It's been a couple of weeks since Memorial Day weekend but I thought it was worth mentioning that we hit the parade this year. In prior years we have skipped these parades. There are marching bands and some surprise sirens from police and fire trucks that served as a deterrent. But there seemed to be more reasons to go this year than skip.

Why should he miss out on a big parade where there's candy being thrown to kids watching on the side? Or miss seeing little league teams and brownie troops marching with veterans and other organizations? We decided to just take him and play it by ear, picking a spot with a great view that wasn't too crowded.

Curtis got some sweet swag. Flags, candy, necklaces and a couple other things. We covered his ears when the marching band drums got close and when there were other loud noises but he was fine and we had a good time. Most importantly, parades, like a lot of things, are no longer as intimidating to him as they used to be as he now has a frame of reference as to just how "not bad" they are.

Greg, Dad