derby days

Redmond has its annual town celebration -- Derby Days -- in July. We had a lot of fun last year and wanted to have even more fun this year.

This year we went to the parade in the morning. Brooklyn was captivated by all the bands and floats and fire trucks and different groups that were in the parade.

She even got a treat. And a necklace.

And a balloon. And a ball.

We met up with our friends the Dimonds in the afternoon -- she loves hanging out with her buddy James!

We thought maybe this year she'd be up for riding on a horse in the carousel.

We thought wrong. Maybe next year.

We still had fun.

We thought she might like to try the bounce house. It was funny watching her -- she mostly just sat and watched the big kids jump around.

We aren't up to speed with kids' shows (with the exception of Sesame Street and some Disney) -- is this Brookies the Explorer?

So cute.

We grabbed some snacks by the city center -- there's a local French bakery that had a little booth set up so we got some tasty treats.

We have great buddies!

Hooray!

This girl's gonna be trouble before we know it.

B loved playing with Laura on some kind of exercise equipment near a senior center next to the city hall. To her it wasn't any different than playground stuff like a see saw.

Austin enjoyed some down time on the picnic blanket.

Later that night we got Brooklyn out of bed -- a mistake we'd pay for the next day -- to go watch the fireworks back at the city center. Two of her other buddies -- Kate and Annika -- were there too!

It was her first time watching fireworks. She wasn't too scared but definitely watched intently and jumped a bit when loud ones went off.

Afterwards Brooklyn kept saying, "Fiworks up inna sky! Boom boom!" We had a great day as a family and with friends!