The Third Weekend in May

The third weekend in May is my favorite weekend of the whole year. And it's only because of one event on Saturday night--the Lilac Festival Parade.

I'm not sure how Rhett and I first discovered the Lilac Festival Parade, but the first year we went to it, we got a babysitter for the two girls and enjoyed it ourselves. Last year, we took both girls with us--which was their real first experience with parades. This year, we took all three kiddos. (Ever since the last Lilac Festival Parade, Summer has been obsessed with parades--the 4th of July Parade, Pioneer Day Parade, St. Patrick's Day Parade. She often asks when the next parade is that we get to go to. She loves them all.)

But the Lilac Festival Parade is different than all the others. It runs through downtown Spokane and begins just as the sun is setting. The parade lasts more than two hours, and it's full of marching bands, floats (and even horses) covered in Christmas lights, "Princesses" (prom queens and pageant queens), and transports for veterans of every war in the past. It also has members of the current army, navy, airforce, and marines as well as a group of family members who carry large posters of pictures, names, and dates of the family member who served and passed away. It is so neat to see as these service members walk by and how the crowds of people along the sides stand, applaud, and cheer for them in gratitude of the sacrifices they've made for us. I get emotional every time--and even when I watch the clips!

I love the lights. I love the patriotism. And I absolutely love the bands. One of the highlights was when one of the bands stopped in the middle of the road and kept playing while the back half of the band threw a pose and the front half of the band busted some killer dance moves. I'm talking "Dead Man Walking" killer dance moves, with instruments in hand! It was sooooo awesome!

I can't figure out how to post more than one video on a post at a time, so I put all our clips together. If my battery hadn't kept dying, I would have probably stood there the whole time taping it all! The clips are dark (you can tell which ones were taken before the sun actually went down). The first part of the clip is the navy (notice how the crowds are going wild!), then another group of service members, then a group of family members, then a clip of Claire bopping to the beat of the drums, and finally, the last one is for you dad. :)  Recognize the song???