If you were around last year, you may remember we participated in our city's annual Independence Day parade! For our float, I made a huge "itsy bitsy spider" and a waterspout in honor of Damian's very favorite song.
Here's the video I made last year about it:
Not only did Damian absolutely love doing it (there were a few times I caught him giggling at all the people waving to him as we marched!), but we passed out hundreds of flyers last year and received tons of donations! It was certainly worth the effort, so I've been wracking my brain ever since to come up with a new idea for this year.
Each year, the Santa Clarita Valley's parade team comes up with a new theme that they encourage people to stick to (though it's not a requirement). This year the theme is: "Celebrate Independence the SCV way: Live, Work, Play!"
The theme immediately made me think of how Damian's playtime is also hard work. He likes playing with toys in his daily therapies and at home, but it's quite a workout!
Was there a way we could represent Damian's playtime somehow in float form?
I asked everyone in my Instagram stories for suggestions and many of you were thinking along the same lines as me! Something that represents Damian's desire to play but also working hard... and then it also needs to be visually eye-catching and memorable.
Well, I finally came up with an idea I couldn't stop thinking about!
*Drum roll!!*
Our 2023 Parade Float Concept
"Hungry for Treatment!"
What could possibly be more eye-catching than a bunch of larger-than-life Eric Carle illustrations??
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is one of Damian's all-time favorite books, so although I didn't think about this until now, it seems pretty fitting that we do a float themed after a favorite book when last year's float was based on Damian's favorite song.
What do you all think??
Remembering how time-intensive last year's float was, as I figure out how to pull this off I am really trying to keep this as simple as possible. If I can keep at least all the food 2-dimensional rather than 3D, I think those pieces should be pretty quick to make. The caterpillar might be a bit trickier, but I already have some ideas on how to make it happen...
To-Do List!!!
Make Caterpillar
Make Food Pieces (I'm going to try to make at least 4!)
Design & print flyers
Print new car magnets
Wash car
We can do this, right?? July is already just around the corner, so I definitely need to get started!!
Follow my Instagram stories for live updates, this is going to be fun!!
💙💙