December 8, 2006 - Coopersville Santa Parade!
Good idea, gone Bad!

Apparently, every year they have a santa parade the first friday in December. This year it got postponed a week due to inclement weather. I really didn't really think it sounded like a whole lot of fun to go stand in the cold for a parade, but then I heard that they have FREE train rides from the school to downtown for the parade. Well, anybody who knows Nicholas would know mama would be crazy to pass up a free train ride. So....we bundled up and headed to Coopersville. We waited for the train and climbed on board for our short commute to downtown. We found a great spot right up front and then we waited. However, the wind was quite a bit colder than either Paul or I anticipated and after about 5 minutes, Paul had to move to the doorway of a nearby shop to try to keep Allison out of the cold. She didn't last in the stroller and he had her bundled up with several blankets, but she was getting fussy and Paul was getting tired because she is getting heavy. Before the parade even began, Nicholas and Gabrielle were so cold that they were asking to go home. Nicholas' hands were freezing even though he had his warm gloves on. Well, of course we were on the wrong side of the street to go back and wait on board the train, because we couldn't get past the parade. So... Paul carried Allison, Gabrielle went into the stroller and Nicholas was a true trooper as we trudged uphill about 3 or 4 blocks back to the school where the van was waiting. It was really hard for Nicholas to keep up with Papa, especially with boots on, so Paul went ahead to get Allison out of the cold and I kept going with Nicholas until we got there. Needless to say the kids were frozen and very eager to get home for hot chocolate. Good Idea----but colder than we thought. Maybe we can try again in a few years!