Preparing for the Pet Parade

After several years of watching the Pet Parade, this year we've decided to be in it. That is, the kids and I decided, my dh will probably join us begrudgingly. Sister picked the float theme, Charlotte's Web.

You'd think, since we decided all this last May, we'd be all ready for the parade this weekend. What?!? It's this weekend?!?

That's right. It is seven days away and we've done nothing but talk about what we're going to do to prepare. Brother Bear can't even decide if he wants to be Wilbur (the pig) or Henry Fussy (a friend of Fern). If Brother is Wilbur, Baby Bear will be Charlotte. Yes, I know Charlotte is a girl, and Baby Bear is a boy. It's just dress up. If Brother is Henry Fussy, than Baby Bear will be Wilbur and we'll just use a "fake" spider to be Charlotte. Brother Bear needs to decide QUICKLY though, because I need to figure out costumes. Sister will, obviously, be Fern. Daddy will be a skinny Homer Zuckerman since "dress up" isn't his cup of tea. I'm not sure who I'll be yet...Fern's mom? (=

I wish we'd picked Wizard of Oz. Costuming would be really simple since I think we still have a Dorothy dress from a couple Halloween's ago, a lion costume from Brother Bear's first Halloween that could fit Baby Bear now, and Brother Bear could easily be the Scarecrow or the Tinman with Daddy being the other. I'd be Glenda, the good witch, since I had to be the Scarecrow the last time we did that as our Halloween theme. Let's just say, the Scarecrow isn't an attractive costume.

Hum...all this thinking makes me really want to switch to the Wizard of Oz. What would we use to decorate the wagon besides a yellow brick road? Ideas anyone?

Or, we could have a fairytale theme. Sister could be a princess, Brother a knight, Baby a dragon, Daddy a king and I could be a queen. I'm sure we have most of the stuff for that already. Brother was a dragon a couple Halloweens ago and we have lots of knight and princess accessories. The wagon/float could be a castle.

We'll see...I'll have to convince Sister of a different theme.

When I was young, I was in the Pet Parade (forced into the service of my oldest cousin who was a farmer and needed some chicks in his wagon/coop). The only plus was that we got to see the movie Annie in a real movie theater for free after the parade. Unfortunately, said older cousin and his sister (who were responsible for me) thought it was boring and made us leave early. That was my one and only Pet Parade experience. Hopefully, my kids' experience will be more fun. I don't think they do the free movie anymore, though.

By the way, we also need to find a giant piece of cardboard to paint like a barn (or something Wizard of Ozish). Anyone know where people go to get those refrigerator boxes that everyone always uses?

Wish us luck!!!