Yeah, I know I said I'd post this yesterday, but you didn't really think I'd follow through with that, did you?
Like many of you, I grew up watching the Macy's parade every Thanksgiving morning. Little did I know that someday I'd be lucky enough to not only be there in person to watch it, but to have VIP passes to get a front row view! (Thanks again, Paul!) My in-laws live just a few blocks from the parade route, so we all walked over at 8:00 and arrived about 40 minutes before it began. Our spot was the half block right before the official start of the parade, which was cool because we were in the "staging area" and as the floats went by, we got to talk to the people on them without competing with all the screaming crowds that we would have had just a half a block up. We got to see lots of the parade people getting ready while we waited for the 9:00 start time.
We saw lots of celebrities on the floats:
--Miley Cyrus-- thankfully my girls don't even know who Hannah Montana is!
--I gave a shout out to James Taylor
--the Sesame Street gang (including the favorites I grew up with like Luis, Maria, Olivia, and Gordon)
--some boy band (that thought they were WAY too cool) called Varsity Fan Club
--Ashanti
--Darius Rucker, AKA Hootie (minus his Blowfish)
--that chick from School of Rock
--Kristin Chenoweth (hiding behind all those Care Bears)
--and of course Santa!
The balloons are always a big highlight as well. One of my favorite things was that all the balloon handlers had outfits that coordinated to the balloon they were wrangling-- something I'd never noticed when watching it on TV. Kendall and Berkeley loved spotting the people who got stuck helping with a different balloon than the one they were dressed for! Here are some of our favorite balloons:
--Smurf, Horton, and Buzz made their debuts
--Kermit was just HUGE!
--Abby Cadabby was cute.
--Even though I've never seen an episode of his show, SpongeBob's balloon was great!
--One of Shrek's ropes got caught on a tree. The damage control team worked quickly and voila-- crisis averted!
You may have noticed that in the foreground of many of these pictures, there is a horse with a jester sitting on it. There was another jester/clownish type guy sitting in a little vehicle attached to this horse, waiting patiently the entire parade for his cue to jump in. We'd been joking with him the whole time about it and finally, we saw a bunch of clowns coming who were wearing his same outfit and he was so pumped to go! Look at his big grin!
All in all, it was a great time. The sun came out, so we weren't even cold, which made all the difference in the world! The girls had a blast and really got into it. My favorite line of the day from them? When the Care Bear float came by, they were yelling out, "Hey, Care Bears! We love your puzzle!"
I took a TON of pictures, so if you're interested in seeing more, click on the picture below and it will take you to the full album. If you are already thoroughly bored by this incredibly long post, I'm deeply sorry, and whatever you do, do NOT click the picture below!
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| Macy's Thanksgiving Parade |
11 comments:
you just lived out my goal number #46... that looks like so much fun! if only I knew I would have tried to look for you on tv.
What a fun trip! Wish we could have joined you--NYC is such a great place to visit!
that is so awesome, i one day want to go to the parade of all parades...but maybe from a window looking down not standing in the crowds of people...so cool!!
This looks like so much fun! I love the trivia about the balloon holders matching, never knew that!
How fun!
I always assumed that going to the parade in person would be a big pain. BUT with VIP passes, it would be a blast. I am so glad you had such a fantastic vaction. You deserved one.
P.S. I love the Care Bear's puzzle too. I am glad your girls finally gave it the recognition it deserves.
What a fun vacation! SO much better than watching the parade on TV.
OK- so you have never seen an episode of "Spongebob"???? What in the heck! The fact that you would state that on your blog just blows me away! That is one of oour favorite family shows to watch together! We luagh so hard.
Also, the girl you called "the chick from School of Rock" is Miranda Cosgrove who has her own show called "icarly" on Nickelodeon. She also sings. Just an FYI that she did "school of rock" a long time ago and sincce has had 2 of her own shows and is pretty popular now with little kids and tweens. Did you see David Archuletta? It looks like you guys had fun!
Those pictures look familiar! I am glad you guys had such great seats. We drove upstate this year and drove by them getting the floats ready. I LOVE thanksgiving in NYC!! Next time you come let us know and we can get together.
Wow, you got some great pictures. We have been twice and both times it was bad weather and we didn't have a good place to see it. I'm glad you got such a great place to see it and that the weather looked great.
Bye the way, I kept meaning to answer your question about the foreign service. Kelly works for the state department now as a foreign service officer which means he will be working in embassies and consulates all over the world. He is a political officer so he will be working with political leaders of other countries. I'm not sure exactly what he will be doing, but we are really excited and nervous to find out where we are going. Each tour is 2-3 years long. then you come back to DC for a while and then back to another country.
how fun! i've always dreamed of seeing the parade in person. thanks for living the dream for me! :)
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