Grand Floral Parade!

Caitlin LOVES parades! We took her to her first one when she was two years old (the little Macy's parade the day after Thanksgiving). Anyway, I'm always happy for her to see all the great floats and marching bands. She gets so excited, dancing and singing, having a great time. We decided to go to this "big" one just yesterday. We had to get up early so we could get downtown before all the streets closed. We parked at Brian's work and walked a few blocks to find a place to sit. I brought a blanket (duh?) while everyone else had folding chairs. {How was I supposed to know how hard concrete would be after four hours of sitting on it? The parades I'm used to are either over in an hour (4th of July in Caledonia), or you don't sit down, you try to catch beads (Mardi Gras)!}

Anyway, I'll know better next time. Here are some photos!

Here is Bri and the kiddos sitting on a blanket while everyone else has a comfy chair! The show got started late because the lead float broke down right when the parade started. (The parade route started on the other side of the river!) We waited for almost two hours until we saw the first float! Here it is:

It was a cool dinosaur float. All the floats have to be covered in organic material, so everything that's not a flower is seeds, or greenery or something of that nature. They are quite amazing!

Here's Caitlin jumping and dancing as we listened to the marching bands play. She loves the music. Almost got mowed down a few times.

We were sitting by our friend Zach (tall guy behind Margaux) and his fiancee, plus the family she nanny's for. It was a good spot, but right near the end of the parade route.

This is what Margaux thought of what the horses left behind. Sure was STINKY!

Here's Caitlin dancing to the beat (and getting right out there by the band).

Here's the cool space shuttle float. It poofed out smoke from the pipes you see on the side.

There were GREAT looking pirates (very realistic) walking in front of the pirate float. Caitlin even spoke to a few. {They just said, "ARG" to her and stuff.)

This was a great Johnny Depp looking float. The flowers were amazing, truly.

This was one great parade!