We headed to the Hudsonville Christmas Parade this morning for a fun outing before I leave for Ethiopia and while Daddy was at the Michigan football game. We had never been, and we sure had a crazy, fun experience trying to go for the first time! Only living 5 minutes from our destination, we left our house around 9:40am thinking that was plenty of time to get a spot for the 10am parade. Well, the 36th Street light by Chicago Drive was backed up, so we sat there for about 4 turns of the light and then proceeded on to the church parking lot where we wanted to park. It was about 9:52am by the time we made it to 36th and New Holland...we were just ready to turn left towards the church parking lot to quick park and head to 32nd Street to watch the parade AND a big truck swings in to block us from heading down New Holland...GREAT...now what!?
I have two kids under three to quickly hurry down New Holland a half mile to see the parade...boy, did I look like a crazy mom!! We parked in a random spot around 9:55am, I hurried to get the stroller out, get both kids out, made sure I had my camera, keys and cell phone, and then instructed Kaden that he needed to RUN with Mommy to make it to the parade in time!!! About 10 strides into our "run", Kaden spotted a dog in a yard, stopped running, and started balling...and I thought, "NOOO, this is not happening now!!" After taking a quick, stern moment to calm him down and run further down the sidewalk away from the dog, I picked Kaden up thinking I could carry him, run while pushing the stroller, and make it a half mile to the parade....right...
Terrible idea...Kaden is way too heavy...so I plopped him on top of the handlebars of the stroller, holding onto him and running with Makenna strapped tightly in the stroller enjoying the ride...all while thinking, "Why didn't I take my double jogger!?" At this point, it was 10:03am and I was sure the parade had started on time and we were going to see the tail end of the parade. Again, we had never been, so I didn't know what to expect or how long the parade would last...living in Hudsonville! As we were passing the church parking lot where I wanted to park but couldn't, my sister-in-law calls (who we were meeting) and says that she sent her son to meet us and show us where they were sitting. Oh good...we could see Cam in the distance heading our way...only another half mile to go! Thankfully, around 10:08am we scurried (still with Kaden riding on top of the stroller) across 32nd Street right before the parade was going by...unbelievable!
Needless to say, we were all happy to make it to the parade on time and had a lot of fun getting candy, waving at firetrucks, and listening to the marching bands! Next year we'll make sure to leave a little earlier... :)
Cam, Kaden, and Gavin watching the start of the parade
Makenna pointing at everything going by
Kaden putting more candy into his bag!
Makenna enjoyed watching the parade from her stroller, thankfully! :) The last thing I needed after our rush to get there was to chase her all around...so Mommy was glad she cooperated.
I had to take a picture of this after our dog encounter on the way to the parade...there were tons of dogs being walked for the Bow Wow Dog Care business...and surprisingly these dogs didn't bother Kaden at all!? Nice...
Mommy & Kenna
Kaden waving at parade walkers...probably trying to get more candy! :)
Makenna learned fast on the waving part too- she knows it's cute and gets her candy too! :)
Santa made an appearance with Mrs. Claus too!
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