Rockford Start of Summer Celebration 6/12/10

Every year, the first weekend in June, Rockford has a Start of Summer Celebration. The main thing we do is the parade. It is a fun parade and the kids enjoy it almost as much as I do. ;-) We got there a little early so we could get a good seat.Samantha entertained herself by people watching and playing with leaves on the curb.
She thought it was SO cool that people in the parade were throwing candy at her!! She loved picking up the pieces off the ground. We had to tell her brother to let her get some. ;-)
After the parade we hit the Children's tent. The local toy store sponsors a free activity tent every year. She usually rotates the activities from year to year. This year the kids could paint a pet rock and make a t-shirt. The kids could use markers and bingo daubers to decorate it however they wanted.
There was also a carnival. We choose not to do any of the rides or games this year since 1) they cost about $2-3 per ride and 2) we are going to Disneyland in July. We did hit a few of the craft vendors. We got some of those yummy dip mixes. :) The last thing we did was watch the firemen play waterball. They use their fire hoses to power a dangling ball across a wire (kind of like tug of war with water).

We spent about 2 hours of family fun there and then headed home for some relaxation! :-)