Don't Rain On My Parade

And no, it wasn't a Pride Parade. This IS Palm Springs, but that happens in April.
So.
Last night we took the kids to the Palm Springs Annual Festival of Lights Parade.
 We knew it was going to be one hell of a trip, and it was.

We walked the 3 miles to downtown, with Tyler wanting to get down the whole trip. We didn't get to slap the kids down on the lap of The Big Guy (you know, good ole' Kris Kringle) like we had planned, but that was just poor timing on my part. I didn't really know it was going to take that long to get down there. I think, with the way the rest of the night went, that actually would have been too much.

We did, however, see Santa while walking up the street. He was in a golf cart in the pre-parade area we had to walk through to get to Burger King (the Burger King whose french fries later saved our asses when the parade started.) He said hi to the kids, who, strangely enough, couldn't have cared less.
The whole time, I was worried about melt-downs, mostly with Tyler, who becomes overwhelmed after a day at church.
Honestly, we didn't really have any. I know, I'm surprised as well. Just the normal kid-restlessness... "Mommy-I-want-to-get-down!" stuff.

We had a hard time getting Tyler to look at the parade itself for an extended period. Which made me really think that I'm doing the right thing when it comes to getting him checked out with this neurologist person. He didn't freak out, he just... erm... turned off. He would sit down where he couldn't see the lights anymore and fiddle with the side of the stroller or his stuffed monkey for a few minutes.
My husband would try to convince him he was missing out on some great stuff, and he was. But he wouldn't budge until he was done... well, "recharging" as I saw it. He would say, "No parade!"

My sweet, concerned hubby was worried he was "spoiling it for himself" and I just saw the way he was acting, and worried.. worried... worried. Especially since Kendyl, who is 20 months younger, was having a blast and was even pulling on the sleeve of the lady next to us, as to say, "Hey lady! Are you SEEING THIS??!!"
It was a really awesome parade.

There were floats covered in thousands of Christmas lights, glowing marching bands, even crazy giant Macys-esque balloons!
We left a bit early, Kendyl was getting wiggly and Tyler was just done, but we got to see some of the end of the parade as we walked back. It actually got better reception from both of them while we were strapped in the stroller and on the road.


People waved at the kids from giant flatbed trailers covered in lights, and we saw THE WORLD'S LARGEST FARM TRACTOR! Which is actually the aspect that tipped the scales and made us a definite positive parade RSVP.
Tyler just HAD to see the World's Largest Farm Tractor!

And he did. And he was suitably awed, it didn't matter we were pushing him away in a stroller. He liked it better that way. We were leaving, that's what he wanted, and as a plus he got to see a gigantic tractor covered in lights. What more could a boy want?
When we got home, he sat quietly in front of the TV while we got him his juice and climbed right into bed without prompting, curled up and was out. We barely had enough time to kiss his head before he pulled the covers over it.
Even Kendyl was exhausted, keyed up and wiggly, but exhausted.
It was a good day. I expected it to be stressful, and it really wasn't. Thank God, or The World's Largest Farm Tractor... your choice.