This is . . . Granbury

We did all the "necessary" things in Granbury this weekend. Part of it for our family has always been to celebrate Rachel's birthday. It was disappointing last year when we went and I knew Rachel couldn't come. The Fourth has always been about her! But now, it's also about Sabrina, and that'll make it even more celebratory.

In years past, we've fought the crowds to watch fireworks in town. We've sat at the Church of Christ parking lot (up on a hill) to watch them (both in high school and at least once with my kids). We watched the fireworks from my Grandmother J.'s backyard during the years she lived in Granbury (lots of bugs!). I think Rachel watched them from Kirk's parents' house when they lived in Granbury. And this year we did the watching from Comanche Peak. I think one year I went up on the road above Mom and Dad's house. But I wasn't going to take the kids up there this year.

It's a big deal in this small town, and people really do come from all over the area to enjoy the "Hometown Celebration."

Part of the Celebration is the arts and crafts booths all around the square. It must be quite a money maker for the city. They do this at least 3 times a year----The 4th, General Granbury's birthday (in March) and Harvest of the Arts festival (or Harvest Moon Festival now?). Rachel and I have both marched in parades----4th of July and the Birthday Parade. Now a days they have a Christmas parade, too. Oooo! lights!

Here are a few pictures of the revitalized downtown area.
Rachel took the one on the right. This is the park behind the Shanley House. We walked the square (with children) on Monday. It was very hot, but it's something ya gotta do.

On Tuesday was the parade. It's a given that you have to get to town an hour before the parade. We did, and we got good spots on the curb at Morgan Street. We debated much about where we wanted to park our cars, park ourselves, a quick getaway if we needed it for the kids. Much is to be taken into account! I can't get more than 3 pictures to post tonight, so I'll add a few more pics on another post if I can.

The highlights of the parade: The high school marching band (of course), including the flag corps. It was actually kinda sad looking this summer-----you can't require it when school's out. We think the band directors were marching! The people giving out popcicles---Sabrina had to have one! Catching candy being thrown. The float with stuffed animals on it---I mean like stuffed wildlife, a "sensory experience" exhibit this business provides (I esp. loved the skunk on the back end of it). The fly over of those airplanes near the beginning. I would say the fire trucks, but Sabrina did NOT like that in the least. Dad kept saying Santa was supposed to be at the end (Oh, Mr. Agee!)

At any rate, we had fun, and I'm glad we put forth the effort to do it!!