Parade Season.

Our Saturday was filled. We headed to the St. Louis Park Parktacular Parade that started at 12. We packed up a picnic lunch and got to our spot about 11:30 to eat while the kids waited for it to start. Reese wasn't sure at first and was a little scared at the loud fire trucks that started the parade. But, after a while and Owen showing her how fun it is to grab candy that has been tossed at your feet, she quickly enjoyed herself. She especially enjoyed hugging things. And what I mean by things, mostly clowns,

But also this thing...

That's right, it's a specimen cup.

How would you like that job?

Owen just loves candy parades. He got extra excited when he saw a Star Wars float coming down the road.

When the parade ended at 1, the grandparents took Reese with them for the rest of the day and Daddy, Owen and I headed to Excelsior to celebrate our niece's high school graduation. There, we transferred Owen over to the cousins for the rest of the day and night, Mike and I changed and headed to Minneapolis for a wedding at 3. The reception was in St. Paul at a Chinese restaurant (both groom and bride are Chinese) for a 12 coarse meal..... but we couldn't help swinging into our favorite ice cream joint on the way.

The meal was not at all what we expected...not Americanized at all. To name a few things we ate...shark fin soup, sea cucumber, and oh yes, geo duck (pronounced gooey). When Mike and I saw this on the menu, we knew it wasn't a fowl of any kind, we've watched Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer one too many times. Needless to say, we didn't eat much, thank goodness for ice cream!