Thanksgiving 2012

I have always wanted to see the Macy's Day Parade. I have also always wanted to take the kids to Santaland while they were both old and young enough to enjoy it and still believe. I realized last fall Reagan might be getting to the age where we didn't have too many years left that I could count on her believing. So since we already had a trip planned to DC the week after Thanksgiving (due to Tim's work) we decided to add a few days to the beginning of our trip and begin in NYC. Grammy and Grand-Dad decided to join us which made the trip even more fun! We all arrived in New York the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and started the festivities by heading down to Central Park to see the balloons close up.

 It was a madhouse by the balloons! We had heard it was a good opportunity to see the balloons but I think we all decided it was too crazy and many of the balloons are face down under the netting and difficult to see. Hello Kitty was one of the new balloons for 2012 and one of the easier ones to see. 

 Thursday morning we found a good spot on the parade route not far from the hotel to see the parade. Here are Grammy and Jackson waiting for the parade to begin. 

 

The Thanksgiving Turkey!

 Here are a couple of our favorite balloons as well as some excited parade watchers :)

 

 The kids discovered the Sprout channel last fall. For a couple of months leading up to Thanksgiving Sprout advertised that they would have a float in the parade. So seeing Chicka in this float was a very much anticipated event on our trip.

 The end of the parade and the even more anticipated big man himself!

 After the parade we found a wonderful restaurant around the corner from our hotel that was serving Thanksgiving dinner. It was excellent and the company was even better!

 The kids love to "Cheers!"

In the evening we ventured out to Times Square. The kids had a great time riding the subway system.  

 We got to Toys 'R Us just in time to ride the indoor Ferris Wheel before it closed. Grammy and Kennedy road on the Potato Head cart and the rest of us road Scooby Doo (with Jackson screaming most all the way). 

Thank you to Grammy and Grand-Dad for coming along and sharing our New York City/Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade experience!