Holiday Bowl's Big Bay Balloon Parade

Wienerschnitzel (CA hot dog joint) ~ Woody from Toy Story
.

wizard high-fiving the crowd (!!) ~ Seaworld's Shamu
.

triceratops ~ cute spectator has an awesome daddy
.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ~ local credit union
.

Thomas the Tank Engine ~ Mr. Potato Head Fireman
.

San Diego Zoo's Panda ~ Wally the Octopus
.

super cute spectator ~ Mother Goose
.

gingerbread man ~ Holiday Bowl football
.

Darth Vader (from Family Guy) ~ Bumble Bee Seafoods
.

Bob the Builder ~ Betty Boop
.

Jay Jay the Jet Plane

.

Fantastic day for a parade, esp. one as fun as the Holiday Bowl's Big Bay Balloon Parade in San Diego. This parade has the most helium-filled balloons of any parade in the country (Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has something like 14 while this one has over 22!). The parade lasted about 90 minutes which was the perfect length of time for a parade. The balloons were nicely spaced with military, marching bands, and other groups mixed in between. The University of Nebraska and the University of Washington are playing in the Holiday Bowl this year and both schools were nicely represented. UW's band sounded great this morning! Native San Diegan, Bill Walton, served as parade marshall. There were some cooler breezes from the bay that made a few of the balloons more challenging -- the wizard, Betty Boop and Woody all looked difficult to manage at times. Even last night we were debating on whether or not to go because of the expected crowds. I'm so glad we went -- we all had a great time!

.

** These aren't even all the balloons! One or two were so horizontal due to the wind that I couldn't get a good photo.