Downtown Christmas Parade

Every year since the boys have ben born we have thought about taking them to the Christmas parade downtown.  But, it’s always on a Saturday afternoon and it seems like I never wanted to sacrifice naptime…or someone was sick or something like that.  But this year, no one needed a nap and it was a great time for us to go. 

I still couldn’t manage a non-silly picture of the boys where they both would look at me with a normal face.  Oh well.  And we dragged out the double stroller for the first time in a long time (just to give them somewhere to sit), but I guess they are getting a little big for it!  And pushing around nearly 100 pounds of little boys is no easy feat!

From the start, the boys were interested.  How could they not be when it started with police motorcycles?

And then there was this dog club with more dogs than I could count.  Man, there were a lot of short-legged dogs, doing their best to make the long walk of the parade!

There were a lot of random cars in the parade – newer, nothing-special cars with various riders representing groups, businesses, whatever…  But I much preferred to see the older cars that seemed at home in a parade.

There were several older fire department vehicles.  Loved them.

There weren’t enough traditional floats either…so ones like this one (Snoopy and the Red Baron pulled by a tractor) were especially nice to see!

And this one – a space shuttle and moon for a kids’ dentist’s office:

The parade was fun, but perhaps I was wrong about one thing.  Remember how I said we could go this year because no one needed a nap?  Well, maybe someone did…

Another favorite of ours were all of the local bands who marched and played. 

And finally, all Christmas parades must end with Santa Claus…and this was no exception!

We had a great time.  Thomas really wants to BE IN the parade, and from the looks of it, it doesn’t take much to enter.  :-)  But even if we are merely spectators, we look forward to the next one!