The joy of sharing a family first together

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and like many New Yorkers, I've always loved watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from the comfort of my living room, in PJs. Except months ago, Max and Sabrina got it into their heads that they wanted to be at the parade. I was dubious—could we? Would Max be freaked out by the crowds? Would he get tired? Would everyone get grumpy? It turned out to be a miracle on 72nd Street and Central Park West.

We got up at 5:40 a.m., arrived by 6:30 a.m. and claimed our spots in front (shout out to Krystin for the help). We were uptown, a somewhat more chill scene than the crowds at Herald Square. The local news had been filled with reports that the floats would be cancelled if wind was too wild, which hadn't happened since 1971. But it wasn't too gusty that morning and it was warm-ish for late November, so we lucked out. The parade started at 9 a.m. and we passed the time chatting with people around us, including one woman whose son had helped build some of the floats.

 Max made some new friends. He informed them he was moving to Los Angeles, although New York was "OK." They were amused. 

At last, we could see the giant turkey that kicked off the parade gliding toward us. We were all enchanted, and we stayed that way for the next couple of hours as we took in the balloons towering above us, the marching bands and the cool rolling floats—this year, there were 10 new ones, along with old faves. 

It's only right that a giant turkey kick things off. This was the 93rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Max knew that Snoopy, a parade regular since 1969, is my fave. This year, he was decked out as an astronaut. The parade was started by store employees in 1924 as a Christmas parade and changed to Thanksgiving Day in 1927. That's when balloons debuted, including a dinosaur and Felix the Cat.  

Firefighter clowns: Not scary at all. 

Poor Ronald McDonald—his knee got busted. Although the balloons were flown low, to be safe, the crosswalks were still a bit hairy for the handlers since there were no tall buildings to shield the balloons from the wind. They scrambled to keep the big guys afloat, but they did.  

When Ben got tired, we let him eat a bazillion fruit roll-ups because we are great parents.

Jimmy Fallon and The Roots: love 'em.

The Grinch looking Grinch-like. It was as if he was staring right at us. "He's BAD!" Ben announced.

The 610 Stompers from New Orleans, stole my heart. Richard Simmons, were you watching?

Sabrina and the Mt Rushmore dudes

LEGOsaurus—aka The Brick-Changer. He's new and part turkey, part dragon.

These lovely ladies are part of the Second Time Arounders, from St. Petersburg, Florida. The marching band is dedicated, as their sites says, "to those who have marched in a college, high school, DCI or military marching band...and dreamed of doing it one more time."

Idina Frozen Menzel herself

Olaf, my Disney crush

And so, my kids crossed something off their bucket lists. We all did. Several days later, I can still picture those glorious balloons floating by, the exuberant marching bands, the clowns happily tossing confetti (one took off Ben's hat, dumped some in and put it back on him) and the look of pure awe on my children's faces.