Their First Santa Parade

On the second Saturday night of December, in a community not far from Brantford known as St. George, the townsfolk gather to watch a parade of lights put on by the men and women of their local Fire, Police and EMT departments. Because I knew it was going to be short, and the best fit for the attention span of two three-year-olds wrapped in their snowsuits in minus 9 temperatures, it was a perfect choice for their first exposure to the phenomenon known as The Santa Claus Parade. As well, one of the beauties of a small community, there was the added bonus of everyone gathering at the Fire Hall immediately after the parade, and for all the kids to line up and sit on Santa's knee while their parents drank hot chocolate and conversed. The community communes, as it should - and the idea of it felt good. I grew up in a small community outside of a medium-sized city, and I appreciate what both choices have to offer - but my heart is still in the small town.
We brought everything we could possibly need on this short journey for the twins, to the point where we brought along their snowsuits, rather than have them sit sweating in the car on the drive there, and then appended their wardrobe once it was time to get out of the car and stand by the side of the road to wait for the action. You haven't lived until you've re-dressed a three-year-old in the back seat of a car on the side of the road. Seriously.
In any case, Morgan and Liam were bundled all Charlie Brown-like, and the parade came by, and the lights were nice, and they enjoyed it, and Santa Claus waved right at THEM (because the crowd along the side of the road was only one person deep - single file along the entire route - pretty well ideal Santa-viewing conditions).
Two fun moments for me, the first of which wasn't supposed to be enjoyed quite the way I was enjoying it: Picture a woman - mid-50s - on a flatbed-type float, wearing a bad platinum wig, winter coat, black tights, and heels, standing next to a 'jail cell', the whole scene being displayed behind, and towed by a Crimestoppers vehicle. Add to this a microphone in her hand, and her efforts to dance around while being jostled along the jerkiness of a stop/start parade route, and the strains of the karaoke version of Feliz Navidad filling the air. Then, on cue, to the tune of the Jose Feliciano classic, as she's pointing to the 'prisoner' in the cage, she sings, "Police got his car. Police got his car."

I managed to summon enough decorum to laugh only on the inside, but it was beautiful. A small town moment like I had not experienced in many years.

The second moment was the process of 'unloading' the twins at the fire hall. Anyone with little ones understands that "getting out of the car" is more along the lines of a full scale "disembarkment" at the best of times. I was on the 'road' side of the car, to remove Liam from his seat, while their mother was delivering Morgan from her restrains on the 'sidewalk' side of the car. As I lifted Liam up above my shoulder height, and turned him toward the street so I could close the door, SANTA WENT BY! He was arriving at the fire hall to go inside and sit with all the children! For that brief moment, Liam had an exclusive-no-other-kids-around-one-on-one exchange with the Big Man, who waved and said hello to Liam, while Liam beamed up toward him. That GREAT-looking Santa, making direct eye contact, smiling and laughing heartily. At that point, Liam could have gotten back in his car-seat and gone home, perfectly satisfied with the night's turn of events.
However, we went inside to see if the kidlings were 'ready' for a personal visit with the man in the red suit. As it turned out, neither of them would be interested in meeting any strangers and leaving Mommy's or Daddy's side once the very crowded fire hall had been entered.
However, once they heard the words, "You guys want to get some hot chocolate?" ...both Liam and Morgan came back to life. I stayed in the 'Santa line' with them 'just in case' while their mother went to hunt and gather some warm chocolatey goodness. She returned five minutes later, disappointed, saying, "They ran out on the person in line just in front of me."
I immediately suggested that we forego the Santa line for a trip to the local coffee establishment for some hot chocolate, since the twins seemed more excited about that option - and off we went.
So - to recap -
First Santa Parade? Big hit.
First Taste Of Hot Chocolate? Even bigger hit, as pictured here.
(That's right, they had never had hot chocolate before. How terrible, right? ...depriving them of all that sugar for three whole years.)
Anyway, here are the after-parade hot chocolate pics...as well as one taken while Daddy waited with Liam and Morgan alongside the parade route.
Happily Sipping Away
The Classic Chocolate Moustache
Oh - forgot to mention - about two dozen people walked past us during the parade handing out candy cane after candy cane after candy cane to us - and everyone - who stuck their hand out. ExTREMEly generous with the candy canes in St. George, just in case you're into that - something to keep in mind for your future Santa Claus parade-viewing plans.