I also wanted to mention that Uncool Mom won a prize in the Lakewood Fourth of July parade (a large local parade in Old East Dallas).  The parade theme was "Lakewood's Got Talent" so we put a sign on the front of the minivan that read "Mom's Got Talent" and covered the sides and back with big word magnets we created on our home printer of all the jobs a Mom does, like NURSE, CHEF, COUNSELOR, LAUNDRESS, CHEERLEADER, BARBER, etc. Emmie and her cousin sat in the back throwing candy out the sides, and my sister-in-law, Marti, drove the van, dressed up like a stereotypical mom (a la Carol Burnett), in a bathrobe, cat-eyed sunglasses and with curlers in her hair. She was a hoot, admonishing kids along the parade route to "Eat Your Vegetables" and "Wash Behind Your Ears".  We played Trout Fishing in America kids songs like "Are We There Yet?" and "Mine!" on the car stereo, and I walked along handing out cards (printed from a template provided by Nickelodeon) about the Parents Picks awards-- and Andy rollerbladed, in his Nixon mask.  Thanks to my sister-in-law's great acting, we won first place in the "over age 12" division for Most Creative Costume.  Below are some photos of our fun day. (Good thing my teenager was out of town-- she would have died of embarrassment!!)
 If you ever want to see a very cool 4th of July parade, check out Lakewood's.  It doesn't get more Americana than this-- it winds through neighborhoods so people have parties on their front lawns as they watch, some complete with dining tables and crystal, some with plastic lawn chairs and lots of American flags. It reminds me of the New Orleans lawn parties for the Mardi Gras parades. At the Lakewood parade, there are homemade floats, trucks with Scouts and cheerleaders, classic cars, politicians and beauty queens in convertibles, decorated bikes, decorated dogs, high school bands, Elvis impersonators, John McEnroe impersonators, and on and on.  It lasted 45 minutes this year! It ends in a park, with free water, beer, hot dogs and snow cones, and an appearance by Uncle Sam, who gives out the awards.  All neighborhood parades should copy this one!

 
"I'm going to be chaperoning your prom!" yells Marti to an unsuspecting kid.



Showing off the first place medal after the parade (by that point, the hundred-degree heat made the word magnets curl and fall off the back of the van!)