Fiesta Bowl Parade

First of all, let's celebrate that school is back in session! Cheers! Oh wait, it's a little early in the day to be doing that!

We had a fun weekend. We went to the Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix. Apparently I have been to it a couple times but I have no recollection. It must have been when I was a teenager and really didn't want to be there...

You may want to find a comfy chair for this post. It's a long one! But enjoy the parade!

So we really didn't know where we were headed to exactly when we left at 8 am. But somehow we ended up in the perfect spot more than half way down the parade route. We only had to pay $5 for parking and we only had to walk 20 feet from the van to our lawnchairs! Perfect you say? It was for about a half an hour.

Here is our space...with a couple extra chairs for space....

Here's DVB practicing his walking skills in shoes and pavement. It's way different you know?

So have you ever sat next to really annoying people like on a plane, in a restaurant, or at a parade?

We did!

Look what decided to be neighbors with us directly across the street....

Look at DJB's face, he's the smart one remember?! He's thinking, I'm getting the heck out of here!

Nice huh? These people were MAGNETS to everyone and their brothers! I mean EVERYONE stopped in their tracks to look at these things! And the keepers of these creatures LOVED the attention. It was so annoying! And it wasn't just the passers by. The poor people actually in the parade were surprised by their slimy spectators! Did I mention the biker dudes LOVED the attention? Every time a banner, carried by 2 cute little girls, walked by he'd shout, "Good job girls, great job carrying the banner." And the poor little girls would shriek in fear of the man eating/constricting snakes. Did I mention they had 5 snakes slithering all around them? Nasty! And every time a dignitary like the parade chair people or Sheriff Joe went by he'd ask, "Hey Tim or Joe (or whoever), what's your first name?" As to attract even MORE attention to themselves!

So on with the tour of the parade:

Here's a "balloon"-an Indian girl of some sorts. In the perfect spot we sat in, there happened to be electrical lines a few feet down the road. We watched all the balloon carriers carefully pull down their balloons and navigate them under the line. Carefully that is until one vehicle, I think a digital tv van, just about pulled all the lines down on top of us! His antenna or satellite receptors were too high. Yikes! That was a close one!

Here's some Dancin' Grannies. Grammy is way too young to join....

So we are semi peacefully enjoying the parade when what shows up in our space? Another man and his two kids, all with snakes wrapped around their necks! They totally took over some of our space! And get this, as poor DVB is snoozing in his stroller, the man's snake is wrapping itself around the stroller! AAAHHHHHHH! I must have missed the memo that it is no longer cool to bring your dog to parades. It's now most attractive to bring your pet snake! So Tom, our girlfriendless friend who I always tease that he needs to take Toni for walks (because she is a magnet for chicks or just people in general) while at NASCAR...Get a snake not a dog! You will attract waaaaaaay more attention with a snake wrapped around your neck!

Who's this girl you may ask? I have no flippin clue but she's in our space and she's holding on to our stroller and her pet snake is way too close to my baby! But isn't she lucky to have such a great view of the parade?

Let's get on with things, shall we?

Here's Sheriff Joe and his wife and body guards. He sure got a lot of "boo's" when he went by but as my dad pointed out, he's not well liked with the minorities in our state. I personally think he's great and I think he should make the inmates dye their hair pink to go along with their pink underwear!

No parade is complete without the Budweiser Clydesdales...

Here's a pretty Mexican girl doing a jig in front of us...

And a big balloon bottle of milk...betcha never seen one of those before!

There were quite a few bands in the parade. I think this is the Texas one...

Ok, I'll fast forward a little bit. You may be getting bored. But first let's check in on our neighbors...

Oh, yep, darn, they are still there. That's a women by the way on the right! I'm serious!

And here's the whole reason why we went to the parade to begin with: The Grand Marshall himself.....Mr. Tony Stewart!

So you think Tony is giving Grammy and LOB his undivided attention? Well, no, he's telling us to watch out for the SNAKE that is in our space! At least the body guard asked if we wanted his autograph. Being the unselfish people we are, we said we already had it!

After I got the coveted shots of Tony, I handed the camera over to LOB and here is what he took:


Some of the Wild Women of the West...

More pictures of the flippin snakes!

A lovely picture of me....

Some really weird people! I think they need to seek help...

Um, a float of some sort....

And, finally, the caboose of the parade....the Fiesta Bowl logo!

Whew, that was a long one. It was worth waiting a few days for now wasn't it? Did you enjoy the parade as much as we did? Boy, you sure are lucky you didn't have to be surrounded by snakes while you watched it!