He's at the end of just about every Christmas parade around. Once he shows up, you can bet that there will be no more confetti, marching bands, costumed characters, or candy being thrown. Ironically enough, this is the part of the parade that tends to produce tears. Crying from Caleigh that she isn't ready to go, and she wants to wait because there "might be more coming". Tears from me for reasons that I don't fully understand myself. Maybe it's the memories of all those childhood Christmases I had that flood my memory or maybe it is the light of my own child's face as she waves and shouts in true innocense to the man in the big red suit. Whatever it is, the waterworks start at this point. But, there is so much more BEFORE Santa arrives and it is so enjoyable to watch, especially when she is so excited about everything!
We did something that was a first for all of us this year when it comes to parades. We all attended the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade in downtown Atlanta. Personally, I participated in this parade once when I was younger. I shuttled animals down the long route. This is a very popular televised parade that usually draws very large crowds. We took Mish and her husband and the 5 of us packed our camping chairs and headed into downtown hours before the parade was scheduled in order to claim our viewing area. As the crowds grew, so did the rudeness of some people. Putting that aside, we had an AWESOME time.
Parade Prepared
A present from the clowns pre-parade
The first glimpse of a huge balloon!
Watching mommy's alma mater marching band
Rudolph flying high overhead
A few of the balloons- huge amounts of helium high in the Atlanta sky
Handy Manny
Three Blind Mice
Smurf
Mr. Potato Head
Dennis the Menace
Shaking hands
Mom's favorite
Atlanta Traditions
Pricillia- The Pink Pig
The Coca-Cola Polar Bear
Every year since I can remember, I have been to or been in our hometowm Christmas parade. I missed it the year Caleigh was born. She was just 2 weeks old and I didn't want to take her out into the cold weather. Other than that, I think I have at least attended every year. One of the perks of living in the same place all your life I guess. Caleigh has been every year after the year of her birth though.
And this year, she got to be joined by two of her cousins! She is absolutely crazy about them, but when it came time for the parade, she was all about the show!
My littlest niece is a photo bomber already!
Showing her Nonnie the parade
Caleigh's aunt was in the parade!
Wouldn't be a hometown parade without.... TRACTORS!
And of course, as stated earlier, at the end comes Santa.
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