We have been invaded....

by pirates and BEADS!!!!! Everywhere you looked there were pirates and beads, beads, BEADS! I had never been to a parade before where they threw beads out to the crowd instead of candy- that was until I moved to Florida. Here, the bead throwing is an everyday occurrence at a parade. The louder you scream to the floats, the more beaded necklaces they throw to you. It's crazy!
Now normally I try to avoid any parades and festivals here. There is just so much traffic that it just isn't worth the hassle, but today was different. I had to go. I needed to go. My oldest son, DJ, was marching in the parade with the school's band. So, Nathan and I applied our suntan lotion, grabbed our sunglasses and camera and headed off to the parade route to see if we could get a good spot. I had planned on taking pictures of DJ in his band uniform to send up to family in WI, but as luck would have it he was on the opposite side of the street we were and they marched by us way too fast for me to snap a picture of him. (I did manage to get the girl in front of him and the row behind him) So here are some pictures of today's festivities. Enjoy!
This is one of the pirate ships that invaded us today and threw beads. Nathan and I both came home with so many beads around that our necks hurt!

This is a picture of a blue train that Nathan thought looked like Thomas the Tank Engine.

This float would have been DJ's favorite one since it had a dragon on it. The entire float was very cool. It was in the shape of a castle with the dragon sticking his head out. Further back on the float you could see his body and tail.

This picture needs no introduction. Who would not recognize Ronald McDonald in his fancy car?

This was the HUGE balloon that almost took out Nathan and I. A gust of wind started blowing and the whole balloon tipped head first into the crowd right where we were standing. It was obvious we did not have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade handlers here!

I hope you found something fun to do today (even if it didn't involve stamping!).

Happy Stamping~