Buddha's Birthday

We were able to spend last Sunday night attending the Lotus Parade. We got there a little early, walked around and saw what was left of the tables where you could make your own paper lotus flowers. Since it was starting to rain, all the vendors were packing up and we had to resort to buying the kids their own lotus flowers on a plastic stick that lights up.

The kids posing in front of the festival mascot.

Some of the parade participants getting ready to start.

About half an hour before the parade started, we wandered over to the parade route and saw that you could sit down in chairs they had lined up. Of course, we chose to sit in the front row and then waited for the parade to start. The children were very patient, with a few M&Ms to keep them happy. Once the parade was underway it was exciting. We noticed that we must have been as entertaining as the parade, since a large number of camera men came up to take our pictures. We clapped and cheered and really enjoyed ourselves. There were even two different people from within the parade that stopped to give us the lanterns that they were carrying. The children got souvenirs and we had a great family night out. We are hoping we can attend next year and be able to do much more of the actual events. Happy Birthday to Buddha.

One of the many cameramen that wanted to take our photos during the parade.

Some images from the parade with participants and floats.

Two of our favorite floats: the dragons moved and made lots of noise. The kids didn't like them as much as we did...