Victory Parade

Winning the Super Bowl was pretty exciting stuff around here.  Once the plans for the victory parade were set, we knew Jon and Caleb would go.  But then the girls didn't want to be left out.  So they all skipped school for the day (I still had to go, darn it), braved the frigid temperatures and overwhelming crowds to join in the celebration.

The plan was for me to drop my crew off at the train station early in the morning.  When we pulled up to the station and saw the lines stretched all the way out to the road, we knew the crowds were going to greatly exceed the expected 300,000 fans.

I was worried as I drove away.  I worried about the cold.  I worried about the crowd.  I worried they may not even make it on a train.  But thanks to Jon's commuter train know-how, they made it on a train and eventually to downtown Seattle.

Jon has a favorite regular breakfast/lunch spot near his office called Melange.  He's been a faithful patron for years and became friends with the owner, James.  James frequently asks about the kids and even sometimes sends treats home with Jon for them.  Before finding their spot on the street for the parade, the kids went to pay a visit to James.

The crowds were unbelievable, an estimated 700K! The parade footage was played live at our school and I continued to worry about my family as I watched it, because I knew they were standing for hours in the bitter cold.

Jon admitted to having worst-case scenario kind of thoughts that included, "What if this crowd presses forward and crushes one of my little girls?"

Caleb and Jon took turns holding the girls up so that they could see more than other peoples rear ends.

They waited for hours and it seemed like the parade would never come.  Natalie reached her absolute limit in cold temperature tolerance.  But she survived and the parade finally arrived.

Marshawn throwing skittles:

Sea Gals:

Pete Carroll:

The running backs:

And Russell Wilson with the Vince Lombardi trophy:

Legion of Boom:

After the parade they grabbed a quick bite to eat before braving the crowds at the train station.  They waited for about an hour before being able to get on a train and ultimately made it home safe and sound.

I asked each one of them if it was worth it to stand in the freezing cold for hours in an enormous crowd just to get a quick glance at our champions?  The answer was a unanimous and unequivocal "yes!"