A festive(al) weekend

 Zach and Alex at the
BBQ Days parade

The second weekend in July is always a fun-but-busy weekend for us, as both our town and Cole's hometown have their big town festivals that weekend - BBQ Days and the Raspberry Festival, respectively. And starting this year, the big parade for each festival had some of the Vandermark boys in its list of participants.

Saturday was our BBQ Days day. Zach, Alex, Joe and I marched along with the rest of our Cub Scout Pack, handing out freezees to the parade-goers - a very welcome treat on a hot, sticky day! After the parade, we met up with Grandma Pat and Papa Bob at the carnival to have some food and enjoy some rides before Zach, Alex and I had to go work a shift in the Scout's pork chop and corn-on-the-cob stand. Joe spent the day working at the Knights of Columbus' burger and dogs stand. We were definitely worn out at the end of that day!

The next day was a little more relaxing for us but still lots of fun. We went up to watch the Raspberry Festival parade to watch Cole perform with the LMPM pep band from his school. Later that evening, we were back at BBQ Days to watch their famed fireworks, put on by a major pyrotechnics company based in town (they were amazing!).

Check out the fun in the July-Aug photo album, including a video of Cole's band performing (Hi Cole!)!