FPHS Car Parade!

Well, we actually got to do some different today and it felt so GREAT!  After weeks and weeks and weeks of starting off every week day the same with home school, we took a break from our daily routine and headed out to Ron's high school at 9:15 this morning.  After hearing about how much the kids and I loved attending our elementary school's car parade a few weeks ago, Ron decided that he wanted to try it out with his school.  After discussing it with his admin team, he called a small committee of staff members to be in charge of planning their own parade.  After choosing a date, planning a route, and announcing the idea to his staff, the parade finally came to fruition this morning.  We had purchased red and black balloons, pulled out our red, Valentine's Day garlands, and made three very elaborate posters over the weekend to be ready.  The kids and I were all so excited to get dressed in red and black and to join Ron on this once-on-a-lifetime adventure with the rest of his staff at his school.  We also were just so happy to skip home schooling for once and to be together with a group of people to go and do something fun.  It is amazing to me how starved we have become for this kind of activity during these seven weeks of quarantine!
After arriving at his high school parking lot, it was so fun to see how the rest of the staff had decorated their cars with balloons to streamers to bubble machines to floaties to a cardinal mascot sitting on the back of a convertible mustang.  After waiting a few minutes, we were allowed to drive off as the third car in a massive line of honking cars following our police escort and a district school bus.  For the next two hours, we drove all over the city of Tacoma from very urban, inner city areas full of apartment complexes to rural, open areas full of country houses and farm lands.  Ron's high school covers quite the different demographic groups in his boundaries and it was quite fascinating to take this "tour" of his school.  Although his students and parents didn't come out in mass like our children's school (being high school and inner city), it was still so thrilling to wave and shout and honk at the students and their families whenever we saw them standing out on the street.  It was so fun to be part of this unusual and very spirited, high school event with Ron and the rest of his high school staff!  Go Cards!

The kids showing off our handmade signs before leaving the high school parking lot.

Ron and the three older kids sitting in the car waiting to leave!

A picture I took from the sun roof in Ron's car of the long line-up of cars following us while waiting at a red light.

A family photo we managed to get after returning back to the school two hours later although it meant that Ron's assistant principal had to use my phone.  Oh dear.  Let's hope that she didn't get the Coronavirus from touching it. :-)