Can you smell the summer in the air???

Memorial Day weekend is a blast here in town... the Libutti Family attended (with various family members and friends) the best slice o' Americana you can find: the town's Memorial Day Parade, complete with a million kids marching with their various Little League/ softball/ soccer teams, Boy and Girl scouts, fire departments with their shined-up trucks, veterans' groups, Shriners wearing funny hats riding go-carts, bagpipers, and church groups.

Heck, even the local assisted living facility drives their passenger van filled with the over-80 set in the parade.

We sit in the same spot every year and (prepare to be wowed by our corny-ness) wear matching flag t-shirts from Old Navy.

(Side Note: In a stunning development for 2008, Old Navy has decided it is TOO COOL to make the $5 flag shirts anymore. We settled for coordinating outfits from Target instead. Take that, Old Navy.)

This year and last year's parades have been enhanced by the fact that Michaela has marched with her Brownie Troop so we are able to scream, yell and generally mortify her as she passes by. This year was made even MORE exciting by the fact that Aunt Bethie, Uncle Brian and Baby Kate were also there from Michigan to watch. Uncle Brian to Michaela: "If you think your mom embarrasses you, wait til you hear ME scream and cheer for you!"

The whole thing was wonderful and my parents hosted a really nice BBQ at their house in the afternoon. We did lots of swimming, sunbathing, picture taking, Kate oogling, M &M eating, and general summer fun activities.

So without further ado, here are some of the highlights:

Here are the girls before the parade begins...

Jenna waits patiently for Michaela to come marching down the street

Here she is!!! Here she is!!!

Michaela raises her clasped hands in victory as she passes by. (Not sure where she learned that.) That's her troop walking behind her.

The bagpipers were beautiful. If you like that sort of thing... which I do.

Jenna shows off her new Noodle-assisted swimming abilities.

Uncle Brian kissing Kate... she's incredibly kissable.

This picture of Michaela takes my breath away each time I see it.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Summer is HERE!!!