In the neighborhood that I grew up in as a child, we held several neighborhood parades throughout the year celebrating different holidays. There were Easter parades, Halloween parades, and 4th of July parades. All the kids in the neighborhood decorated their bikes and dressed up, parading through the neighborhood. It was so much fun and the memories have stuck with me. So upon moving to Quantico, and living on base, I couldn’t help but want to share the same traditions with my children.

I first contacted the housing office and PMO to make sure such a parade was permitted. Once I was given the green light, I mapped out where I wanted the parade to go, hit up the local fire department, the Marine Corps band, and a local car club. Everyone was so nice and was excited to participate in our little parade! Unfortunately, the Marine Corps band had a prior graduation ceremony that they had to play for, so they were not able to come. They did tell me that they loved doing things in the community, so I will definitely plan ahead next year and pick a date on which they can attend! So minus the music, everything else was falling into place! I picked a date, created an event in Facebook and invited the neighborhood! The housing office was helpful too in sending out a flyer in their monthly email. All I had to do now was pray that people would show up!

The day before the parade was spent decorating Amelia’s tricycle and turning Easton’s tractor into a tank! It was a labor of love but needless to say, he was quite happy. I’m not sure when we’ll (if ever) be taking it off.

The morning of the parade I picked up some donuts for everyone, dressed the kids and Semper, and patiently waited for everyone to start lining up!

The wait was painful but right on time, everyone was there and ready to roll!

The local fire department started off the parade with the Quantico Marauders car club following behind. I know all the guys loved getting to check out the cool cars.

The Marauders were awesome and I so appreciate them taking time out of their holiday weekend to come be in our little parade!

And with a blast of the fire truck sirens, we were off!

I was so impressed at the turnout we had! Everyone showed up decked out in their red, white, and blue and smiles on their faces. What more could I ask for? There were even several people who came out on their porches and waved as we went by. We even got a second fire truck that brought up the rear! When they asked me if I wanted them to make noise I said, “give it all you got!”

Well, most everyone had a smile on their face. This little one was not so thrilled.

Easton had so much fun driving his “tank” through the neighborhood! I think Semper even had fun too.

I think a few people had gone by the time we took this picture, but look at the awesome turn out! My neighborhood is pretty awesome. Thank you to everyone that showed up and made this event possible! You guys rock!! Special thanks to my neighbor friends for helping me brain storm and bounce ideas off of. I can’t wait to make it even better next year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I couldn’t have picked a better day to have the parade on because the weather was perfect. Today in Quantico it has rained all day. Perfect weather for blogging though! Happy 4th of July!