Lights Festival Parade

Tonight Ryan and I decided to brave the cold and take the kids to the Lights Festival parade
on Michigan Avenue.  It was freezing out, but we bundled ourselves up and made the trek
downtown.  We made it there about an hour and a half before the parade started.
We parked the car and walked over to Michigan Ave to see if people
were already saving spots for the parade.

 Sure enough, people had already started lining the streets.
We found a spot and attempted to stay warm despite the ridiculously cold wind.

It was brutal, but the kids did really well and were super excited once the parade
started and they saw Mickey and Minnie Mouse leading the way.
Joe was convinced Minnie waved right to him.

This was the boys first time seeing giant balloons at a parade, but because of the high winds they had to keep them low to the ground.  Still pretty cool though.

 We also got to see Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Goofy, Chip and Dale.
The boys loved seeing all the Disney characters.

 And no Christmas parade would be complete without a visit from the big man himself.

We were definitely blocks of ice by the time we got to the car,
but the boys had fun and really that makes it all worth it.
It was a great way to start the holiday season.