the horribles

so every fourth of july there is a tradition in marblehead called the horribles parade.  

this tradition is pretty much a form of child abuse.

 it is always the hottest day of the year and it's a costume contest. 

but anyone who knows me, knows i wor-ship dressing up.  

halloween?  bring it on.  theme parties?  yes, please!  

so when i heard about this "tradition" on july 4th eve after a "few" cocktails 2 years ago, i had to work very fast to not only come up with an idea but also recruit some peeps to take part in the abuse with me.

  {btw, this is also torture for the parents.  ever pulled your kids in a parade hungover?  totes not fun}  

anyhoot, year one was sort of a bust.  

but we did it! 

 for some reason i decided this was the year for animal cruelty as well and made george and looloo participate.  and my theme was 'george & kate plus 8'.  this was pre-gosselin break-up and a super-hot topic.  current events is one of the categories they vote on.  

i'm ready to admit this was a really lame choice and the guetto computer paper signs i whipped up 15 minutes before go-time were not cutting it.

year 2. 

a lil more age appropopes - crayons!  

when my friend ag suggested this idea the first year i mocked her.  but look how cute they are AND {drumroll please}  we won the coveted toushy dodge award this year!  that's right 50 big ones.  woo-hoo!

this year we realized the odds were against us.  

95 degree weather. check. 

 hundreds of people yelling and throwing candy at us.  check.

14 kids under 6.  check.

  so we kept it simple. 

a birthday party for america.  genius.  ha.  okay, so not that exciting but it made sense.  lil hoot and sugar on top's wee ones were part of team happy birthday america.

   sugar on top made the delish cake pops to keep the kiddos "content" and jayme marie designs designed the adorbs banners and party hats.  

add a ton of balloons and presents and voila!

we clinched the helen st. pierre award.  

cross it off the list folks.  we nailed it.

by the way, we were up against some stiff competition.  check out this beiber float in which the participants belted out justin beiber songs the entire parade.

and there was more than one "royal" wedding to contend with.

and look how happy team happy birthday america is!  we do it for the joy it brings our children.

that's right, we do it for the kids.  they just love it.  really.

happy birthday, america.  

any of you have any clever ideas how we can torture ourselves. . . i mean celebrate. . . next year?