Millard Days Parade 2011

We hit the Millard Day Parade again this year. We were a bit late because we had soccer, but the kids were more into getting the candy this year than the years past. The problem was that it was so hot the tootsie rolls were melting so they couldn't sneak a piece. Bryson was sacked out through the whole process, which amazes me the most when the marching bands come through!

Millard Day Parade

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We hit the Millard Day Parade again this year and Mason didn't need any instructions on picking up the candy. He did however stop going after it once he obtained a piece he felt was worth stopping for. He loves Tootsie Rolls, Little Dum Dums, and Twizlers. It was the same as last year except no one cried at clowns or loud bands, or cars. Ellery even enjoyed collecting candy and placing it in the sack. I think my goal next year is for them to obtain enough that I don't have to buy Halloween candy. We did get a hoot out of the Shriner's this year. I was fascinated by their tassels on their heads and I wonder why some tassels are longer than others and if it has any meaning. I still need to look that up. I also got a chuckle out of the tow truck named "Little Hooker". Is that really kid friendly? Something did put me over the edge and just didn't settle quite right. As they go by in the hearse with loud music playing Elvira, which gave me a short visual of them twirling the tassels, but it was short lived when I read what was written on the hearse. I leave you with a visual from the Shriner's along with a quote from them. "A Child's Smile Makes It All Worth While"

St. Patricks Day Parade

We loaded the kids up and went downtown to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. No coloring the river green here like they do in Chicago, but it was an enjoyable parade. For a short time we thought it was a political parade. Almost every candidate was giving out stickers and kids love stickers. Especially Mason, he now likes to slap them on his back. I think it comes from the daycare center at the gym, they print the kids name off and place the sticker on their backs. As you can see he had a great time collecting the stickers and would give it immediately to either Rob or me to place on his coat. It was cute Mr. Hal Daub came over and shook Mason's hand. We also might end up in some sort of publication. A journalist walking by saw Mason's coat and asked us a few questions regarding Mason's attire. Stardom seems to run in the family these days. I should have taken a picture of Mason drooling over the drummers in the high school bands along with the drummers for the over the hill drill team. He was captivated. He was also captivated by the blue sucker he scored at the start of the parade. I think it took him 15 minutes to realize if he place this sucker in his bag he could collect more. I should have a taken video of him. Candy is being thrown right in front of him and he just stood their admiring it and watching all the other kids pick it up because he was satisfied holding his prized blue sucker. We did finally convince him to put the sucker in his bag and go for more, but he did impress us and pull the blue sucker back out of the bad when we were trucking back to the car and request to eat it. We were also impressed that he shook hands with clowns along with a cougar high school mascot. He is starting to come out of his shell a bit.

Millard Day Parade

We took Mason to his first parade experience this weekend. At first he wasn't so sure about everything that was going on and wanted to be held the whole time. He is our reserve child but once he warms up to the idea watch out.
We met some family at the parade and after watching Amber and Ryan pick up the thrown candy he slowly warmed up to the idea. He was completely enthralled after he got a taste of tootsie roll. He actually was more interested in trying to open every piece of candy he had already collected rather than collect more. It was his first candy experience with us and he had tootsie rolls, smarties, lollipops, and who knows what else. The moral of the story is that after his first candy experience he didn't take a nap later that afternoon. He didn't want to waste his sugar buzz on a nap. Ellery was a champ at the parade and was held by Judy and Jody the whole time. The only time she cried is when the shrine people came around driving their mini cars and honking. She is very sensitive to loud noises and large crowds of people. We could be raising another reserved child.