Clowns, floats, and road apples! Oh My!

A few weeks ago at Back-to-School Night it was announced the Preschool would be marching in a local parade. I had never actually been in a parade and thought it sounded like it would be a fun experience...Oh have my perceptions changed!

We talked about the parade over the weeks leading up to it. Wacky Zacky was excited about it and thrilled to know he would be riding in a wagon. Zany Janie wasn't sure what she was getting herself into, but was up for the experience.

The day of the parade finally arrived and somehow my map reading skills went out the window because I thought the parade route was 3 city blocks long. I'm not sure what I was thinking...Due to all the road closures we parked at the first place we came to. We began our brisk hike to the meet up location. We were directed to be there at 9:30 AM sharp and after a few blocks began to hustle because it was quickly approaching 9:30. Papa Z pulled Wacky Zacky in the wagon while I held my pregnant belly with one hand and pushed Zany Janie's stroller with the other hand. I'm sure we were a spectacle as we wove in and out of crowds, floats, and moving vendors selling giant balloons.

We finally found our group which was #66 out of 72 participants in the parade. It was a little chaotic to say the least. There were kids running around everywhere, horses racing about, dust flying, the sun beating down, several bands practicing, cheerleaders shouting cheers, and sirens blaring. It was enough to push anyone over the edge. So we stood and waited in all the chaos for the parade to start at 10:00 AM.

Despite all the chaos Wacky Zacky was feeling giddy and was raring to go. Unlike him, I was on the brink of going crazy and was feeling sick from racing to our meet up spot with my bowling ball of a belly bouncing about!

So we waited...And we waited...And we waited...And we waited some more!

To try to pass the time we checked out a fire engine close by that constantly played organ music and blared its sirens.

We watched Ronald McDonald make his rounds to talk to all the kids. Our kids appropriately kept there distance from him...You have to admit, he is a bit on the creepy side.

And we practiced the all important parade wave which Wacky Zacky and Zany Janie had mastered.

Finally 10:00 AM came and went and there was no movement from the parade. Then 10:20 AM came and went...Still no movement. Finally around 10:30 we were instructed to line up. Yay some movement! Oh, no actual forward movement though. Then 10:45 AM came and went. Finally around 11:15 AM we started walking! It was at a sails pace, but we were moving!

It seemed like a fun idea to have the Equestrian Team directly in front of us so the kids could watch the horses run, spin in circles, and do other tricks, until we started dodging massive piles of horse poop (AKA road apples)! I'm guessing these horses had not pooped in a few days because there were no less than 50 + piles of road apples to dodge while pulling wagons and pushing strollers.

Within 15 minutes of moving Wacky Zacky fell asleep while sitting in the wagon. His little body kept swaying back and forth and I was afraid he was going to tip out of the wagon and get road rash.

After walking for what seemed like a mile, Papa Z asked what I was thinking telling him the parade route was only 3 blocks long. Um, as noted before I'm not sure what I was thinking, I think I'll blame this one on my pregnancy brain.

After well over 1 1/2 miles this picture indicates how much fun the Zany crew was having:

Wacky Zacky was snoring and Zany Janie was ready to bite off any one's head that approached her. She did not offer her parade wave to anyone and instead glared at people we passed who looked her way. Fortunately you couldn't see my face in this picture because I was snarling right there with her.

After what seemed like hours, the parade route finally ended and we got to hoof it over a mile back to the car. I was worried I wasn't going to make it. I thought Papa Z was going to have to pull me in the wagon back to the car!

I must admit the perceptions I had of what it would be like to be in a parade were shattered that day!

Zany thought of the day: Being in a parade and watching a parade are two completely different experiences! Now that I've experienced both I think I'll choose to watch next time!