Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Santa Parade



Well yesterday was Sunday.  Normally for us we lounge in bed, watching Spongebob Squarepants and drinking tea but today my Husband (the wonderful one) had booked tickets to the new James Bond movie 'Skyfall".  We of course had to catch a ferry to town to see it (those of you who don't remember the story - we live 35 minutes from town by boat so everything has to be planned in advance).  Today was no different as we ate breakfast (cooked by my DH ) and ran to catch the 11:00 boat.

As  husband pointed out the next two boats would be packed to the teeth with families lurching in to town to watch the city's annual 'Santa Parade' and were to be avoided at all cost.

We got into town about 11:30 and wandered up the main street watching as clusters of families started to congregate and settle in the street equipped with deck chairs and plastic inflatable hammers  waiting to see the Big red Guy and the floats drift by.

We walked into one of the town's new trendy restaurants 'The Depot" - where I enjoyed a scrumptious white bait fritter, petite bread roll and a glass of Bolinger Champagne before leaving to see our children in their nearby 9th floor apartment.

We just managed to get across the street, already closed off by the council and littered with people riding unicycles and stilts and enormous 'Buzzy Bees'.  The noise was amazing.  The kids were surprised to see us as we hadn't told them we were in town and it was nice to catch up.
Looking out the window of our children's  apartment,  we had the best view, looking down at the floats all preparing to get going on the parade. It was one of those magical days where it  makes you feel happy to be out and about and caught up in all the excitement.

Christmas seems to be not far away when the Santa Parade comes to town and always great to get into the spirit of Christmas - although as usual, I am dreading the shopping.
Kiwiana float with the buzzy bee













Rachel Hunter was sitting on this float



Down below the 'Santa Parade' shifted into high gear with the usual house size inflated characters and all in all,... pretty impressive, all things being considered.
Green eggs and ham anyone?
Always great seeing the sweet, happy faces of cute children  who were really excited, laughing and glad to be out in the sunshine.

















We watched for a while before making our way down the hill to the movie theatre, where we finished the afternoon off watching James Bond kill about a million people in the most improbable but entertaining way.  If you get the chance go - it's a lot of suspended belief fun.  Home to pizza and a glass of wine - a great weekend.  Summer feels like it is just around the corner.

Wish you all, a perfect week
hugs
Carolyn

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34 comments:

  1. Oh, I love parades, unfortunality we dont have so much if Rhode in Sweden.

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  2. Hello Carolyn
    It sounds like you had a great weekend! We will have to check out the new movie too. Thank you for the comment and the well wishes. Have a great week!

    Hugs,
    Wanda

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  3. Oh my goodness...a santa parade where people wear shorts! It's snowing here.
    Jane x
    PS It seems as though everone has good things to say about the new Bond mivie.

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  4. Dearest Carolyn,
    You at first had me lost, as your husband said the Santa Parade you were to avoid at all cost. But than you showed us all the photos. Got it, you got out of the way ahead of time with your car and could reach the movie theater in walking distance. Sounds like a fun weekend with lots of action. Not your ordinary things but therefore good for the mind!
    Hugs to you,
    Mariette

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  5. Hi Carolyn,

    Sounds like a delightful outing with hubby and visiting the kids.

    I have to tell you though, just the thought of getting on a ferry makes me want to crawl in bed and not wake up. I got sick every time I ever got on one. Sometimes before it even left port. :) I decided right then that a water bed was not in my future. :) It has also cured me of ever wanting to go on a cruise, even though people tell me it is different. I am not convinced.

    I really miss the Christmas markets in Europe this time of year. Here in America, it's more about shopping. :(

    Have a beautiful and blessed week!

    xoxo

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  6. Oh what a wonderful day you had!!!! I have not been to a movie theater in 12 plus years lol so I will wait for it to come on Netflix :)

    I hope you have a wonderful week!

    Xo
    Marsha

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  7. What fun...I want to go to a Santa parade now...love the fact that you have nice weather for these..it is usually freezing cold during ours. xoxox

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  8. Carolyn,

    Such a lovely day and the parade looked like lots of fun. So glad you had a wonderful view and were able to spend time with the kids. Seattle had its annual holiday/Macy's Day parade on Friday. It was pouring rain but didn't stop anyone from attending.. so many umbrellas!

    xx
    leslie

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  9. Dear Carolyn,
    what a lovely parade! Thank you for showing all those nice photos from the parade! Glad, you all had such a lovely day!
    The figures look a bit like hopping out of a Fairy tale ..how lovely this must have been!

    But ... I missed Santa ;O)

    Have a wonderful and happy week, my dear friend,
    Love and hugs,
    Claudia

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  10. A great festival...
    Best regards from Paris,

    Pierre

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  11. That parade is great to see !!...wowwww...i always enjoy it too in Disney Paris.....always tears in my eyes when i see a parade so strange !!...lovely week darling....how was the movie??...xxx

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  12. HI CAROLYN!!!
    I Love a Parade!!!
    What a great opportunity to catch the parade and a movie!!!
    Your Sundays sound perfect!!!
    Have a great week
    hugs,
    jamie

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  13. Hi Carolyn,

    The parade looks so much fun with all the costumes and festive cheer. I love the smiling children and the inflated characters make the entire event come alive. Many thanks for sharing, wish you a wonderful day ahead :)

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  14. What fun, darling!
    Love these pics!

    xoxox,
    CC

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  15. sounds like a great weekend! I am going to see the movie soon, we had even intended to see it last week, just like you, but than it did not work out somehow!
    Blog about life and travelling
    Blog about cooking

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  16. Dear Carolyn, the parade looks fantastic, and you can imagine,that we have nothing like it here in little Denmark- WOW so many persons and money involved, I am sure, -what an experience.
    Your day sounds just wonderful, with meeting your kids, and the great movie ---enjoying the pizza and wine at home, after hours of joy and festivities.
    Hugs,Dorthe

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  17. OH CAROLYN, this reminds me of the MACY'S DAY THANKSGIVING PARADE in New York City. In many other towns and cities, our Christmas parades are just gorgeous and it is always a lovely sight to behold!

    It sounds like you had a fantastic weekend! Anita

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  18. Beautiful parade and thanks for posting all the gorgeous photographs...........Love and hugs and smiles across the miles.
    Love Jeanne

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  19. Sadly we don´t have parades over here. Would have loved to see one.
    Already seen Skyfall. It´s super awesome <3
    xo

    glamDevils

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  20. Christmas in summer....sounds like fun!

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  21. wow that looks like a fabulous parade!!

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  22. Carolyn,
    What a wonderful parade. I love Dr. Seuss, he's a favorite of mine!! It sounds like you had such a fun day. I used to watch James Bond movies when me and my husband were young and dating. I will have to tell him about this one. Loved your post today, Carolyn. It was fun, cheerful, and a breath of fresh air.
    ~Sheri at Red Rose Alley

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  23. For me it´s a bit different to see
    christmas parade in sun and heat, but it was lovely figures. I want to see Skyfall soon to.
    Hugs
    AnnaMaria

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  24. The lads here went to watch the new Bond movie and loved it, I stayed home and whippet-sat.

    Looks like a fun parade :)

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  25. That sounds like a perfect Sunday. Thank you very sharing your pictures of the Santa parade it looks fantastic!
    Whitebait fritter and champagne sounds good too!
    Sarah x

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  26. I saw James on Saturday, too!
    Great generic with Adele, isn't?

    Have a lovely week!xo

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  27. Hi Carolyn,

    Definitely a fun and happy weekend! You are going into summer and we are heading into the dark and bleak days of winter.

    The new Bond film looks like, as you say, suspended belief fun. The song is great and I saw a clip of the opening which looked fantastic.

    And I think living a ferry ride away from the mainland is very romantic. :) We have a lot of ferries here and we never tire of taking a little trip to the island towns.

    hugs,

    G

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  28. Bonjour Carolyn,

    You made me homesick the minute I saw the words Santa Parade.....you can take the kiwi girl out of NZ but you cannot take the kiwi out of the NZ girl :-)

    Amicalement from a getting colder by the day! SW France,

    Leeann x

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  29. This all looks like fun Carolyn! The children must have loved it. I wish we had parades like this in Holland.

    Madelief x

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  30. What fun, A Santa Parade!! Wish they came across in my town.
    Have a great midweek dear Carolyn xx

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  31. Winter is around the corner here. Last week, I enjoyed the most wonderful, colored trees in the park, today all the leaves are on the ground. Cold wind and heavy rain, I definitely long for Spring!!
    Hugs,
    Monica xoxo

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  32. Oh this was a blast Carolyn going to the Santa Parade with you! I adored having this opportunity and this is one of the coolest things about blogging. It makes me smile!! Sending Happy Thoughts!!

    xox
    Constance

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  33. Hi Carolyn,Really a wonderful experience!Thank you for sharing it with us!I liked it a lot!Hugs!

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  34. dear carolyn,
    thnk's for the fotos.so I could get an insight, as in other countries, the advent celebrated ...
    hugs
    margit

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Carolyn xx