"Doctor Martin Luther King Junior" Day

M&M were so excited for Martin Luther King day, you'd have thought it was one of their birthdays!

And it's so cute...they never call him "Martin Luther King" or "MLK"...

it's always:

DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR.

Makes me laugh.

And Mariah reminded me over and over again what a great man he was, to which I agreed. She went so far as to tell me "Doctor Martin Luther King saved the world!". I said whoa whoa whoa....he was a great man but I think you've got him mixed up with another King. The one we celebrate at Christmas. :o)

The most awesome drill team ever (also known as Sherry's Gotta Dance Drill Team) was in a parade on Saturday, which we all went downtown to watch:

Mallory, smile with your Skittle for Mama...

The MLK parade was not my favorite parade of the Drill Team season, for a few reasons.

1. It was so incredibly crowded

2. The people in the crowd (at least the ones next to us) were oblivious to others around them

3. We stood in the same place (because we couldn't move an inch....see #s 1 & 2) for about 3 hours before the Drill Team made their appearance

4. The little girl from the family next to us (who was crowding us out of our well-earned seats) spilled her juice drink, then proceeded to dip her pom-pom in it and shake it all around. Which caused juicey mud to splatter all over us. Her parents? Oblivious.

5. I got a parking ticket because I assumed we'd be in and out of there in 1.5 hours like every other parade of the year....the whole 3-hour thing, I wasn't prepared for.

6. And lastly, I've never felt so out of place in my whole life (except maybe in high school). I do realize it was a Martin Luther King parade, and that a certain group of people might find the day more celebretory than others, but still.

Look at this picture (I should have left the whole thing in color to show it better) and see if you can guess why we felt out of place:

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course! :o)

But there was one reason why this parade was extra awesome despite the factors listed above....

the girls won first place!

They always win first place, they've never not won first place....unless there was also a Sweepstakes award, then they won that one.

Even though it was hardly a surprise, it was a proud moment nonetheless.

It happens the same w/ every parade....you sit there and you watch countless other groups come through. And they're good, they're different, they're exciting. Some have super nice outfits, some have lots of skill, some are extra cute.

But then Arissa's group comes through and just blows you away. They sparkle and shine, their outfits and their sweet smiling faces. Their routine is amazing, they just look together and fantastic. They totally deserve every trophey or award or "oo" and "ah" from the crowd that they've ever gotten.

And I guess it makes them all the more amazing because we know & love each of these girls, and we know all their sweet, happy personalities. They are such a super group of girls.

Everybody but Arissa is in this pic...we had to leave right after the parade for a birthday party. :o( Awesome photo though, isn't it? Thank you, Andrea (or Blanca, I'm not sure who took it)!