Journal Jar: Last of the Traditions

Journal Jar: The Last of the Traditions

There are a few more traditions not covered before, so I'll finish up with our family traditions for the following holidays and/or events:
Graduations; 4th of July; Halloween; Thanksgiving

For graduations, we don't have any. There, that was simple.

4th of July: For the past few years we've been going to dd Heffalump's home in a nearby beach town where they have a quaint little 4th of July parade . It's a small town, so it's a small-town parade, and it goes right by Heffalump's house. We take our chairs out and set them up on the sidewalk about an hour or so before the parade starts. It starts out with the US Coast Guard helicopter flying low over the parade route to be sure all is clear, then the parade begins. It's fire trucks, Coast Guard vehicles, National Guard trucks and other stuff, big pickups, vintage cars, kids on bikes and wagons, etc. Fun. Afterwards, we usually barbecue hamburgers & hot dogs and follow up with a walk on a beach.

Halloween: Since about 1995 or so we've had the annual Pumpkin Carving party, hosted by 2 dd. Starts out with a potluck dinner, then everyone carves their pumpkin. Add candles, turn out all the lights, and two dsil's (son's in law) proceed to take photos of said pumpkins. Sometimes we even get pictures of all attending family members. The kids sometimes dress up in their Halloween costumes, and sometimes the adults do, too. This year Heffalump's kids were: Waldo (from "Where's Waldo"), Mario & Luigi, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Incredible, a tiger, and Baby B was a sweet tomato.

Thanksgiving: We alternate the big family dinner every other year, giving the married kids the opportunity to share Thanksgiving with their in-laws, or in the case of in-laws who live a long ways away, the opportunity to have a quiet Thanksgiving on their own. This is the year of the big family dinner, so we'll have 20-some odd people here. I need to get busy and figure out what I want people to bring--we don't make me cook it all by myself, thankfully.

In a few days or so I'll be drawing another question out of the Journal Jar and answering it here. Stay tuned!