Up close and in person

Tom and I always watch the Rose Parade on January 1. I've seen it in person several times, and so has Tom, but we enjoy the stress-free environment of watching the parade from the warmth and comfort of our own home (even though the weather is always beautiful, it's also always cold to be finding a spot or a seat at 6 am before the parade starts at 8 am...never mind the drive and the traffic and finding a parking spot and walking to the event!)

This year, for the first time, we went to the viewing area to see the floats (Tom had done this 20 years ago, but I never had). We had to park a long way away and walk (all three kids on the stroller) to get there, but I was glad we found our own parking space, because when we left we saw the line for the shuttle bus at the satellite parking, and we didn't want any part of that!

We were amazed at how many people were there today! (This is only ONE side of ONE of the streets.) Were there 100,000 there? I haven't seen that many people in one place in a long time. Natalie did great at walking around, but the moment we let go of her, she walked off into the crowd. Since she can't yell, "MOM!", this is a problem that we did not allow to be repeated.
The kids in front of the Sesame Street float. Natalie loved saying hi to Big Bird, Elmo, Abby and Oscar the Grouch. Two people asked me, within two minutes of each other, what the name of the green guy in the trash can was. I guess Oscar needs a name tag!
Tom and Lukas in front of Lukas' favorite float, the invention float.
Natalie and me in front of the Ronald McDonald House float. We never used a Ronald McDonald House with Natalie's hospital stays, but I can imagine how welcome it would be if we lived a long distance from a hospital...and it was a beautiful float.
Lukas was jazzed about seeing inside the front of the alien float, and learning from the driver (on the left) how the float is steered.
We brought our own lunch and had a picnic at a table we shared with two pairs of grandmas...one pair was from Long Beach and one pair was from Nebraska. They loved talking to the kids and sharing how much fun they were having on their tours.

I can see this becoming another of our family traditions!