Parades are fun, right? Who wouldn't want to be in a fun, short, (only half a mile)hot, kids parade in Salt Lake City? So the kids and I set off on Saturday morning to be in this little parade in the heart of downtown. We were supposed to be there no later than 9am. Unusually punctual, we arrived at 8:40, and proceeded to find the rest of our stake, near the end of the line (number 56 out of 58 entrants). Waiting patiently for 20 minutes, Ethan finally got bored and wandered off while Mom was handing out official neckerchiefs to the participating adults. Panicked, I ran all the way to the information booth, thinking 'how am I going to find him? Every kid here is wearing the same thing!' (blue jeans and a white t-shirt) Fortunately, Ethan is not shy and told everyone his name was Ethan Michael Bonner, so when I said I couldn't find my son, the girl in the information booth said, "Ethan, right?" PHEW!! So Ethan and I headed back to wait in line again for another 2 hours. Don't worry, it wasn't hot. Oh, wait. Yes it was.
Finally, it was our turn to start walking the parade route. Ethan, tired from his traumatic ordeal (see above), begged me to carry him, so he got to ride on my shoulders. Good thing it was only a half mile long. The girls walked with their friends,(Brynn and Kenzie Stokes in picture above) and helped carry our ward's banner. So we walked the parade, and at the end, they had a fun festival, full of bouncy slides and bounce houses. We didn't go. The kids were disappointed, but to make it up to them, I took them for hot fudge sundaes at Leatherby's, so all in all, it worked out for all of us.
