Saturday, December 6, 2008

PARADE OF LIGHTS

For the past 35 years a local Denver TV station, along with other community supporters as well as the City of Denver put on a pageant to celebrate the Christmas season. The Parade of Lights is one of the major events. The lighting of the city is a wonderful tradition. The Zoo, Botanic Gardens, parks, businesses, all decked out in lights. Nice. Tonight Jack and I went to the Parade of Lights. Lots of marching bands, floats, good fun and cheer. No lack of the demonstration of the true meaning of Christmas either. Christmas Carols played by the bands. Christian themed floats and groups proudly and beautifully participated and were welcomed by the crowds. There were secular floats and other themed floats as well, all very well done. Joy and Peace and Good Will toward man were common themes. Fire trucks, horses, huge balloons of fun characters, dancers and local news agencies joined in this wonderful magical night. Fortunately it wasn't too cold., though the dry 40 degree air was a bit nippy. Jack and I dressed in layers, brought our soft blankets to sit on and snuggled to keep warm. It was an eight block walk to and from the grandstand where we watched with delight. After, we came home to a homemade pizza and then off to bed quickly for Jack while I blog and post pictures here and there (FB). Tomorrow we will see how our bodies fared the nights activities. For now, we had fun and are pooped. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
By the way...the best float was the Nativity scene, "He will be called Immanuel"...complete with 3 wise men decked in kingly clothing riding horses decked in kingly horsie outfits following the float. ..this is, after all Denver ...in the West...no camels around here, it was really fun.















Denver County Government Building - decked with lights. The opening of the parade was the lighting of the building - Jack and I were sitting directly across from it and it was spectacular!





Lighted float of Toys in Toy Land






me







Jack








Snow plow from Denver International Airport...the kids just loved this...the float was nice, but I didn't get a good picture.









Christmas Nativity scene - Jack and I liked this float the best of all.











Nutcracker float








Another colorful lighted float






Dennis came floating by...and the wind picked up, the balloon floated over the grandstand much to the delight of the children, oooos and aaaahhhhhs of the parents, and a bit of a worry for the handlers. An unexpected drift. It was fun though, and all got under control very quickly.





Ship of Lights







Black Hawk Fire Dept truck - no parade is complete unless a firetruck is included







Good ole Rudolph delighted the kids...and there were thousands of them having a grand time.








Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


















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4 comments:

Linda said...

the lights are lovely!

Anonymous said...

Interesting photo series!

Michelle said...

That looks like so much fun! We wish we could have been there with you guys. The boys like the pictures of you and Jack. :)

VTBeanbag said...

Max loved looking at all of the pics! His favorite was the snow plow! Thank you for sharing. :)