Pioneer Day

One of the best things about being married is sharing things you love with each other. Over the past 3 years Brandon and I have introduced each other to our favorite foods, tv shows, vacation places, and other fun things. This weekend I talked Brandon into doing something I did 4 years ago. We went and slept out on the parade route for the Days of 47 Parade.

4 years ago my friend talked me into doing this and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. This year Brandon's parents worked on one of the floats so that was a good reason to go to the parade. Also the parade was on a Saturday so we could go it and not worry about work (not that we are working right now anyway - but we were when we originally planned this adventure)

So on Friday we went to my Dr's appointment (the twins are doing well) and then headed over to get a great spot. I wanted the same spot I had 4 years ago at 200 East and 300 South. People were already saving spots when we got there about 4:00 pm, but there was still plenty of room. While we were there a big flat bed came by and dropped off some port-o-potties. I thought it was pretty funny.

We hung out and played cards. More and more people started showing up. We made friends with two ladies that set up camp right next to us. We were about to start a card game with them when the sprinklers came on. Everyone ran off the hill and dragged their stuff with them. We sat on the sidewalk and waited for the grass to dry off. We played cards with our new friends Carrie and Tawny and my friend Lindsey and her husband Ben.
We played the card games and sat and talked until 2 AM. It was fun being there with people that I didn't know very well. We were able to share stories and get to know them better.
At 2:00 AM we headed to bed. For some reason I thought that the grass would be comfortable enough for me. I forgot the fact that last time I slept on the grass I was 21 and not pregnant with twins. Still I made it through the night. There were teenagers all around us and some of them talked all night long. Between the ground, the noise, and the cold I think I got an hour and a half of sleep. Here is a pic of what our hill looked like in the morning.
About 6:00 AM I got up and set up our chairs in the front row of the parade route. Soon the marathon runners came down the street.
Then Brandon and I waited and waited for the parade to start.
The only downside to our spot was the fact that it is on the West side of the street which means we got cooked by the sun. I knew this would happen so I didn't complain. I just lathered on the sun block.
Here's what the area behind our chairs looked like. We probably should have stayed on the hill in the shade, but we'd been there for 18 hours so I felt like we deserved the front row.
It was worth it to see the floats. This one was about the seagulls who ate the grasshoppers. It was so cute.
Here is Brandon's parents float. It looked better than it did in the Taylorsville days parade.
Brandon's mom worked really hard on these bobble head kids.
Brandon liked this one because of the airplane.
After the parade we headed home to a cold shower and a four hour nap. Brandon said he had fun and so had I. We are even considering doing it again next year - but with some twin friendly modifications.