Balloons, Balloons, Everywhere Balloons

One week, two cities, two big balloon parades.

First stop, Sunday, Stamford, Conn., for the UBS Parade Spectacular, which we attended with our friends Claire and Mike, who are Stamford residents.

The big hit of the day -- you'll never guess, no really, you won't. Gumby! Mason loved the little green clap of clay.




Thomas, predictably, was also a big hit.



Come Wednesday night, we headed to the Natural History Museum to check out the big balloon inflation for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with, oh, about a million of our closest friends.



On Thursday, we joined that million, plus about 2.5 million more to watch the parade life in midtown Manhattan. This year, we watched from 48th and Broadway. Mason's favorite part (before Santa, that is) just may have been watching the antics of the cartoon M&Ms on the big screen across the street, in front of the M&M store.

There were plenty of other cool sites to see, though.




And, as a grand finale here's the kiddo's reaction to Santa's arrival on the scene.



Mason and Dad-O posed for a little Thanksgiving portrait in the middle of Seventh Avenue, which was still shut down as the parade marched further downtown toward Macy's.



We closed out our Thanksgiving outing with some delicious turkey and all the fixin's at a restaurant and then headed home for a family nap!