christmas parade fun

I think this was Dennis' first ever parade experience and I'm so glad that we got out to go see it even though I've still got this yucky cold. We bundled up so well that I never got cold and Dennis kept yanking his hat off. Before it started, we walked through town and looked at the lights and town tree and had some hot apple cider and snacks from local businesses. Then we stopped by to see Gran and Pop (who live downtown) and Dennis said "Don't you want to come with me to see the parade?" without any prompting from us. Pop initially said no because it's so cold tonight, but when he picked up Dennis and Dennis gave him Full Cute and said "Will you come with me, Pop?", he bundled up and joined us. We had so much fun together! The Clanton Christmas parade is not a huge deal (though it was very long), but it's special to us because 17 years ago, David and I shared our first kiss at the Clanton Christmas parade. It's official. We've been together for half my life. It was nice to share it with Dennis, who was very excited about the marching bands and the horses and all the lights and floats. He liked the manger scene float and also liked seeing fire trucks from every department in the county (There had to be at least 12 fire trucks there, maybe more). He saw boy scouts and pint-sized baton twirlers (and good Lord there are lots of those here in this southern town, three different schools' worth). And he saw Santa Claus who paused and waved to him especially and tossed him some treats. He got more candy tonight than he did at Halloween. He saw the Whataburger mascot, Whataguy, who was 'driving' an orange-nosed reindeer. They were handing out coupons to Whataburger and we like to eat there, so when Dennis suggested we go there afterward to eat, we happily agreed. Imagine his delight when Whataguy came in after the parade. He sat and had a long conversation with Dennis and Dennis told him about the parade and to have a Merry Christmas. They posed for a photo and hugged, and then, to complete the Evening of Toddler Fun, we took him to the Dollar Tree. He chose a Mickey Mouse figurine and we managed to get some stocking stuffers that he never saw. I'd say his first parade outing was a clear success.