Today my older two kids were in the annual Bainbridge Island Fourth of July Parade. They are part of the Parks and Recreation Gymnastics program, so they got invited to walk in the parade. The parade is one of the best ways to see how diverse the activities on Bainbridge Island are. We were float 170-something out of 200. Not bad for an island with 20,000 people on it. It was a bit of a bummer not getting to see most of the parade, but the experience of being in the parade made up for it. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, we always associate parade with the Mummers, which is in a totally different league. This little small town parade is one of the highlights of the year. I've never been in a parade until today, but my kids are veterans at 5, 2.5, and 10 months.