Parade

Today we bundled up the gang again and headed out to the Westerville Children's Christmas Parade. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and the parade route was surprisingly uncrowded. We had what I thought was an ambitious plan--we wanted to find a parade-watching spot in Olde Westerville, the quaint part of town that boasts restored brick facades, shops and restaurants. So we set out anticipating an aggravating search for parking, a long wait for lunch and more frustration in attempting to navigate two little ones through a mob of streetgoers. As it turns out, we parked right next to the restaurant, were seated immediately, had a long, relaxing lunch and then walked out the restaurant door and sat on the curb directly in front. It was a sort of "ghost town," and I'm guessing the chilly temperature kept a lot of folks indoors. No complaints here, though--it was wonderful!

Rocco elected to sleep through the entire parade, even as sirens and marching bands passed 15 feet from his head. Nico, on the other hand, did not miss a single thing. When the parade was still several blocks south of us, we walked into the street to see what was headed our way. The flashing lights of the emergency vehicles leading the procession got him pretty excited. "Firetruck! Pees car!" But when it all reached us, he was speechless. He sat and watched with quiet concentration. When we told him to wave, he remained in a trance and robotically raised his arm. When it was over, he seemed a little stunned and in disbelief that it was done. We got a few pleas for "No go home!" on the walk back to the car, but he quickly joined his brother in Slumber Town once we got going and Mark and I enjoyed the quietest part of our day!