St. Patrick's Day Parade

Last Saturday, we ventured downtown for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. It's a big one! It lasted almost two hours!

The kids got a ton of beads, a few hats, and even some flowers from the Botanical Gardens people.

The weather was amazing! The kids even got a little sun on their faces.

She takes her parades very seriously. 

The kids got their faces painted... a shamrock for Kate and a green goatee for Jack Man. 

Christmas Parade

Our town does a "Down Home Christmas" early in December.  There are activities for the kids, a place to see Santa, and a parade at night.  We were already planning on going to the parade, but our neighbor asked us if the kids would want to be in the parade.  Turns out, he sits on a local board that had a float in the parade and he had asked a few of the neighborhood kids that all play together if they wanted to ride along.  Yay! They were soooooo excited!!

It was fun seeing them in the parade and they even made the newspaper!

My most favorite memory of the whole night was when Santa surprised Jack.  I'll just copy and paste what I wrote on facebook that night because it was still fresh in my mind:

Had to share this sweet memory from tonight. It will forever be in my mind, and I am sure I won't do justice to just how "magical" it really was. We were walking back from the parade and Jack and I were lagging way behind Mark and Kate because he was playing with a little flashlight he had gotten. Most everyone had already left, so the streets and sidewalks were almost empty. Jack was shining his little flashlight in all the store windows and along the brick walls as we walked, just taking his time. Santa and his crew were packing up across the street when Santa saw Jack looking in a window. This sweet Santa probably knew he could make a little boy's night, so he stopped what he was doing, crossed the street, and came up behind my little man. Jack turned around at the perfect time, and said, "Santa" in the sweetest little voice. Santa knelt down and held his hand and asked what he wanted for Christmas, asked if Jack was going to leave him milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, gave him a hug... it was perfect! And Mark and Kate turned around at just the right time to witness it all. So sweet!

These pictures are terrible quality, but all I had was my phone, and I was trying to snap as quick as I could so I wouldn't miss it. What a special memory.

Kate's Preschool Parade

Kate's preschool was in the Union Homecoming parade.  They were little dalmatians and were adorable!!

This is Kate's little preschool buddy. They are inseparable.

Kate and her SWEET teacher

Preschool has been so good for Kate and I love that she gets to do fun things like this!

Way Back in September

Boy, oh boy, have I ever fallen off the blogging wagon.  I uploaded a ton of pictures from my phone this past week.  They are mostly blurry iphone pictures, but what are ya gonna do? At least I'm taking pictures of the things we are doing, I guess. 

In catching up, let's start in September... hey, that's only two months ago! :) Jeez, WHERE did October go???

We went to Manchester Homecoming, which is a carnival thing in the town I grew up in.   They have lots of activities for the kids, live music at night, rides, games, and a parade. 

We haven't been to the parade in years, but we went this year. 

Seriously, how cute are they???

This is how Jack likes to enjoy a parade. ha!

The parade was a little political (notice the stickers that were handed out). All the local candidates were in the parade passing out stickers and pamphlets. It made for a pretty boring parade.

Later in the day, Babaloo performed. Kate had seen him a couple years ago at our local library. They had a blast being loud and crazy.

The kids also did pony rides, got their faces painted, and played in the kids area. 

We left for dinner and Jack was WORN OUT!

We went back afterwards to ride some rides and listen to the band. We ended the night with ice cream.

It was one of those days where you feel like you are on vacation... so much fun!

Memorial Day Parade

When we move away from Union (still kind of debating putting our house on the market), I will miss this Memorial Day parade.  It's been a tradition for us since we moved here. 

This year was really hot, but still lots of fun.

I love a little hometown parade!

Memorial Day Parade 2010

We've been watching the Memorial Day parade from our friends' house for the past four years. They are moving to a new house in Union next week, so next year, we'll have to scope out a place on the sidewalk like the rest of 'em. Or make friends with someone else on the parade route. Ha!

Here's Kate before we left for the parade. Doesn't she look so grown up??

Waiting for the parade to start