We arrived late Tuesday night because there was a snow storm on Wednesday, and we wanted to beat it.  That gave us an extra day on Wednesday, so Jimmy and I took advantage of it by leaving O with the grandparents/aunt and going shopping in a nearby town.  It was a fun little date... something I wouldn't have thought twice about before O was born, but now that he's here I relish the moments Jimmy and I can be alone and focus on each other.

Thursday morning we got up and watched the parade as a family (that's the picture of the three of us in the above collage). When I was young I remember watching the parade with my parents every Thanksgiving and how excited my dad got.  He made a huge deal about it because Santa closed the parade, so the entire parade he would shout things like, "the big man is circling the neighborhood!"  My brother and I would run around squealing and waiting for Santa to make his big debut.  By the time he finally appeared, by dad would have us so riled up we'd be about to pee in our pants.  I attempted the same thing with Oliver, but he was more interested in chewing on things and jumping in his jumpie.  He finally wore himself out and had to go down for a nap before the big man made his appearance. Maybe next year.