The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Every year I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV and the last few years have enjoyed trying to get my kids addicted to it as well.  So there was no way I wasn't going when we live in NYC.  Adam and Crystal and kids spent the long weekend with us and they were up for trying to go.  So, we woke at 5:30 am, Rodney went to the hospital to round while we got the kids upright and dressed.  Crystal and I had gone to the store the night before and bought donuts, juice and snacks to bribe them with.  We promised them breakfast just as soon as we made it to the parade.  We arrived in our seats at 7 am...would have been sooner but lots of streets were closed so we had to do a couple of detours.  Believe it or not, being two hours early wasn't early enough to get a front row seat.  But we were close so we set up camp and had our breakfast.

We had two strollers which was useful to kind of block off our area and also we packed TONS of stuff to keep the kids happy.  I didn't want us to have to leave early!
Here is our little bear all bundled up.

 Blair was very helpful and fed Avery part of her bottle before the parade.

 Blake and Reid entertained themselves by hiding under all the blankets.  Right before the parade started we took shifts and took all the kids to the bathroom one more time.  It was just in time too because the sidewalks started to fill in and there wasn't a lot of walking space.

 Excited because it is almost starting time!

When the parade started everyone stood and filled in and there was no where to go.  Anyone who was a flight risk had to be held.  I wore Avery in the front pack.
Carly sat on Rodney's shoulders.

Blair got held between her Mom and Dad.

The big kids got a front row seat so I have no pictures of them.  We could only see the backs of their heads.  Some nice people in front of us made sure that all the kids were able to have a good view.

They all had favorite floats.  The balloons were the most amazing to me.  They look so huge on TV and it was so strange to be standing underneath them as they fly over.  These are just a few of the pictures I took because Carly had me snapping one of everything.
As they parade ended, we hung back to pack our things and then start the long walk home.  We really thought the kids would be exhausted but they had a burst of energy and seemed to run most of the way home.

Our group after the parade.

Walking through the park home.

 We stopped for hotdogs and pretzels to keep them energized.

 These two are great buddies and pretty much stick together ALL the time.

We thought everyone would take naps when we got home....not so much.  This little snack gave them all a second wind.  We skipped a traditional thanksgiving feast and instead had lasagna and chicken spaghetti.  Their visit in NYC was just beginning we still had a lot to see!