Our Secret Thanksgiving Parade Report!

Hi everybody! Awake from your turkey coma yet? My pal Jazz (that was his Mom with mine as Lilypads in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) and I thought we'd share some behind-the-scenes photos of the big parade with you.

For our international friends, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a long-standing American tradition. This was the 83rd parade, with over 10,000 participants and 800 clowns! There are more than 3 million people on the streets to watch the parade and another 44 million watching on TV. And no, I wasn't really in the parade. Most of the participants - balloon handlers and clowns - are Macy's employees from across the country. Mom was sponsored by a friend who produces special events for Macy's. He wrote 4 of the songs performed in the parade, including "I Believe" which was nominated for an Emmy Award!

Thanksgiving Eve, Mommy met up with our pal Nelle who is a first-year student at RISD to watch the balloon inflation. This is almost as big a deal as the parade! Maybe you saw a Seinfeld episode about it? Lots of people who have apartments around the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side have parties that night.

It was a big drizzly and there were tons of people checking out the balloons.

This poor fireman looks like he's fallen down! There are nets over the balloons to keep them from floating away. In the early years of the parade, they'd release the balloons at the end and if you found one, it had an address on it so you could return it and get a reward. The big pink balloon is Abby Kadabby.

For the past few years, American artists have designed balloons as well.

Ooohh!! They're about to inflate Pikachu. First they roll him out....

then start unfolding....

...and more unfolding. Got to get that net over him too.

It takes quite a while to inflate a balloon. The inflations begin at 3:00 pm and end around 10:00 pm. Thousands of people will walk by to see them.

Here's the Energizer Bunny! He's 8 stories tall!

Poor Kermit! It isn't easy being green. Or face down.

Spiderman was back this year! He's super cool as the lines look like webs coming off of him. He's really huge - almost half a block long.

Okay Nelle! It's getting really soggy now - let's get some dinner.

Yikes! Mom's alarm didn't go off! So instead of waking up at 5:20, she woke up at 5:50! Luckily she had all her clothes laid out and ready to go. She arrived at the New Yorker Hotel - parade headquarters - around 6:05 am and still had to wait outside for about 40 minutes.

Once inside, there's a ballroom filled with costumes on racks, all in alphabetical order. It's a crazy hodge podge of snowmen, cactus and cowboys, dog walkers, flower pots, birthday cake - you name it!

After you get into your costume, you head to the next ballroom that's filled with make-up artists. They have a long list of the different types of clowns and who gets what makeup.

Here's Jazz's Mom getting her face done. Don't worry ladies, this isn't what happens when you get your makeup done on the main floor of Macy's.

TA DA! All dressed and made-up and ready to head to the buses! It's about 7:30 am now. The Parade kicks off at 9:00 sharp.

On to the buses that take us from the New Yorker Hotel on 34th street up to the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West. Anyone who looks over at one of these buses on the road would be in for big surprise!

Without the crowds, it's much easier to see the balloons as we make our way to Clown Corner. Hey! There's our pal Pikachu looking much plumper than when we last saw him. The floats, which are beautifully detailed, are built to fold down small enough to fit through the tunnel from New Jersey.

With all the excitement of the Parade, this poor pilgrim seems to have lost his head. (This is Mom's favorite photo!)

At Clown Corner, clown groups are assembled as the parade gets lined up.
It looks crazy, but it's really well organized! BAM! The confetti guns go off and Al Roker cuts the ribbon and the parade begins!

A loud speaker announces every one..."Safari Clowns (that's us!!!)...please join the parade!"

And we're off - the fastest, most fun 2 1/2 mile walk/skip through Manhattan down to the cameras and action in Herald Square.

Santa arrives at the end of the parade to officially kick off the holiday season. The little girl in the white hat is starring in the current Macy's holiday commercial - she's a ringer for a young Natalie Woods from "Miracle on 34th Street." She was thrilled to be asked to be in the parade, especially as she still believes in Santa and got to sit right next to him in his sleigh. Talk about a memory to last a lifetime.

For us clowns, the parade ends where it began at the New Yorker hotel. It's now about 10:30, so Jazz's Mom and my mom change out of their costumes, wipe off their clown makeup with baby oil (yuk!) and hop a cab back uptown for some pancakes!

Look who we passed as we drove through Columbus Circle. It reminded Mommy of the Sta-Puf Marshmellow Man in Ghostbusters!

Home for a nap and a nice walk around the neighborhood — it was nearly 60 degrees in New York! Then Mom headed out for dinner with a group of friends who've spent Thanksgiving together for the last 16 years. (This was Mom's 8th!) Everyone brings something and it is all soooo delicious. We had a big crowd this year which called for a whopping 25 pound turkey!

Our host and hostess live in a penthouse apartment directly across the street from the Empire State Building. They have a ginormous deck and just look at the view!!!

In case you felt that I was neglected on Thanksgiving, fear not! I had this delicious carob-coated cookie from my pal Bear. Mommy barely got a snapshot of it before I gobble-gobbled it up.

And look! There were even leftovers the next day!!!

Thanks to everyone who has been so great about passing along the "Blessings" award! If the wing of a butterfly can cause a hurricane on the other side of the globe, just imagine what the world would be liked if every being knew they were a blessing to someone else. So please - keep it going until every doggie, kitty cat and hammie knows that they are blessed. That's my Thanksgiving prayer.