Patriotic Pals on Parade

We drove up to Eatonville today, to spend Independence Day with Nathan's sister and her family.  I feel really fortunate that they're currently near enough for us to do Holiday Day Trips.  I didn't have any cousins until I was 13 (and I topped out at two cousins, total) so it's very special to me that a) Neeps has eleven (so far), b) several of them are close enough for him to actually spend time with on a semi-regular basis, and c) the older ones are so sweet and loving towards him (the ones closest to his age tend to be a little more bloodthirsty.  Can't blame them, really: limited resources, and all that.)  Few things are more heartwarming than watching my siblings' children play with mine.

But that's not the point of this post!  The point of this post is that one of the 4th of July activities that we participated in as a family was representing Hike It Baby in the Eatonville Parade!  I'm pretty sure it was my first time being in a parade (and certainly Neeps's), and it was quite fun*.

Lined up and ready to go (behold my glorious leggings: SUPER patriotic!)

Yep, nursing boobs = wearing a sports bra to make my go-to party dress family-friendly.

You'll notice Nathan isn't in any of the pictures- that's because he was (shockingly) the photographer, and circling about our group like an inquisitive shark.

Look at that waving action!

Parading is hard work.

After the parade we had a family picnic, where I carefully fed Neeps the food of his ancestors: GF fried chicken, potato salad, and watermelon.  And Cheerios, because what's an 8-month-old's meal without Cheerios.





*The other great thing about today was it gave me a chance to try out our new hiking pack, the bright red Escape by Phil&Ted.  (please notice I matched my lipstick to it)  I liked it pretty well, but as with most adjustable packs, I ran into the problem of my torso being just a little too small for the smallest setting.  Still, it was a lot better than any other ones we've tried, so I look forward to using it out in nature very soon!