The Kiddie Day Parade!

On Saturday morning, Cartersville held its annual Kiddie Day Parade.  Katie Anne rode in the parade last year with my parents (Saunders and I were in Arizona that weekend) and had a great time, so we wanted to take her back this year.  Most kids wear their Halloween costumes in the parade, and there's a costume contest.  I was hoping to enter her in with her Snow White costume.  However, after the days and days of torrential rain we've had around here lately, I decided not to risk it.  Instead, she wore one of her UGA cheerleading costumes, and Saunders and I wore our UGA shirts, too.  We decorated my parents' wagon with red and black blankets and pillows, and all her "Georgia friends" - as Katie Anne calls them - rode with her ... Uga, Hairy Dawg, and two cheerleader "Dolly Girls".

We got in line for the parade at about 9:15, and we had to wait until the 10:00 am starting time.  For that whole 45 minutes, the sky looked dreary and gray, and the wind was whipping up.  We knew it was just a matter of time before the bottom dropped out!  Also during the waiting time, I should note for posterity's sake, Katie Anne sat quietly in the wagon and played alone with her Georgia friends for the entire 45 minutes.  She never asked to get out or really made a sound... just played with Uga and Hairy Dawg or made the dolly girls dance around the wagon and sing Georgia cheers.  We talked to her and played with her and her dollies a bit, but really she just quietly entertained herself during the waiting time.  We had several sets of total stranger parents come up to us and ask us how old she was - and when they heard she was the same age as their kids, who were running around like goofballs through the crowd - how we got her to sit and just play quietly like that for so long.  Maybe we don't give her enough credit for her good behavior!

Thank goodness that I didn't send that satin Snow White confection out on the road in a wagon... because we were drenched!  After we started walking, it started sprinkling.  By the time we'd walked about a quarter mile down the road, it just started pouring.  We saw my parents waiting under an awning at Write on Main, so we pulled over and waited with them.  Virtually all the marchers stopped walking and pulled under cover.  We felt terrible for those kids and families who had worked so hard on their costumes and rides... there were three little pigs with elaborate houses, a firetruck and cute little firegirl, and lots more of detailed sets and costumes that were ruined in the rain.

Katie Anne said she did not have any fun - but she did want to redo the Kiddie Parade the next day!  I think she did have fun, but it is hard to realize it when you're riding home soaking wet.  Regardless of the soaking, we did get lots of cute pictures and have a family morning outing.  Here's a Smilebox of the morning's adventures.

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Hopefully, we'll have some drier weather for a Kiddie Day Parade next year!