Emma's first Thanksgiving Day Parade experience came back in 2007, when she was only about 2 months old. She may not remember that parade (she slept through most of it.) Luke is already a veteran of four Thanksgiving Day parades. I'm sure we have many more to come.
Admittedly, Thanksgiving would be much more relaxing if Greg, Luke and Emma stayed home and watched the parade, and "Mommy," on television. But it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. We typically spend the night in a Center City hotel, which means we all get very little sleep. This year we checked in early, shortly after six. But Luke and Emma had to spend a good two hours running around the room, opening closets, investigating the bathroom and jumping on beds. I set my alarm at 5:30 (VERY early for someone used to sleeping in past 9,) but the cries of one of my sleeping children woke me up at 3:30 and that was it. Nothing like four hours of sleep before a parade broadcast!
We get room service, I head to the makeup RV, and my family heads to a "character breakfast" to meet the "stars" of the parade. Emma still beams when she talks about how Minnie "petted" Emma's skirt (it was very soft.) Even Luke, who claims to be "too cool" for some cartoon characters, seemed to get a thrill from meeting Donald Duck and Pluto.
Greg eventually brings my little ones into the broadcast booth to sit on my lap for a short segment in the parade. This year, Emma was covered in chocolate and GMA's Sam Champion volunteered to wipe her chin (go Sam, you are such a great guy!) Luke was too engrossed in the parade behind us to give the camera a glance (the novelty of being on TV is over for him.)
In a few Thanksgivings, Luke and Emma likely won't remember the early-year parades. They certainly won't recall the importance of being part of Dave Roberts' final parade. But Greg and I will always cherish those special memories and we're hoping to create many more during the Thanksgivings to come.
