Rose Parade 2011

We weren't planning on going to the Rose Parade this year. I figured we would probably still be in Utah avoiding the mad house that Pasadena becomes those couple days. But then I won 4 tickets to the Parade and they were REALLY good seats so we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go. My parents had never been so I invited them to come back with us and go. Andrew and I aren't really "parade people." I have never really understood the whole excitement of sitting and watching a parade. But again, these seats were really good so we had to go. For those of you that know the area, our seats were on Orange Grove, just south of Colorado Blvd. We were just south of where all the cameras and news coverage area is. It is right at the beginning of the parade route so everyone is fresh and excited.

The only negative thing was that because we had to go through security and everything to get to our area, we had to be in our seats at 6:30 a.m.!! We also had to figure out what to do with Gavin because there is no way that we could have taken him. Luckily Andrew's parents were in town down at their beach house and his mom agreed to come up and watch Gavin for us. Joe was also extremely gracious to get up so early and drive her up. I am so grateful for them because I don't know what we would have done with him otherwise.

This was our view from our seats while we waited for the parade to start. GORGEOUS!!

It was a little chilly that morning, but not too bad once everyone was crowded in around us.

I took a lot of pictures (with my new camera!!) and I couldn't narrow them all down so I posted a lot of pictures here!

The Grand Marshall was Paula Deen. I think it's so funny because the other time we went to the parade the Grand Marshall was Emeril Lagasse! I guess we only go when it's Food Network stars!

The first float was great. You can see in this picture sequence the streamers and fireworks that were shot out. That was another great thing about being in these seats!! You can also see the sequence of the B-2 flyover. You can barely see it coming in this first picture in the sky. It's pretty cool because they had to have that start flying in St. Louis MO. They had to time it perfectly to fly over at exactly the right time!

I loved this carnival float! So fun!!

Look at the little pigs!

Andrew really liked this lobster guy.

This was the "Donate Life" float. It had floragraph of organ donors. My friend's little boy was the recipient of a heart from one of the featured people.

Go Wisconsin!
Check out this awesome old lady in the scuba suit!

I really liked this float celebrating the Rose Bowl! And for you "Amazing Race" fans you might recognize the flowers on this float ...

It then released all of theses balloons!

Go TCU!!
I loved the waterfalls and monkeys on this one.

This one made me laugh.

The Ronald Reagan float by Jelly Belly. Andrew said that it looked like Reagan was made out of macaroni and cheese.

One of the floats broke down. Sad.

The UNO float.
I loved the daisies! My favorite!

Such a fun float!
The Budweiser float...

... and the clydesdales.

LOVE Trader Joe's.

Celebrating Pac Man's 30th Anniversary!

The HGTV float!
With HGTV Stars, Antonio, Emily and I don't know the 3rd ones name.

I thought these were so cute.
This float commemorating the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 was AWESOME! The fire hydrant in the middle was found in the rubble at Ground Zero.

And then of course you have to have all the crazies at the end of the parade. Love it.

Our seats were right below the HGTV broadcast booth. This was the best picture I could get of the back of Sabrina Soto's head.

I tried to find Al Roker in the NBC booth, but I couldn't.

At the end of the parade everyone was crowding Colorado Blvd. There was so many people!

I am always amazed at how much trash there is on the streets after the parade. This doesn't even do it justice.

And if you're hungry you could find plenty of bacon wrapped hot dogs. They were even selling them at 6am!

The parade was awesome. I am so glad that we went. It was even worth getting up super early for.

After the parade Andrew took his mom to go look at the floats. They park them for a couple days and you can go look at them close up. He took a lot of great pictures but I didn't want to repeat all my pictures from the parade, so I only posted a few.

You can't see it very well but this street sign says "Flot viewing parking." Oops!

Look at how many people there are on the street! I guess everyone wants to look at the floats!

I loved this Koala bear!
I thought the "Boomer Express" to Alzheimers float was pretty great.

I love this picture because you can see close up how many flowers they use!!

The floats were incredible. I can't believe how many flowers are used for each one. They are all unique and beautiful. What a fun experience!!