Sunday, November 6, 2011

Veteran's Day Parade in St. Louis

Last year, Robert and people from his workplace marched in the Veteran's Day Parade in St. Louis. The kids and I didn't go - I don't remember why now. This year, I really wanted go and I wanted the kids to see him marching too. Since leaving the Army, he hasn't had much of a chance to do things like this, and I think he secretly misses it a bit. Well, maybe not the 10 mile road marches with a 40 pound rucksack in the middle of the night. 
While he had to travel to the parade with coworkers, he could come back with us. After discussing options (mainly the apparent inability of our GPS' to actually find what we are looking for lately), we decided the kids and I would take the Metro to the city, watch the parade, we'd meet up afterwards and then we'd all come back home together. 
So, the kids and I bundled up, took the Metro into the city and actually found the parade route. It was chilly and really windy, so after finding a good spot and standing there for a few minutes, the kids complained of being cold and hungry so we went into Union Station and got them a snack. Warmer and fed, we headed back out to watch the parade. 
I was surprised there wasn't a very big crowd, but it was over a week before Veteran's Day. As we watched the groups go by, it hit me how small the groups of veterans were. Sobering. 

The parade route. It was a little chilly and windy.





A mini submarine




Sara was sorta over it by this point.


Marching band


Robert's group. He's third row, third one from the right. I call his expression his "Army  face"


Afterwards...Sara was still over it.
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