The main purpose for going to Mom's for the first week of July was for 4th of July. My mother does a great job on any holiday, but I think 4th of July is the day she is more sparkling than the fireworks at night. My hometown has a parade for 4th of July. These days, it is the only 4th of July parade in the entire county, so it is quite large. Well, large in the way that small town parades go. I don't know how many years Berlin has had a parade. I do know it's been all of my lifetime. Mom says that the 4th of July parade in 1976 was my first 'outing'. I was just four weeks old and she dressed me in a cute red, white, and blue outfit and put me in the baby carriage.
Since I was at least a teenager, maybe younger than that, Mom has had a party at her house after the parade. It used to be family- Dad's parents, any aunts or uncles who came to the parade, Aunt Vera. It grew and has become a tradition in the family and the town. Family, friends, people who work with my parents, people in town- all are welcome at Mom's.
The kids spent the night on July 3. Sydney and I baked our special red, white, and blue cake that night. Even though the kids were up early, we found ourselves running behind the morning of the party. I felt like I was not only running behind but also running at a snails' pace. The night before had been one of my sleepless nights. I fell asleep around 2am. Sydney had been playing with my travel alarm clock and accidentally set it, so it went off at 4am. Drew woke up at 5:42am. I finally gave up at 7 and got up.
It rained the night before, so things that we might have done ahead of time like getting the tables ready and decorating, had to wait until the morning of the 4th. Dad spent most of the morning outside, rearranging their various tables and chairs over by the brook, the part of the yard that would have mostly shade all afternoon. Mom and I alternated taking turns in the house working on food and watching the children. For sure we would have gotten more done if they hadn't spent the night, but it was so fun to have them there. Plus, she has the same problem all women in our family have- a small kitchen. There's not a lot of room for more than one or two people in the kitchen, and if a couple of people are trying to prep you end up running into each other. So this way, one of us was in the kitchen and one was watching the munchkins. When it was my turn in the kitchen, I made the chocolate covered strawberries. Mom carries the red, white, & blue theme through the entire party (Mom & Dad and the munchkins and I were also wearing patriotic themed clothing. Yes- we are THAT much fun!). I found an idea online for white chocolate covered strawberries with blue sprinkles (red, white, and blue). Sydney insisted I also had to make milk chocolate covered strawberries because she doesn't like white chocolate.
I was barely dressed when people started arriving. That's kind of the beauty of Mom's 4th of July party. The invitation (especially for those coming from out of town) is to come before the parade for breakfast and then watch the parade with us. The party starts after the parade. Friends and family park in our yard and then walk to the parade with us. Mom usually has some food and coffee for the early people. This year it was donuts- we had about 5 dozen donuts (which, it turned out- were way too many because it was hot and people didn't want to eat).
Sydney had been put in charge of decorating the yard. Mom asked her if she would like to help decorate the yard, and she said only if she could be in charge. So Sydney became 'Chief Decorator' for the day. When my sister arrived and asked what she could help with, I sent her outside with the Chief Decorator. They did a good job, the yard and tables looked so nice. Mom had a bunch of little flags, and Sydney started passing them out to everyone. She got a little worried when she looked at the number of people who were going to the parade with us, and she carefully counted her flags. She made sure the family had them first, then the friends she knew, and then- thankfully! there was enough for everyone to have a flag. She instructed us that we had to wave them during the parade.
We set off a few minutes before the parade started. The parade winds its way all through town, so we only had to walk out to Main Street. We stretched our lawn chairs out along the sidewalk in front of the Catholic church. We had shade and a prime viewing spot. At 11am, the fire whistle blew once. That is the signal that the parade is starting. It took it about 15 or so minutes for the beginning of the parade to get to Main Street. You can hear it coming all along the highway long before you see the parade. My favorite part are the bagpipes. I guess it awakens my Scottish heritage. I love the bagpipes. I especially love them in the parade, because the sound of the bagpipes bounce off the hills, and it is just beautiful. It gives me chills just thinking about it. Hearing it in person is special.
Because this is the only parade in the county, fire departments from all over the county come to the parade. It is a good way for them to show off their equipment- either the brand new sparkly trucks or the 1930's trucks that are lovingly maintained. Sometimes, I have to ask my Dad where that town is when the trucks go by. Drew was in Heaven watching the trucks! He sat on my Dad's lap and together you could hear them oohing and aahing over the trucks. I'm not sure which of them was happier. The trucks got bigger and bigger- a couple of the trucks were huge logging trucks. Drew thought it was the best day ever!
There are also floats in the parade. For me, the 4th of July parade was always the best because of the floats. There are no floats in the Memorial Day parade- it is a more solemn event. The 4th of July parade is more of a party. Each year the parade committee decides on a theme, and then prizes are handed out for those who are the funniest, or to the ones who best demonstrate the theme. Anyone can have a float- all you really need is a truck to pull it and the desire to create one.
After the parade it was back to Mom's. First we put out the snacks- potato chips, dip, cheese & crackers. More people came. Around 2 we brought out the 'real' food. Dad cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, Andy cooked corn in the steamer, and I watched Drew while my sister helped Mom bring out sausage and peppers, potato salads, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, macaroni & cheese, Swedish meatballs, baked beans, a tossed salad, and oh goodness- I can't even remember all the food. Everyone brought something. Dad has this huge table that I think is 8 feet long. Mom's father made it probably 40 years ago. It is solid wood and very heavy. It has been a fixture at every party we've ever had. The table was covered with food! Of course, this is not a surprise- it was one of Mom's parties. If you leave my mom's house hungry, it's your own fault. One of my friends from high school came to the party with her family. I haven't seen her in 17 years, so I spent most of the afternoon talking with them. Her son is 18, and was thrilled that the food seemed to never stop.
I walked past Dad at one point at the grill, and he told me 'If you want a well done one, I'll put it on now'. Oh, it is so nice to have an in with the cook! He told me to ask my Grandpa if he wanted a rare one. I asked my Grandpa, and he said no, he had eaten enough with all the other food. I told him I was getting a well done one, and he told me I didn't know what I was missing. See, Grandpa and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum with how we like our meat. Mine has to be well done. My belief is you cannot overcook my meat. My grandfather- well, he likes his barely dead. When we go out for steak, I cannot sit at the same end of the table with Grandpa. I laughed at him this time and said 'Gramp, we've been having this argument all my life'.
Only about half of the people Mom invited came. This disappointed Mom. She loves to throw a big party- especially on a day when the weather cooperates and everyone can be outside. Around 3:30 or so we started bringing out dessert. We had cookies from the Italian bakery, someone else made cupcakes, and of course we had the red, white, & blue cake. Sydney said since it was America's birthday that we had to put candles in it and sing 'Happy Birthday'. She led the singing, but everyone joined in. She declared it was our new tradition! And she beamed with pride when everyone was amazed at the red, white, and blue inside the cake. She told them the magical way we had made it. The cake was a big hit!
Shortly after we had 'dessert', we remembered that we had watermelon. So we cut open a watermelon and passed it around. After most people had left, Mom asked what happened to the chocolate covered strawberries. We ran out of room in the frig that morning, so some things were put in the dining room. Mom and Dad have a window air conditioner in the dining room, which blows over the table. If you're sitting at the table, you have to shut the a/c off or pull the curtains around it to avoid the draft. However it worked perfectly as an extra refrigerator! The strawberries were on the table, just as cool as could be. We went outside and passed those around. People were groaning from being so stuffed. Sydney and Drew were the biggest fans of the strawberries and kept asking for more. I figured it was ok for them to have chocolate covered strawberries- they were going home with their parents after all!
We could not have Mom's 4th of July party without Mom's signature drink. Non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiris. Just like the party, it has become a tradition. It was so hot this year (most of the day I wore a wet towel around my neck. I looked like a dork, but the heat was making me so sick that it helped) that the frozen daiquiris were a refreshing treat.
People have been known to stay well into the night at Mom's, so she had s'mores fixings. The idea was we would sit by the fire that night and have s'mores. But everyone was gone by 6pm. It worked out fine- we were exhausted. Everyone had a great time at the party and we had so much food leftover that we ate leftovers for the rest of the week.
I love the 4th of July at Mom's. I was able to see friends and family that I don't always get to see. I am so glad I took the week and went home for it.
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