Send in the clowns!
Just a quick post to let everyone know Darling Daughter and I will be marching in clown in the Drake Relays parade this Sunday (April 20). The parade starts at 2 p.m. - not sure where it officially starts yet (guess I should figure that out) but it does one lap around campus.
Daughter is really excited! This will be her first time clowning with me. She's going to do the "invisible dog on a leash" gag.
I'll be the clown in the pink hat!
Showing posts with label parade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parade. Show all posts
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
St. Pat parade pics!
Check out the pics on http://epicstatus.com/, Des Moines photo blogger extraordinaire! Two of his last three posts have pics from the parade. Sorry - no pics of me but he did get one of Z. See if you can spot the clown!
Check out the pics on http://epicstatus.com/, Des Moines photo blogger extraordinaire! Two of his last three posts have pics from the parade. Sorry - no pics of me but he did get one of Z. See if you can spot the clown!
Monday, March 19, 2007
St. Pat's revisited
I woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window. Snow. More than just the snow showers the weatherman had predicted - a half inch on the ground and more flakes falling thick and fast.
I was committed to walk (in-clown) in the Saint Patrick's Day parade (I should be committed...to a state run institution). Darling daughter had been talking about it all week. It had taken a lot of logistical jockeying to get us to this point. Hubby was out of town so I had to get mother-in-law to take her to the parade while I marched but I also had to line up a babysitter for the babysitter.
MIL is fine for babysitting around the house but doesn't get around very well. Hubby and I share the concern that if we turned MIL and little girl loose on downtown Des Moines it would be too much for MIL to handle. Daughter is almost 5 and fairly well behaved but very active and with a mind of her own. One blink, she's gone. One false step, broken hip. These are the things that keep me up at night. Thankfully, MIL was able to get a hold of a teenage daughter of a friend who said she'd tag along; young legs and faster reflexes. I was good to go....except for this snow business.
The phone rang a little after 8am. It was Instructor Dude - my clown mentor.
INSTRUCTOR DUDE: Have you looked outside?
DMG: Yeah....
INSTUCTOR DUDE: Do we still want to do this?
He was walking in the parade too.
DMG: Yeah...I'm kind of locked in at this point. Do you want out?
INSTRUCTOR DUDE: I'm game if you are!
DMG: Let's do it. We'll be iron clowns!
My costume was ready to go but I needed to layer underneath for warmth. It's a good thing clown pants are baggy. Mercifully, my long underwear still fit my 5-month-pregnant figure and I borrowed a pair of Hubby's flannel boxers. Gave little girl a good laugh, "You look like Daddy!" Thanks kid....go away.... A short light green jacket completed the look - warm but didn't cover up or work against my costume.
Babysitters #1 and #2 arrived and we loaded up the car. We were early but better to be early than do laps looking for a parking place. Burned a little clock sitting in the warm car before I had to meet the other clowns. After awhile, little girl with babysitters in tow walked across the street to Embassy Suits and I met up with Instructor Dude to get in place at the start of the parade.
By then the snow was finally letting up. We found the rest of our group and killed some more clock entertaining some folks in a nice warm coffee shop. Can't remember the name of the shop but the funniest coffee on the menu was called a Monkey Business Latte'.
Finally, it was show time! Our clown trio jumped in line shortly after the colors and got into our schtick. I did my feather duster gag and it seemed to go over well. Instructor Dude amazed the crowd with his magic and had them laughing with some other props. Rounding out our trio was, Z, a new clown who plays the spoons and specializes in other wacky sound effects. The crowd was plentiful and eager to have fun. Best of all, the snow stopped completely and the day gradually warmed up as we marched. I never even thought about the cold. By the middle of the parade, the sun was out.
Everybody had a great time! I'm glad we didn't let the early morning snow scare us off, which was long gone by the end of the parade. Little girl was thrilled to see mommy in-clown and marching in the parade. Instructor Dude is also one of her favorite clowns so she was all grins. She also had a lot of fun with Babysitter #2 - they were thick as theives giggling in the backseat of the car.
MIL looked a little worn out on the ride home. She said little girl was well behaved but she was still glad to have the extra pair of hands and eyes with Babysitter #2. Yesssss!!! That's the closest we'll ever get to having her admit that maybe it was more than she could have handled on her own (score one for hubby and me!).
That was my first time marching in a parade in-clown. It really was a lot of fun! Not sure when I'll be able to do it again. Not sure I'll be able to do too many parades between now and when our little el nino comes in July.
Down the road! :o)
I woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window. Snow. More than just the snow showers the weatherman had predicted - a half inch on the ground and more flakes falling thick and fast.
I was committed to walk (in-clown) in the Saint Patrick's Day parade (I should be committed...to a state run institution). Darling daughter had been talking about it all week. It had taken a lot of logistical jockeying to get us to this point. Hubby was out of town so I had to get mother-in-law to take her to the parade while I marched but I also had to line up a babysitter for the babysitter.
MIL is fine for babysitting around the house but doesn't get around very well. Hubby and I share the concern that if we turned MIL and little girl loose on downtown Des Moines it would be too much for MIL to handle. Daughter is almost 5 and fairly well behaved but very active and with a mind of her own. One blink, she's gone. One false step, broken hip. These are the things that keep me up at night. Thankfully, MIL was able to get a hold of a teenage daughter of a friend who said she'd tag along; young legs and faster reflexes. I was good to go....except for this snow business.
The phone rang a little after 8am. It was Instructor Dude - my clown mentor.
INSTRUCTOR DUDE: Have you looked outside?
DMG: Yeah....
INSTUCTOR DUDE: Do we still want to do this?
He was walking in the parade too.
DMG: Yeah...I'm kind of locked in at this point. Do you want out?
INSTRUCTOR DUDE: I'm game if you are!
DMG: Let's do it. We'll be iron clowns!
My costume was ready to go but I needed to layer underneath for warmth. It's a good thing clown pants are baggy. Mercifully, my long underwear still fit my 5-month-pregnant figure and I borrowed a pair of Hubby's flannel boxers. Gave little girl a good laugh, "You look like Daddy!" Thanks kid....go away.... A short light green jacket completed the look - warm but didn't cover up or work against my costume.
Babysitters #1 and #2 arrived and we loaded up the car. We were early but better to be early than do laps looking for a parking place. Burned a little clock sitting in the warm car before I had to meet the other clowns. After awhile, little girl with babysitters in tow walked across the street to Embassy Suits and I met up with Instructor Dude to get in place at the start of the parade.
By then the snow was finally letting up. We found the rest of our group and killed some more clock entertaining some folks in a nice warm coffee shop. Can't remember the name of the shop but the funniest coffee on the menu was called a Monkey Business Latte'.
Finally, it was show time! Our clown trio jumped in line shortly after the colors and got into our schtick. I did my feather duster gag and it seemed to go over well. Instructor Dude amazed the crowd with his magic and had them laughing with some other props. Rounding out our trio was, Z, a new clown who plays the spoons and specializes in other wacky sound effects. The crowd was plentiful and eager to have fun. Best of all, the snow stopped completely and the day gradually warmed up as we marched. I never even thought about the cold. By the middle of the parade, the sun was out.
Everybody had a great time! I'm glad we didn't let the early morning snow scare us off, which was long gone by the end of the parade. Little girl was thrilled to see mommy in-clown and marching in the parade. Instructor Dude is also one of her favorite clowns so she was all grins. She also had a lot of fun with Babysitter #2 - they were thick as theives giggling in the backseat of the car.
MIL looked a little worn out on the ride home. She said little girl was well behaved but she was still glad to have the extra pair of hands and eyes with Babysitter #2. Yesssss!!! That's the closest we'll ever get to having her admit that maybe it was more than she could have handled on her own (score one for hubby and me!).
That was my first time marching in a parade in-clown. It really was a lot of fun! Not sure when I'll be able to do it again. Not sure I'll be able to do too many parades between now and when our little el nino comes in July.
Down the road! :o)
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