From July 9-18, Calgary is host to The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth; The Calgary Stampede. Every year, the Stampede is officially kicked off with a parade on the first Friday morning. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but my Friday Family is here from Australia, and this would be the kids’ first time at the parade. The parents couldn’t take the time off work, so I was asked to take the kids. Of course I couldn’t say no to that! 
Last Friday, the kids were dropped off bright and early at my apartment (I live within walking distance of the parade route). All three of them were dressed up in western shirts, jeans and cowboy hat and were looking so darn cute! (I only wish I could post pictures for you to see!) Since they were a bit late, we had to walk as fast as possible to make sure that we could snag a good spot. The parade starts around 9am, but people start showing up as early as 7:30am. We found a relatively good spot, and settled in for the parade. We were about halfway down the route, so the parade didn’t start passing us until close to 10am. By then, the kids were restless, but settled down immediately, dozens of horses of all sizes can do this to a group of kids! 
There are entrants from all over the world, and the kids were so excited to see that the Australian Youth Band was in the parade. We cheered extra loud for them! 
The only downside to a parade is the silly people that I had to deal with; the group of adults that wouldn’t let my kiddos sit in front of them and the lady who kept pushing her stroller into me were only a small taste of the joys that are sure to come when in a large crowd. Despite the fact that I stood in 25C+ weather for 2 hours, I had fun, and the kids enjoyed it even more than I did! Who knows, maybe I’ll brave the heat and crowds next year as well! 
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