(Avery's a fan too!)
Lucky us that the Broncos (despite having a rough season) made it to the Super Bowl. And even luckier for us that they managed to upset the mighty Carolina Panthers! We watched the game with some friends at our house (and ate way too much as is to be expected, right?), and it was a great day for Denver.
I remember back to my senior in high school (1999) when the Broncos last won their Super Bowl ring... I "ditched" school with a group of friends and we somehow managed to make our way downtown to the parade. It was quite the adventure for us kids from the 'burbs.
It's such a great memory, so I was determined to take my kiddos to their first Super Bowl parade. Nevermind that Matt couldn't join, nor that it was all but impossible to meet up with the few other mamas I knew that were going. But I didn't let that hold me back. If this was Peyton Manning's last rodeo, then we were bound and determined to see him once in person before he leaves our great city.
I pulled out the hiking backpack, threw Avery in it, and off we went to the Lightrail. The city said they were expecting one million people, so I didn't want to fight the traffic ;) Benjamin LOVED riding the lightrail (and I ran into some teenagers doing the exact same thing I had done all those years ago). No tears from the kids, the sun was shining (in fact, it was hot!), and life was good. Off we went!
(First, here are the pic of Civic Center Park where the parade ended.... isn't this amazing!!!)
And now our adventure:
Crowds already forming at one block 2.5 hours before the parade even started!
We got off on the 16th Street Mall then WALKED all the way to Union Station. I had been hoping to use the free mall ride shuttle, but they ended service about 6 minutes before we got there :( It was a long trek, but we made it!
We were pretty early, so the kids got to roam around for awhile before we had to join the crowds lining the streets.
I was SO thankful that they behaved and were playing so nicely together once we finally staked out a space on the street.
For the most part, everyone around us was very kind to this mama trying to keep two small kids happy for an HOUR of waiting (or more...).
She may or may not have fallen asleep for a bit...
Then it all started, with Thunder!!
There he is!!! Super Bowl MVP Von Miller!!
You can see DeMarcus Ware and Petyon in the back here...
Not a great video - I was also carrying BOTH kids at this time:
John Elway was also in the back...
As luck would have it, the Snooze at Union Station that day was giving 10% of its proceeds to Benjamin's school's community garden! So we popped in while the parade was still going on to grab a spot and eat some delicious breakfast. SOOO yummy.
Walking all the way back up the mall to catch our lightrail. There was an emergency "I have to pee now!" moment with BWL, but otherwise he did great!
I have to say that I was quite proud of myself for surviving a whole day with these two on foot. I mean, I honestly didn't think I'd make it, but we did better than make it, we had a blast! I had SO much fun with Benjamin especially, he showed me how much he's grown and how independent he's getting. He's fun to just sit and talk with. :) Poor Avery was stuck on my back most of the time, but she did a great job people watching in the giant sea of orange! I'm thankful for the memories we created, no matter how many miles we logged! :)
