Clovis Electric Christmas Parade

We had a busy Saturday last weekend with the race in the morning, a Christmas boutique to visit at my school, and the Electric Parade that night. The parade was sooooooo cold. We managed to stay for the entire thing, but man it was chilly!


Evan trying to stay warm before the parade starts. We have to get there early to get a seat along the parade route, but that means sitting in the cold for over a 1/2 hour. Eric went to the liquor store to buy hot chocolate. Next year I am going to get smart and bring hot cocoa and snacks.


Hudson trying to stay warm.


Finally, the parade has started! It is really pretty watching all the floats go by brightly decorated with lights and sparkles.


Eric and I both love the cold weather, but it was a little uncomfortable for even us! As Eric so eloquently put it on Facebook, "I am freezing my ornaments off!" Funny guy.


Mommy and Hudson. I was worried about his little body given the chilly conditions, so I ended up wrapping him up on my lap.


Then he switched to Daddy's lap.


The parade is just about over. Time to get warm!

We ended up at Carl's Jr. for dinner after the parade, but I'll share those photos in another post.

I love living in Clovis, because it reminds me a lot of Chowchilla, even if it is much larger. Clovis has this hometown feel that is refreshing in big cities. This is a tradition I hope we stick with for a long time.

Go to Bed!

See this face? This is the face of a child who refuses to go to sleep. He used to be such an easy baby to put to bed. Not so much any more.

This is the face of a two-year-old who will sneak out of his bed and sit in a dark playroom quietly playing with toys at 10 p.m. Will he do that during the daylight hours? Heck no.

This is the face of the little man that I love with all my heart. However, I want this little face to go to sleep. He got put into his crib for the night.

I don't know if he is going through a growth spurt, a crabby pants spurt or a resisting the crib spurt. I just don't know.

I do know that he sleeps very well at 7 a.m. when I need him to get up so we can go to school. But he's not sleeping so well at 8 p.m. when it's time for night-night.

As with all these lovely quirks that my children go through, this too shall pass.

Mom, pick your photo

Mom, which one do you like?


#1


#2


#3


#4

Socks

Lately I have been liking knee high socks. It takes me back to elementary school when I'd wear them or roll them down my legs to my ankles. (My mother hated it when I did that!)

When I was in San Francisco on a school field trip, I went into a store that sold nothing but socks! What a fantastic store! I bought some knee high pink flowery socks. I love them!

The other day here in town, Evan and I had to buy him some shoelaces. I decided to pick up some more socks for me. Here is one of the pairs I bought. I really like them. They make me feel like a Christmas elf with the stripes. They also keep me warm.

Reindeer

Hudson decided he didn't want to go to sleep tonight. I let him come out into the living room for a bit to have some quality alone time with just Mom and Dad with no big brother around.

Silly boy started acting like a goof wearing my reindeer headband. What a face on this child!


Oh Hudson, you are going to break hearts some day.

It was actually nice spending time with just the little guy without the big one vying for attention as well. I think Hudson needs that every once in a while. I'll share more of the pics we took tonight some other time.

Race Videos

Me racing to the finish line. (It takes about 26 seconds into the video before you see me in the gray pants and light blue shirt and vest.) I am still pretty excited about my time.


Evan races and finishes in first place! I was so excited for him! You see the back of my head and my blue gloves as I cheer and scream for my little star.


You will see Evan get called up to get his award about 25 seconds into the video. We have his award hanging from the Christmas tree!

Off to search for my next race to enter. There is something so exciting about crossing that finish line with bunches of people screaming, yelling, and encouraging you! Great motivation to keep this up!

Winner!

Evan won first place in his age division for the 1/4 mile run at the Pelco Toys for Tots Fun Run! Woo Hoo! He was AWESOME!

Considering I'll probably never win an age group medal, I am living vicariously through Evan and his first place bling! What fun!

I ran a 5K and shaved four minutes off my first race time. According to my new satellite watch, my time was 35:16 and 11:33/mile pace. I was pretty pleased. I was just happy to beat the Explorer Kids chanting the whole way!