Thursday Thirteen: Our Last Night of Vacation T13 Style

After all these vacation posts the last two weeks, was there any doubt that there had to be one about the castle/parade?

I tried for 13 cool pictures of the castle, but I just didn't get good enough shots, so I thought I'd tell a story instead.


1. I didn't know that the castle started changing colors at dusk so I was amazed when we were finding our spot for the parade and found the castle turning pink




I don't know the lady on the cell one out front but my photo editing program was lost when my computer had to be stripped a few months ago.









2. I thought it was even more fun to watch as the colors kept changing, both to deep blue, and then a vibrant purple.

















3. We started lining up early, which was a good thing because the crowd got heavy very quickly.
I mentioned earlier this week that we brought a stroller with us for Noah on our marathon day at Magic Kingdom, which ended up being a very good idea.

Notice how big he is for it, but he was thankful to be able to sit while we were waiting for the parade to start.

I can't believe he was actually surprised when the strap wouldn't fit him!

4. Luckily, my brother and his family were able to find us in the crowd so the kids could all watch together. My youngest nephew loved playing with our balloon stroller identifier during the wait.


Can you see his cute little smile through the balloon?





5. This is one of my favorite "kid" shots from our vacation. The four older cousins lined up ready for the parade. I love how happy all four of them look, even after a VERY crazy week away from home.

This is how I choose to remember the week, even with all of its ups and downs.






6. And yes, the parade did actually start eventually. I had quite a challenging time trying to get good shots of the floats but I will try share some of the ones I did capture.










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9. Everyone got excited when Ursula came strolling down the street. The way she spun and moved was really cool and I still would like to know how they did it.










10. During the entire parade, Aaron held his usual pose...hands over his ears












11. My niece, the only girl in the group, got the sweetest smiles when the princesses started coming down the street.


Nope, no clue why Aaron's mouth is wide open.








12. I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks since I was videotaping it, but is was spectacular. Afterward, we waited around for awhile to let the crowds thin out before heading back to the monorail. After about twenty minutes, I looked down at Aaron to head toward the exit, and was surprised to find him completely asleep.



















13. I was even MORE surprised though when I looked at Noah's stroller.

At almost seven year's old, my "grown up" first grader had also FALLEN ASLEEP!

He was hanging completely off the poor stroller, but he didn't really move much at all on the way back to the car.

The people on the monorail were nice enough to allow us one without collapsing the strollers so both boys could continue their snooze.









So, I know this wasn't your typical T13 post, but when have I ever been typical?

Have a great Thursday!