Grand Old Day Parade and Festival

On June 2nd, I watched my first parade.

The parade was part of the Grand Old Day festival in Saint Paul, supposedly the biggest one-day festival in the midwest.

My dad set up a booth at the festival, so that's where I hung out to watch the parade.

Mom drove me down to the festival a little early so we could park close to where Dad had his booth. 

People started showing up not long after I got there, and by the time the parade was starting, a lot of people lined the streets.

The police and a local fire engine led the beginning of the parade.

I really liked seeing the fire engine.

And when I realized a lot of candy was being given out during the parade, I got really excited.

Suckers and Tootsie Rolls are pretty much my favorite kinds of candy right now.

A couple of bands and dance groups passed by.

Fire engines were a big thing in the parade.

I didn't mind.

I liked watching all of the different people and things passing by.

And I had a lot of fun eating candy.

Most participants in the parade were local businesses.

 But there were a couple of fun performers to watch, too.

At the end of the parade, there were some silly cars and a woman on a bicycle decorated to look like a cat.

After the parade, the street filled with people getting food, looking at art, checking out booths for local businesses, and listening to music performers along the festival route.

I chilled behind Dad's booth with a video of Thomas the Train while Mom walked around a little and found us some lunch.

After eating lunch, Mom and I headed back to the car to go home. 

 I made a quick stop at a business who had a local DJ playing music on the front lawn. 

I had to show off all of my cool dance moves to some 20-something college kids.

And no day would be complete without a few extra snaps of the flowers and plants in the yard.

It ended up being a good day.

This was especially so since it was sunny and the forecast just the day before called for rain.