Town Parade

So for the four years we've now lived here, we finally made it to the town's Christmas parade for the first time! After going, I now know why. Not because parades aren't fun or something the kids will enjoy. But because I can't see a thing (I'm on the shortish side remember!) and I get very nervous and irritated in large crowds. But our friends were going and I wanted to take the kids to do something fun so I put my nerves and irritations to the side and jumped at the chance to go.

It was cold! And I do mean COLD! No matter how warm I dressed the kids, they still complained. We got there a little early - dragged our camping chairs and blankets to catch a good spot to sit and watch. But we were soooo mistaken! The line along the street was a good 5 feet deep. Which translates into me not seeing a thing! Picture taking of the parade was a bit sketchy for this reason alone. Aubrey and her friend stood on the chairs along a business wall and Jocelyn and her friend sat on adult shoulders from our group so thankfully they could see. I on the other hand had other interesting things to do such as hold a cranky and cold 23 month old while being 6, almost 7, months pregnant and trying to dodge cigarette smoke. He cried and whined the entire hour we were there. The parade was scheduled to be 2 hours long but we cut out of there early!! (Which was good as we didn't hit any traffic.) As we were driving back to the house to have pizza with friends, we saw snow flurries coming down. It started to stick when we were leaving to go home but nothing more than a light cover. Despite the parade mishap, we still had a wonderful night out with great friends! :)

 {Kids before parade started}

 {Me with my little crankster hanging out :)}

 {I liked the business we were standing next to - very cute decorations on the windows & toys inside!}

 {The crowd we were up against}

 {Jocelyn and her friend watching the parade}

 {Aubrey & Andrew looking at the neat hanging toys through the window}

 {The camera with flash off + a moving object especially at night = not a good turn out. But I still liked the colored squiggles}

 {Here is the blurry blob once it stopped moving - The Girl Scouts float}

 {Some Navy personnel standing near us}

 {A restaurant dressed pretty for the holidays}

 {Lights in the trees}

{A tree lit up with Christmas lights and decorations in one of the downtown parks}