Aquatennial Parade.

Last night we attended the Aquatennial Parade on Hennepin Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis. Last year was our first time attending but we've now made it a tradition.

The parade is a torchlight parade because it starts at 8:30pm and goes until 10:30pm. In order to get good spots right on Hennepin you have to get there early. I am proud to report that the kids and I were the very first people there this year. We got there about the same time as the mini-donut/cheese curd truck did, 4pm. I am guessing that others were there but they were waiting inside or in their cars...since it was RAINING!!!

(Seriously though, you try to keep three very excited children in the car when all they want to do is get out and set up our spot for the parade and play. We stayed under an awning during the rain.)

Now as you look through these pictures, pay special attention to M's shirts. How many different shirts does she wear in the course of the afternoon/evening?

We packed a cooler with our dinner and snacks and drinks. Plenty of games, chalk to draw and bubbles to blow to keep ourselves busy. We also were smart and packed our umbrellas and rain gear since we knew rain was a possibility.

Lucky for us, the rain was gone by 5pm and the rest of the evening was gorgeous. Nice warm sunset, no bugs. Perfect.

J got there about 5pm along with our friends, Jill, Paul, Ellie and Maggie.

It is a super fun parade, with lots of goodies passed out to the kids, fun floats, marching bands and characters. We love it. Since we pack most of our snacks and stuff we need, we let the kids each get one treat. It can pretty much be whatever they want but just like last year, they both chose the ice cream treats in the middle of the parade.

Surprisingly, H stayed awake the entire parade and was still up at 6am this morning. If you're thinking poor S, is that ever the truth or what.

Did you pick up on M's shirts? She wears 3 different shirts. The first shirt she came wearing she spilt bubbles on, so I gave her one of the tanks I was wearing (the white one), this one seemed to bother her so then she wanted to trade, so we ventured to the restroom and traded again, thus she wore the pinkish/purple one the rest of the time.

And here's some pictures from this morning. T and M are gone for 7 days now with their mom. M wanted me to take some pictures of dad and his "babies" and I promised her they'd go on "the blog", as she calls it.

Mark your calendars now for next years parade...we'd love to have you. July 23rd, 2008!!