The Tournament of Roses Float and a crisis from New York

Chloe and her classmates spent the day in Pasadena yesterday working on a float for the Tournament of Roses parade...

 

 Here's Chloe and a friend gathering supplies.

Lots of supplies.

This is the float as it is for now.  There was a terrible wind storm in Pasadena last week which downed trees, caused power outages, and unfortunately set back progress on the float. The kids wound up redoing a lot of work that was damaged.

This is the top part of the float.

And here's a closeup on the side.

It's a great design and the theme is "When Life Gives You Lemons", and has aliens in it!

Here the kids are sorting flower holders.

And making green leaves.

This is what you get when you loan a middle schooler your camera... Chloe's shoes are the ones that are drawn all over.

And this is the talented woman who designed the float.  I don't know her name but all the kids were invited to come back with their families on the last week of December to help decorate.  We're already signed up! So maybe I'll get to meet her and let you know!  For more info on the float you can check it out here!

Unfortunately I've got some sad news from my friends and neighbors in New York.  Our friends Joe and Joanne Cartelli suffered a terrible house fire last night. They lost so much including several cats.  The worst part is the tragic death of their son's teenage friend who was sleeping over.  Their son is in the hospital recovering.  Today I'm just so sad for them.