Fete des Lacs Parade

Last weekend, we attended the City of Centerville's 20th Annual Fete des Lacs Parade.  Amy's Uncle Randy was part of the parade - he is Battalion Chief of one of the Centiennial Fire District's fire stations located on the parade route (Main Street).  The outing was Zander's longest excursion from home yet (~9 hours!).  The day began with a big family breakfast at Perkins.  Next was the parade itself, followed by a tour of the fire station.  Then we all had lunch and enjoyed playtime at Amy's Aunt KK and Uncle Randy's home.  Finally, of course, was a monster nap for Zander!

Here is Zander waving his flag and enjoying the fire trucks at the very beginning of the parade - he would be seeing them up close later in the day:

Here is most of the parade crew - behind Daddy and Uncle Bob are Great Aunt KK, Nana Pat, Aunt Heather, and Cousin Luke (Cousin Brady is standing behind Bob):

Zander showed off his new bead necklace to Yo-Yo the Clown:

Mommy had to include the "Friendly Fridley" float since she works in the Fridley suburb of Minneapolis.  Look at the expert technique of those parade wavers!!

Sisters - Great Aunt KK and Nana Pat enjoy the parade action:

At the fire station, Zander investigated the "Junior Firefighter" sticker that Great Uncle Randy stuck to his "Little Sprout" top:

The cousins (Luke, Zander, Brady) get an up close look at the fire trucks:

Uncle Bob helped Cousin Luke maneuver in his fire fighting garb:

Zander also wanted to suit up, but didn't get quite as far:

The three boys then 'drove' one of the trucks - Look out!!

Here Zander is giving Nana Pat a big hug at the station  (notable, since Zander hugs are still typically hard to come by!):

It was an action-packed day - Zander had a ball! He thanks Great Uncle Randy for hosting the boys at the fire station - it was sooo fun! Congratulations on 20 years of service - our family is so proud of you!