Danyial (that's how he spelled it) loved the Gorge photos from Scott and wrote that he guesses we really do all come together this time of year. It got me in the picture taking spirit and since I actually got to ride in the parade this year I had a little fun myself.

First, let me say that the owner of the car I rode in, Ray, did not want to take the top off because his car is worth like $50 grand. If it was your car you wouldn't either. I had my umbrella and was prepared for the rain but he didn't want to soak his interior. Can you blame him? It's a 1964 Pontiac Bonneville with a bunch of special, hard to find features and it only has 21,000 miles-- hence the high dollar vallue of his ride.

Before the parade got underway I was cruising around and spent about 10 minutes snapping a bunch of pictures.. now, if you read this blog you KNOW I am a sucker for cute kids and cute animals which pretty much makes a parade like shooting fish in a barrel for me.

Here is Alladin the llama.. friendly guy who kept himself busy by chewing his cud. His owner Jennifer said I snapped the picture just as he was prepping to give me a little llama kiss. That, or he thought my hat looked tasty.

And here is Skip on the far right.. a beautiful blond horse just getting his mane all gussied up.

Take two on Skip.. that's better.

Harley was this very sweet Dalmation who looked like he was ready to get out of the rain.

And while not a fan of my Santa hat.. a little cookie-in-the-old-hand trick goes a long way....

Here are two Belgiums.. Jingles and Rowdy. Except I'm hanging onto Jingles because he was the rowdier of the two.

I can't remember if this is Willow or Juniper. I think it's Willow.. a huge Irish Wolfhound who started licking me immediately once I got into firing range. It's probably my favorite photo just because she made me laugh.

Here are the Gingerbreads from Southridge High School in Beaverton. I wonder if the costumes got really, really heavy from all the rain they soaked up.

And bring on the clowns!! They were from the Macy's in the 'Couv and downtown Portland.

And the Snowgirl.. from Holiday Magic. Cute, cute, CUTE (apparently my favorite adjective to describe just about everything, if you ever see me anchor a story about kids or animals on the news.. I kick myself every time.)

While I'm actually not a big shopper or anything like that.. after the parade this morning and the tree lighting tonite I am definitely in the holiday mood!

Email me: Ho, ho, ho......