White Bear Ave parade...

Jackson had curb-side seating for this year's White Bear Avenue parade. He mostly enjoyed the clowns and the marching bands. He covered his ears when the fire sirens roared by and was thrilled about the dum-dums suckers handed out.

A Day in May...

On Sunday we attempted to take in the May Day parade in South Minne. Well, it didn't quite go according to plan. We started with a front row seat, a blanket on the curb. However "Minnesota Nice" is actually a myth. There was nothing nice about the three rows of people that crowded in front of us, blocking our view as the parade began. Feeling that I couldn't stand for an hour or more and Jackson could not sit a top Dad's shoulders for this amount of time, we headed off in search of a different kind of entertainment. It was such a beautiful day that strolling around Powderhorn Park eating hot dogs, baklava and snow cones was incredibly enjoyable.

Our prime parade watching locale before the many "nice" people stood right in front of us blocking our view.

Decorated boats for the festival.


Enjoying our lime snow cone treat.

I love a parade...

We had a great time at this year's Grand Old Day celebration. We got there much earlier than I ever have in years past. This year it was about seeing the parade with Jackson, instead of hanging out in the beer gardens listening to local musicians like Tim Mahoney, Martin Zeller, GB Leighton and Dazy Head Mazy. It was a nice change of pace and an event we enjoyed as a family. Jackson had so much fun watching the parade march before his eyes, he danced along with all the music and clapped with the marching bands. We'll be looking for more parades this summer, since he seemed to enjoy himself so much. This is a photo of me and Jackson watching bouncing team (always one of my favorites in the line-up).