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December 10th, 11:30-1-ish p.m.

As soon as the race was over Saturday morning we headed ~22 miles north to another small town in our home county. . .it's our county seat, although we spend most of our time in the larger town we both work in in another county.  We happen to live right in the middle.  Anyway, we love our county seat. . .it was once a thriving town that stopped growing when they lost a major factory and then a major interstate was put in about 30 miles south in the 70's (I think. . .of course we've only lived here 5+ years so I/my family haven't lived this history). 
Anyway, Frederick is part of a Cub Scout pack that participates in the annual Christmas Parade.
This is the other direction from which we were standing. . .the previous picture we were looking up at the town square:
People-watching was so much fun.  We had a good half-hour to do this since this must be the longest parade route in the United States. . .Tom and Frederick had to show up at 9 a.m. to line up and the parade was supposed to (did?) start at 11 a.m.  We finally saw the police cars at 11:45!
And this is how you kick off a parade in the middle of TN:
Yep, that would be a Confederate flag kicking things off. . .with a soldier straight from "The War Between the States"
Other highlights of the parade (or things I got pictures of. . .my camera batteries were low):
 Fire departments from every city/town in the county (and Marie and Thomas waiting for candy!)
 GOT SOME!
 This was a fun car :)
 And semis. . .we really couldn't believe how many. . .as far as you could see. . .
 Did you notice something?
They all had matching wreaths to their front grills.  Gotta love it.
 
Some interesting tractor wheels
The requisite high school marching band (our county only has one HS so there was only one band. . .too bad because those are always *my* favorite parts of a parade. . .)
And a not-very-good shot of our winning football team (I somehow just couldn't get a good angle. . .even chased them up the street!)
 Here come the horses, sleigh bells, and covered wagons. . .
. . .I don't think Ma & Pa Ingalls had a ride quite this comfortable though :)
And this beautiful girl went by too. . .
Margaret was riding in the truck pulling the float. . .
This is another float I had to chase down the street -- Frederick just would not pay attention to me -- ha!
 Frederick's best friend, Scott, seems to be yelling and pointing "look over there" (meaning in our direction) but Frederick is to the right, in the grey & yellow hat, not paying attention at all. . .
 Nope, still not looking. . .
Ah, finally, he turns to smile :)
Here are some pics that Tom snapped before the parade route:
Frederick holding some of the "loot" he was going to throw out:
 Frederick (left) and Scott -- it was COLD out!
And all the boys who came out to ride and throw candy (dads too).  

After the parade we headed out for Mexican:
 Scott & Frederick
 Bean & Margaret
 Daddy and Bean (funny fact:  Bean *refused* to have his picture taken earlier in the day!)
 Marie and Mom
 Marie & Dad
. . .and Thomas. . .glad I got this picture. . .you only see him eating Mexican at a Mexican restaurant about twice a year -- ha!

We came home and just enjoyed being *home* for the remainder of our day.  It was such a beautiful, sun-shiney day. . .

Love,
Jenni

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