Holiday Parade

What a busy weekend! The Holiday Stroll Saturday night was fun, and yesterday we went to see the Holiday Parade in our town of Salem. One of the few things that Salem does. For such a big town, we have little in the way of things to do or events that involve the town. But the parade is a tradition. For the past few years, we've taken my niece Laura along with us. It's always more fun to go to something like that with a kid. We got there 1/2 hour early to get a good spot, but also because the place we stand to watch is on a hill and Laura loves running...and rolling...up and down the hill. In fact, when I asked her if she remembered the parade from last year...that's what she remembered! That and the candy. The place we stand is also at the very beginning of the parade route and everyone who gives out candy has plenty. And she gets a lot. This year she was smart enough to bring a plastic bag. In the past she's had to take off her hat and use it to hold all the candy. It was the same parade we've been to every year. Marching bands, school floats, scout groups and ...because Salem is a commercial town.....floats and marchers from different commercial establishments in town. It was pretty cold and it started snowing/raining about half-way through. We took Laura home afterwards and gave her some hot cocoa and let her rifle through Hubby's coin collection and shell collection. When we took Laura home we stayed at brother John's house to watch the Patriot's game. Those lousy bums!! But my brother made a delicious dinner and we had a nice visit....despite the score of the game! This week is crazy-busy. But this weekend Hubby and I will be going away together .....just the two of us. Just what we need to relax before it gets even more crazy during this holiday season.