For the third year in a row, Susan, Mason, Morgan and myself entered a float in the Yukon Fourth of July kids parade. Technically, the first year we didn't make a float; Mason and his cousins dressed up in patriotic-colored clothes and walked through the parade. It wasn't until after the parade when we saw judges handing out medals that we realized it was actually a contest! After that, Susan and I decided that we would enter a winning float every year from now on.

 

 

In 2006, we built the infamous rocket ship float. The entire ship was made out of cardboard with stickers, stars and duct tape purchased from the dollar store and placed on top of Mason's little red wagon. The float won first place for most creative float in Mason's age range. People absolutely loved the float -- we got a million compliments on it last year.

 

This year marked our second serious entry in the float competition. Since 2007 is Oklahoma's one-hundredth birthday, we decided to make a birthday cake float. The hardest part of the competition is to come up with an idea that no one else will think of, and then to turn that idea into something that will stand out.

 

We got a late start on this year's float. Susan took off work on the 3rd (not specifically to work on the float; it just worked out that way) and began painting the boxes that would eventually become the cake. Susan and Mason went to watch fireworks that night while I stayed home with Morgan. It wasn't until 10:30pm the night before the competition that serious work on the float began.

 

 

And here is the cake, with me pulling and Granny bringing up the rear. Once again our float was built upon a wagon, with lots of cardboard boxes, duct tape and paint. Susan did a great job on the candle for the top of the cake. The stars were printed out on the computer, cut out by hand and glued to the blue box by Mason and Mommy. I think we went through three or four rolls of duct tape this year. Red, white and blue rolls of duct tape sure come in handy when building 4th of July floats.

 

 

Aw yeah. Despite the rushed execution of our plan, the judges rewarded Susan's hard work with another round of first place medals, one for each of the kids.

 

Next year? Look out for the three-peat!