The Thursday after Thanksgiving is a HUGE deal in Owatonna, with the Owatonna Chamber's Lighted Holiday Parade, which helps kick off the Hometown Holiday Weekend. Several different businesses and groups create floats, decorate their vehicles, or even wear all sorts of lit up outfits to help ring in the Christmas and Holiday Season. The parade ends at Central Park, with the lighting of the Christmas lights, and a performance of Christmas Carols by the OHS Carolers. There's even cider and a visit from Santa, who we all know is a pretty busy guy this time of year.

This year we were part of the parade, which was a lot of fun. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the crowds, I have not seen it from that vantage point before. All the little kids waving and smiling, excited to see a parade, at night!

The absolute best was while we were waiting for the parade to start. US Bank was out there, they had someone dressed up as their mascot, the eagle Coach Possible. Coach Possible was really getting into character and standing right by our van, scared my daughter because she didn't expect anyone to Be. Right. There. I am still laughing about this, he kept putting his head next to the window of the KRFO van, making her jump almost every time. Yep, we had a blast, and are already planning for next year. There was only one thing missing from the whole experience, a light snowfall. We'll have to work on ordering that for next year.

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