a peek inside the fishbowl

We’re really getting into the Santa stuff now! The letters are mailed and Christmas is on track here at the casa Fishbowl.

Day four (Friday, which was a PD day) was about helping Nana and Papa decorate their tree, put together a gingerbread house, AND sleep over at their place while Mummy and Daddy went out on a date which included sushi and a work-related gathering. For those of you – ahem, MARLA – who follow my annual holiday shoe dilemma I will confess that I bought new shoes, got in the car, drove a few blocks towards the party, and then circled back home after I decided that I should wear boots instead. My shoe issues never end! :)

Day five (Saturday) was about the Ottawa Help Santa Toy Parade, a great new addition to our family advent.

We parked on the street at Kent and Slater and walked towards Parliament Hill, ending up just shy of the Hill itself (but still within view).

I have to confess that I was somewhat worried about the crowds. If you’ve ever been to Canada Day on Parliament Hill you know what I’m talking about. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was entirely manageable, even with little kids. I saw a lot of kids in strollers and wagons and everyone had a spot to see.

It was really fun. I took all of my own advice (and that of the moms I talked to beforehand): we brought a new toy to donate as well as some coins, brought a thermos of hot chocolate and we all bundled up as much as we could. Even though it wasn’t even that cold out we totally froze. Our bodies just cannot generate enough heat when we’re standing still!

We gave our toy right at the beginning. I welled up when I saw the gigantic trailer full of donations – knowing that it was only HALF of the toys that were going to be donated that night (because we were at the halfway point.) I was thinking of all the joy those gifts are going to bring to local families. Honestly Ottawa, you rock.  

The rest of the time was devoted to float watching.

I didn’t take photos of ALL the floats, but as I looked over my photos this morning I realized there were some clear winners (keeping in mind that this is a community parade, not Macy’s Thanksgiving, so the floats are a little more humble):

My pick for the “Best Marketing” and “Make me Laugh out Loud” category:

If you look carefully at the plastic dome on top of the car you will see (presumably) the Garlic King himself, waving to his legion of fans.

I’m not entirely sure what the dome was supposed to represent. Was the king trapped in a snowglobe? Was he a toy king packaged up for sale for Christmas? Was this a replica of the Popemobile? Nonetheless, BRAVO TO THE GARLIC KING. I have nothing but respect for someone who names himself after the bulb of such a pungent (albeit delicious) perennial.

(Mark turned to me awhile afterwards and told me he was craving a shawarma.)

Tied for the “invokes the most family discussion” category is the War Amps float:

… complete with the scary robotic alien child that never failed to freak me out as a child. What’s more, they had a pretend train coming out the side of the float, bright lights and loud train whistle and all, you know, because it’s fun to pretend that we might get hit by a train. A small reminder to PLAY SAFE EVERYONE!

In all seriousness this was one of the best floats at the parade in terms of detail and production value. And the kiddies they were transporting were beaming and full o’ Christmas spirit. And they were handing out candy canes. Yay!

The other float that tied for the “invokes the most family discussion” category was this one:

One of my daughters leaned in and asked me to explain the “Miss Teen” concept. Have we really never discussed beauty contests before? Oy.
 
Winner of the “Most Ironic” category, was the fire juggling act positioned directly behind one of the antique fire engines:

Anyway, yes, the floats were good. But there was one that we really wanted to see, and that was the big guy himself:

We had an extra long visit with Santa. There was something wrong with his float! He stalled in front of us for quite some time.

I bet you’re wondering, how many fire fighters does it take to fix Santa’s sleigh?

Here’s the answer:

We weren’t worried. Santa was in capable hands. We were just happy to have the opportunity to gaze upon Santa a little longer, and, guess what? He let people touch his jingle bells.

After Santa left no one stuck around to see what floats came afterwards. We didn’t either, but just happened to see them as we made our way back to the car. I think the street-cleaners should be decked out with Christmas lights too. Don’t you?

For day six (today), we have something extra special planned. I’ll write more about it tomorrow!