Santa Parade

Last Sunday we went and picked our grandson Zack up to go to the Santa Parade in Auckland. It was his first time so we decided to make it a bit more special and travel from Papakura by train.
We had a good trip in and joined our daughter Pania and her 6 children amongst the crowds lining the streets. This was where i discovered that i should have taken a blanket to sit on (remember that for next year) so we had to sit on the pavement.

After a short wait there was a lot of give-aways for the kids so that kept them amused until the parade started.

As I spent all afternoon holding Zack I could not take any photos of the parade but it was very rewarding to see the excitement on the kids faces when they recognised characters like the simpsons, bob the builder, sponge bob and of course the biggest cheer was for Santa.

After the parade we went to Aotea centre for more amusement and give-aways. Soon it was time to take the train back so we decided to take Phoenix with us as she had never been on one before.

On the way back Zack suddenly got excited as he saw Santa on the platform when the train stopped. Yes it was Santa leaving his reindeer behind and joining us on the train.

Soon we arrived back at Papakura and we thought it was so sweet how Phoenix and Zack stayed close to each other all day and even held hands when walking.

After saying goodbye to Zack we took Phoenix home to find that Pania and her partner Patti had arranged a BBQ for us. Soon it was time for us to head home, tired but happy that our grandchildren had a good time.

Take care.