City Sidewalks 2014

Things that occur annually make me happy and sad and sometimes a little nervous.   That sounds of neither here not there, but man is a complex creature.  And maybe woman is even more complex. 😜
/end self reflection

 I knew that the downtown Christmas Parade was coming up and so the little boy and I looked up the previous years' parades on the blog to er, refresh "our" memories as to what to expect.  The little boy remembered bits and pieces of stuff, but then again, he is only 5.  He can already remember way more memories that I believe I might have been able to, at that age.

 

ANYWAYS, we had intended to be downtown for all the pre-parade activities, like the bell ringers and choirs and the whathaveyous.  However, at the last minute, we couldn't find the car keys because apparently, one of the cats had decided that they were cat toys and had absconded with them.

 

Long story short, we got there with just a little bit of time left, just enough to catch the community orchestra doing several renditions of Christmas carols and songs.

 

 We had arranged to meet Walter there, and it was great to have him with us.  The hubs and him have a similar appreciation of technology and movies and all the sausage-making that comes with making movies, so they are never at a loss for topics.

 

The little boy had a grand time, groovin' and movin' and shaking to "Feliz Navidad".  Who knew he had such breakdancey moves in him :)

We grabbed outselves some free popcorn from one of the downtown businesses

 

 and proceeded to find a strategic place to park ourselves to watch the parade from.

There was much regaling and singing and shouting - though I was glad there was much less honking than previous years - and we managed to catch MOST of the parade.

We then crossed the street over to the Civic Center for the Tree Lighting ceremony, which was entertaining, as usual.

 

 

  It is always interesting to watch the Glee-type kids really getting into the songs that they sing, and it is always a marvel to listen to the combined high school orchestra kids doing their thing.

The mayor was there with his family to officiate the whole thing, and we all sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas" after the tree was lighted.  The little boy enjoyed that for sure.

 

We didn't want to be caught up in the traffic rush once the ceremony was over, so we went into the auditorium for cookies and soda 

 

and watch little cheerleaders perform their crazy feats.

 

 

 Till next year, Christmas Parade, when I will once again welcome you with much nostalgia.