Gasparilla Extravaganza 2010

Has it been a year already? Wow, time sure flies. Last year, I packed up the boys to drive to Tampa on my own to attend the Gasparilla parade with Grandma. This year, we are lucky enough to have Daddy home and we all were able to attend the parade as a family.

In addition to Daddy and Grandma, the boys also met up with some new friends! I have been very lucky to connect with many triplet families through the wonderful Internet. When we were planning to attend the Gasparilla parade, I sent out feelers to see if anyone was interested in meeting up with us. The April Adams and her trio were eager to also attend the parade. So, the boys met up with their first set of triplets! Hayden, Hendrix and Hunter Adams are 6 months older than the boys. We had a great time with the Adams trio and I enjoyed talking with April in person. We look forward to making this an annual tradition!
We arrived early so we could meet up with the Adams and get a good spot. It had rained the days before the parade and there was a lot of mud. However, we are lucky that the boys are still happy to hang out in their stroller. Only Daddy, Grandma and I had to stand while waiting for the parade since the ground was wet. However, there was some entertainment to pass the waiting time. There were planes flying around. Andrew, our professional airplane spotter, was on target today with his spotting...
Then there were paratroopers...
And Daddy knew just what would keep everyone happy, a little parade food...
While we managed to stay happy during our wait, we were all happy when the parade started! Bring on the beads, bring on the candy...

The parade was worth the wait, especially when we started everything off with our favorite Sesame Street characters... Daddy's hat is still a little big on sweet Jared...

The double triple strollers were definitely a draw for attention...
Jared and Andrew enjoyed catching the beads and wearing the beads. Wes, thinking he should have been in the parade, would immediately throw back anything that landed in his lap...
The boys and I were so happy to have Daddy with us at the parade this year! Grandma and April Adams may not have been as happy since Daddy (the biggest target around) was grabbing all the beads thrown in our direction. He was so proud...
We were pretty close to the street. It will not be long until the boys are standing right on the rail collecting all the loot...
I enjoy the parade but mostly enjoy watching the boys experience the parade. They spend most of the time in awe of all the sights and sounds...
As Wes was returning his beads to the floats, we were collecting for him. I was confident he would learn to love them later and I was right, as you will see...
The following is a little video of the boys enjoying the parade...

It was a long (very long) parade, almost 3 hours, but we stayed until the very end. The boys were great during the entire parade!
After the parade, we stopped at Denny's for dinner.
Andrew, the constant comedian, entertained us all...

Once dinner was over, Wes cleaned up his place to prove that three 2 year olds can eat without making a terrible mess...

After dinner, we went home to get ready for bed. Before bed, we took some time to enjoy our booty!

Daddy showered all the boys in the treasure!

And they loved it...
All of the boys enjoyed playing with the beads. However, Jared took it to an entirely different level. He started putting them on one at a time and did not stop until he could barely stand...

He could barely move around and was dragging almost as many beads as he had around his neck. He actually had to hold out his arms to try and balance as he was moving around...

However, he LOVED every minute of it! He was soooo proud of himself! Note the cheesy face in this picture... on Jared and on his Daddy in the background. Let's just say this apple did not fall far from the Daddy tree...

It took Wes a little while to come around and start putting on the beads. Once he realized how much fun Jared was having, he got into the act. It's a good thing we were collecting for you little Wessie!
The boys had such a good time playing with their beads. We also had a great time watching them enjoy these beads. We were all laughing so hard at Jared as he kept putting more and more and more beads around his neck. It you are going to do something, do it 100% Baby J!!
We had a great time at the parade and we are already looking forward to next years' parade.

Take care,