among that list the violinists failed to throw candy. Of course, not all the candy was appreciated by all the Archibalds.
"I can't like it!"
After the parade we headed over the the fair. There were big trucks.
looking smaller than usual
And rescue equipment.
he can almost reach the pedals
Firemen demonstrated the jaws of life on a poor defenseless car. Harvey enjoyed watching that considerably more than Zion (he wasn't sure if he approved at all) but they both liked considering the end result.
broken car tourists
Mama left at lunch time, after which we boys took in some dancing, a karate demonstration, and a brass quintet. Everyone left the area at the end of the shouting and jumping part, so we were able to get right up close to the horn players.
a small crowd but very engaged
Next we visited the library book sale. I'd given the boys fifty cents each to get a book, but the kids' section was a veritable wasteland; even Zion could see that. So after a pause to read some books and do some puzzles in the library proper, I took them out into the maze of booths to see if there was anything else they could buy. They settled on splitting a $1 brownie, showing excellent cooperation: the family meeting is working!
The only disappointment of the afternoon was missing the balloons. Apparently a bank was giving them out, but by the time we thought to try and get one they were all out. The boys settled for coloring books and crayons.
a calm end to the afternoon
Besides the balloons I'm sure there was a whole lot of fair that we didn't even see, but we enjoyed ourselves for a good five hours... and of course there's always next year!