We scored some last minute free tickets to the Rose Parade, so we actually saw it live this year! After going almost every year growing up, I haven’t been to a Rose Parade in ages and the boys have never been so it was high time we took them. The seats we got were great — right on Orange Grove before the turn onto Colorado. I’ve never been so close to the beginning of the parade — where all the participants are super enthusiastic and energetic. And because the TV cameras are there, everything happened right in front of us — the military reunion, the wedding, Mater jump-starting the Cars Land float.
The only drawback was the ungodly hour we had to get up and get out of the house in order to be on time. But our earliness paid off with a great parking spot a few blocks from the route which afforded us a pretty easy time getting in and out.
It was also pretty chilly (for Southern California) so we decided to bring some hot chocolate for the boys. We couldn’t find a thermos, so Bruce fashioned a MacGyver version from some fleece pants and rubber bands. It worked!
Before we went to our seats, we took a walk down Orange Grove to get an up close look at the first floats. The boys were actually quite taken with all the flowers.
Finally we went up to our seats in the bleachers and waited for the parade to begin.
Here are a few of our favorite floats.
Rocket blast:
Volcano (with real fire!):
The Cat in the Hat:
The HGTV float with real live penguins (they’re to the right of the castle):
Another penguin-themed float resembling the game Learn to Fly that the boys play:
And the flyover by the B2 Stealth Bomber was also quite impressive.
Not to mention the surprise reunion of a military family. Not a dry eye in the place.
We even got a little sun to warm us up.
Ezra said it was “awesome” and even Finn came around to love it after his initial assessment that it was boring. Finn liked the bands the best. Of course, now we’ve probably ruined them with such good seats. Next year, we’ll have to take them down to the end of the route where all the floats are being towed and the bands and wavers are all exhausted!
Happy New Year!
I think the thermos may be my favorite part of this story. Second would be how Ezra has now entered the stage of making the most crazy eye faces at inappropriate picture taking time. But how cool that this would be the year that you have such great seats when there are so many penguins. I loved the one with the two big red parrots. I even got up to look for you in the crowd but with such a sea of green, couldn’t pick you out. Happy New Year. Every year seems to get better. Hope it is a great year for you, the boys and Bruce. Love Jamma