Who Needs Macy's?

Naperville puts on a day-after-Thanksgiving parade every year.  It's one of our favorite outings.  This year was much more enjoyable than last thanks to the mild weather.  We were so excited to randomly run into the Heller family and were lucky enough to find a little bit of room behind where they were sitting.  We also connected with a friend who recently moved here from Seattle.  There was a big crowd this year which I'm sure was in part due to the weather.  Last year we left the parade numb from head to toe.  This year it only got down to the mid-50's. 

In other news, guess who showed up at our house on Saturday morning?  Eric the Elf!  This is the first year that Talan can somewhat understand what he's doing here.  Eric had secretly taped an "Elf on the Shelf" TV special so we all headed down to the basement to watch it together first thing that morning.

Talan is definitely aware of who Eric is and what his job is.  He was fighting Kevin at bedtime last night so he had to say "I'm going to tell Eric if you don't go to sleep".  He got very upset, begged and pleaded and then finally agreed to go to sleep.  This morning when Kevin came in to get him, he sat up in bed, eyes wide, and said "Daddy, did you tell Eric?".  Here's to Eric!  Let's hope he brings the kids some joy and brings us some peace.