A parade in November...seriously?

Another little perk to suffering through the inferno that is our summer: parades! In November - when much of the US is trying to stay inside - we flaunt our weather by shutting down streets and sending floats, marching bands, and groups of little kids down the middle of them to celebrate Veteran's Day.

The girls, newly enrolled in the Girl Scouts (Brownies for Clara, Daisies for Elfie), were in the parade this year, so the boys and mama camped out on the sidewalk enjoying the show.

Free flags for all:

Gratuitous palm-tree shot for the cold-weather dwellers:

Some snuggles as we waited for sisters to come by:

The troop float:

They saw us!

The downside? Candy-throwing must be no longer allowed, which really takes a lot of the fun out of spectating...a few parade folk passed out goodies, but not a single item was chucked at our unsuspecting heads.

Three Rs for Xmas

There really are advantages to having four kids so close in age...like being able to use the same holiday pajamas multiple times! I have this thing against tight-fitting and/or chemically-treated nightwear for my kiddos - which in this country means it's nearly impossible to find PJs. Once upon a time, Hanna Anderson sold "long johns" that were not only of high quality, but loose and comfortable...until the company was bought out and switched to the "don't let your kid catch fire" style. Well sneaky me...I bought Christmas stripey Hannas for the kids through the years, adding slowly to the collection thanks to ebay and thebabywearer.com sellers...low and behold, when the cold-weather bins were brought down this year, I discovered my collection included matchy stripes for all four beauties!

 

 

(next task: getting one good picture of all four kids...)