National Western Stock Show Kick-Off Parade

Let's take a break from all things Christmassy and Wintry and take a look at an annual even that happens every January right in the heart of Denver. I'm talking about the National Western Stock Show and it's kick-off parade.

Every January Denver celebrates Colorado's cowboy culture with 16 days of stock shows, rodeos, horse riding events, bull riding, and animal shows, and it all kicks off with a parade through Downtown Denver.

San Francisco Pride Parade 2018

Last Sunday was the day that Lola had been counting down to for weeks. It was the Pride Parade!

Unlike other kids who had been counting down the days until the end of the school year, Lola had been counting down to her favorite day filled with color, fun and well, a few nudies. This year's Pride parade did not disappoint. There was plenty of color, lots of love and happy vibes, goodies for the kids and, yes, the odd nudie every now and then.

The girls dressed in rainbow attire and decorated their faces with rainbow zinc cream (protection and decoration all in one!) and then we hopped on BART to head into the city for the day.

The Pride Parade is always such a fun day out. I love that the whole city comes together to celebrate. We watched the parade for over four hours and in that time we saw people from all walks of life. Local companies featured heavily in the parade (and hand out a lot of goodies to the crowd) but there  were also community groups, schools, politicians, sporting groups, churches, activists, social clubs and, of course, nudists.

Let's take a look at some of the fun...

Lunar New Year in Berkeley 2018

This weekend we had hoped to head into the city to watch the annual Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown. Unfortunately Ava has been sick with the flu, so a trip to the city and sitting outside in the cold for hours were off the cards. We've had a pretty quiet weekend at home instead, and I've been thinking back to last weekend when we celebrate the Lunar New Year here in Berkeley. 

Every year Berkeley's Fourth Street shops are home to a small Lunar New Year festival. The festival features martial arts demonstrations, crafts for kids, lion dances, a store blessing procession, and the girls' favorite part, stores handing out candy to kids. Candy is always the best part of any festival or parade if you ask my kids!

Here's a look back at last weekend's festival...

San Francisco Pride Parade 2017

It's been a little while since I posted here on Little Hiccups. The girls are home with me all day on Summer vacation and we've had visitors from Australia (first friends and then my parents), so I've been kept pretty busy away from the computer. Time to get back to it though and catch you up on some of the fun things we've been up to over the past few weeks - OK, months as I still haven't shared our Denmark trip and you know I've got a ton of photos from that!

Let's start where I left off with the San Francisco Pride parade...

The San Francisco Pride parade was held a couple of weeks back on June 25th. My parents had arrived from Australia a few days before and were excited to join us for this day celebrating love and community.

Rainbow Kids' Clothes for Pride

June is LGBTQ Pride month. The biggest celebration of the month here in San Francisco is the Pride parade which is coming up in just over a week's time. Last year I took Lola and Mathilde along to watch the parade and they absolutely loved it. Such a happy community event full of love and so much color. This year Ava and Kim are keen to come along with us too as are my parents who will be visiting from Australia. You can see all the color and fun from last year's parade here.

In preparation for the Pride parade, I've been looking into fun rainbow colored outfits for the girls to wear. There are so many fun rainbow options out there so I thought that today I'd share some of my favorites here on Little Hiccups. These clothes and accessories are perfect for the Pride parade as well as adding a touch of rainbow to your kids' every day closet - because let's face it, rainbows make everything better!

1. Pride Socks Livin' the Dream T-Shirt

Ava and I will both be wearing this great retro style t-shirt from Pride Socks. It is available in sizes from toddler through to adults in both red and purple and is oh-so soft and comfy.

2. Gap Kids Pride T-Shirt

This great t-shirt is available in kids', womens' and mens' sizes. Gap will donate 30% of the net sales from this t-shirt to the United Nations to support Free & Equal, a UN Human Rights Office campaign for LGBTI equality. 

3. Mitz Accessories Retro Rainbow T-Shirt

Lola and Mathilde will both be wearing this fun t-shirt from Mitz Accessories. The rainbow colors are wonderful and vibrant, but the best part is the felt cloud that runs down the back of the t-shirt! My girls absolutely love it. It's available in sizes 0-3 months up to 7 years. 

4. Pride Socks Rainbow Striped Tube Socks

All three of my girls have these fun tube socks that add a sporty touch of rainbow to any outfit. They are available in baby sizes through to adult sizes in various rainbow patterns. 

5. Pride Socks Trucker Hat

It's going to be sunny at the parade so don't forget to bring a hat. This great hat is actually an adult size, but will fit older children as well. It's available in black and white with various rainbow striped patterns.

6. Hello Shiso Rainbow Clips

Local company Hello Shiso makes the cutest hair accessories for kids. These rainbow clips are just perfect for Pride - and any other day of the year!

7. Pride Socks Sugar High Knee Socks

When the tube socks just aren't enough rainbow for you these colorful socks are a great choice. I'll be rocking a pair of these at this year's parade. These socks are available in women's and men's sizes, but older kids would be able to wear them too.

8. Mitz Accessories Retro Rainbow Dress

The dress version of the t-shirt that Lola and Mathilde will be wearing to the Pride parade is just as cute and also features the fun felt cloud down the back. Like the t-shirt, it is available in sizes from 0-3 months through to 7 years. This print is also available in tank tops (with the felt cloud) and leggings.

9. Tattly Rainbow Set Temporary Tattoos

Tattly make the best temporary tattoos out there. This rainbow set features 8 fun rainbow designs and has been a favorite with my girls for many years. 

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The San Francisco Pride parade will be held on Sunday June 25th, kicking off at 10:30am. For parade information click here.

I hope to see you there!

San Francisco Pride Parade

Last Sunday Lola, Mathilde and I joined what seemed like half of San Francisco and headed to Market Street to watch the annual Pride Parade. It was out first time going to Pride and the girls absolutely loved it! I had hoped to make it a whole family outing but Ava, ever the jaded tween, declared that parades are boring and didn't want to come along. So Kim stayed home with her while I took the younger girls into the city. To be honest, I think she was a little jealous when we got home and she saw how much Pride loot her little sisters had scored at the parade, but she wouldn't admit it.

St Patrick's Day Parade 2015

It certainly has been parade season around here!

The weekend before last we watched dragons and lions march through the streets of San Francisco in celebration of the Chinese New Year, and this weekend just gone we joined a sea of green for the St Patrick's Day parade.

Chinese New Year Parade 2015

This past weekend was a busy one for us with much of our time spent across the bay in San Francisco. In fact, we spent the entire day in the city catching up with friends visiting from Australia on Sunday. But let's have a look at Saturday...

Easter Parade + a Ride the Ducks Give Away

This give away has now ended.

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Easter Sunday certainly was a fun filled day for our family. A visit from the Easter Bunny, an egg hunt, smashing confetti filled eggs and, the highlight, taking part in the Union Street Easter Parade in San Francisco.

We were very lucky to get the chance to ride in the parade with Ride the Ducks. The girls have been looking forward to it for weeks and were so excited that the big day had finally arrived. If you spend any time in San Francisco at all you'll be familiar with the Ride the Ducks boat. A boat on wheels, it makes its way through the city streets and out onto the Bay giving tourists the best of both worlds: a bus tour AND a boat tour. Plus it's a lot more fun!

We were joined on the "Duck" by a large group of families each with their own equally excited children for the parade. We were all given our own "Wacky Quacker", a duck bill shaped kazoo, and as you can imagine we pretty quickly became the noisiest group in the parade! Somehow though, despite the non-stop quacking and disco duck soundtrack Lola managed to fall asleep during the ride. This was the first time she been in the city without a stroller and all of that walking up and down hills had tired her out. Plus we did have a pretty busy Easter Sunday morning at home before the parade. And she has a habit of falling asleep in moving vehicles!

Like the other kids (both big and small) on board, Ava was pretty excited to wave to the crowd watching the parade and blow her Wacky Quacker to the music as we made our way down Union Street.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Happy St Patrick's Day!

We're not doing anything much to celebrate today however over the weekend we got into the festive spirit by attending the St Patrick's Day Parade in San Francisco.

Last year we took the girls to the parade and they were pretty keen to dress in green (or orange in Ava's case) and go along again this year - mostly for all the candy, stickers and green beads that are thrown to the crowd by the parade participants! So much candy...

Like last year, San Francisco was blessed with stunning weather for the parade. It really does feel like Summer has arrived already. Not a proper Summer of course, but a San Francisco Summer!

Here's a look at the fun of the St Patrick's Day Parade, otherwise known by Lola as "The Clover Festival" or "The Green Parade".

Cherry Blossom Festival

I mentioned earlier that we had a festival filled weekend. We've already seen our Saturday at Cal Day now let's have a look at our Sunday spent in San Francisco's Japantown for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival...

Hello Kitties!

Happy St Patrick's Day

This weekend we celebrated St Patrick's Day by attending the St Patrick's Day parade in San Francisco. We joined thousands of other green clad people and watched as the floats, fire trucks, horses, marching bands, Irish dancers and local workers' unions marched down Market Street toward Civic Center.

Irish for the day!

Chinese New Year Parade 2013

Every February San Francisco plays host to one of the biggest Chinese New Year parades in the world.

This year's parade was held last Saturday and was attended by thousands of spectators who lined the streets along the route.

Just like last year we headed to Kim's work for a bird's eye view of the parade from the 21st floor. Last year the parade route just missed going directly past Kim's work however we still had great views along the sides of the building. This year the parade was changed slightly bringing the festivities directly past the front of Kim's work. Perfect!

Ava and Lola meet some of the parade characters 

Laternenfest

Another weekend, another festival...

This weekend we celebrated St Martin's Day with our German friends by attending the Laternenfest at a local German preschool. We drank glühwein, ate würste and, as is the custom on St Martin's Day, the kids joined in a procession with their homemade paper lanterns.

Glowing lanterns - with squished handles!

Lola and I made paper lanterns with her little friends during the week in preparation for the festival. Amid all the paper, paint, glitter, pipe cleaners and dot art markers the kids created a beautiful mess that was turned into lanterns with a few dabs of glue here and a strip of tape there.

Can you believe I forgot to take photos while we were making them?

I did however remember to take photos at the festival on Sunday evening. However, wriggly kids and glowing lanterns at night time don't always make for the best photos so I didn't quite get the shots I would have hoped for but at least you can see how our lanterns turned out.

Ava with our lanterns - waiting for the procession to start

The Happiest Place on Earth - Day 1

Ok, so I've been a little slack with posting lately. So, so much going on over the last month. I think it's about time I catch up with a look at one of the reasons I've gotten behind in the first place.

So prepare for a total onslaught of photos...

Here it is...

Our trip to DISNEYLAND!!!

Ava had been looking forward to visiting Disneyland since well before we made our move to the States. In an effort to help her get excited about our move we'd told her than we'd be living in the same state as Disneyland. Ok, so we're at the other end of the state but compared to Australia San Francisco is pretty close to the home of Mickey Mouse. Knowing that Mickey and his friends were only a half day's drive away, Ava would ask almost on a weekly basis when we'd finally make it to Disneyland. Well, that day finally came a few weekends back when we made the trip down to sunny Anaheim to meet up with my sister, Kylie, who was on holiday in America. Disneyland AND seeing Aunty Kylie? I think all of Ava's dreams came true in one go!


Day 1

Where to start about Disneyland? There's just so much to see and do that it's hard to work out what to do first. Ava had made a short list of "must do" rides that was pretty much all located within Fantasyland so that made for a good place to start. Of course, getting to Fantasyland took an awfully long time as we were greeted with friendly Disney characters and photo opportunities at every turn! Lola had been a little (ok, a LOT) grizzly when we first arrived at Disneyland but that all turned around when she spotted Pluto. In the past she's been very apprehensive about meeting life size characters but she took to Pluto (and every other Disney character she met) straight away. It's amazing the transformation that cuddly pup brought about!

Hooray for Pluto!