Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2024

For the first time in years we experienced watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in the rain! Never in the past 12 years that we've been going has the parade been rained on. First time for everything I suppose. Nonetheless we had fun and endured it until the end. Some of us were drenched but luckily it wasn't freezing cold. We managed to come home in time to cook and have a nice thanksgiving dinner. So grateful to have Lexie and Hyrum here for thanksgiving. They say once the kids get married and are on their own holidays with them are shared and I hate sharing! Wish they can be here every year for every holiday. Here's hoping that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving filled with an abundance of love and gratitude.

Macy's 97th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade!

 

As I wrote in my previous post traditions are the best and I'm so glad that for the past 12 years we have managed to watch the parade in person! It's hard to believe Noah is the only boy left in the nest and that we still manage to go. These moments are extremely special to us and he's such a good sport to wake up early enough to go after all these years! I look back at the first time we went and it's bittersweet how fast all my kids have grown! Especially now that my girls are all young adults, but still...nostagia hurts sometimes because they are so missed especially around the holidays. 

I am so thankful to have Noah to hang with and do fun stuff with. I hope that he will make this a tradition with his future posterity and that he will continue to wake up early-at least for the next four years so that we can make more memories before he leaves the nest! 

Now for a few photos as I didn't take too many because I'm getting old and I actually want to enjoy the parade with what's left of my little fam Jon instead of having my phone glued to my hand! LOL!

96th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Not sure how many more parades we will attend in person but I'm hoping that we will continue to go even after the kids are grown up! Seeing the parade live in NYC is definitely a once in a lifetime thing to do especially if you are a New Yorker or live in the tristate area. People from all over the world travel to see this iconic event so anyone who lives close to the state of New York you have no excuse! GO! You will have so much fun and feel energized. Going to the parade despite our sleep depravation truly brings us joy and we always have a grand time cheering on those in the parade as well as making new friends along the way. It definitely is the perfect way to kick off the holiday season!

It's Thanksgiving Week!

Thanksgiving week has arrived here in NYC and we couldn't be more excited. Just looking at Tom Turkey atop the Macy's building in Herald Square definitely gets you in the holiday spirit and we are ready for it. But first, the Thanksgiving parade. We look forward to going and seeing it live. I'm sure the crowds will be crazy this year as opposed to years past but we've been going since 2012 so we are used to the crowds! I am so thankful for the blessing we have to be able to attend such an event and take in all the New York city moments while we are here. We absolutely love the city and cherish every nostalgic minute. Hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving week whether your prepping for Turkey day, traveling or spending it with loved ones. Hope y'all keep it a simple and sweet-chillaxin' thanksgiving day!

Macy's 95th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade!

The Macy's thanksgiving day parade is really fun to experience in person if you are in the city. This was the first time where we actually arrived close to 6am! We live in Jersey so the drive that early in the morning only took us about 45 minutes on the turnpike and it was so nice not having any traffic entering in! I recommend watching it down 6th avenue near radio city. Central Park west is a nice spot but in all honesty being near the park where the sun hits pictures may not look so great. So when you have a tall building like Radio City Music Hall blocking the sun you're photos will most likely won't have any sun spots and what not. But if you're not photographer and just want to sit and watch the parade then by all means you can go to any spot where the balloons will be passing!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade '19.

What a fun and wonderful thanksgiving parade we had this year! Love this tradition of going to the Macy's parade since we moved here. We never take our New York minutes for granted. Going to the parade and watching it live is as thriving as it is televised. I mean, the tv version doesn't do the live experience justice! The kids are getting older and continuing these moments with them has developed a stronger meaning of what tradition, and 'family bonding' really means to them. I'm so happy that they have already mentioned that they are going to do this when they have kids! Not sure where they'll end up living as they grow older, and move away but how fun it would be to even tell their future posterity stories of what traditions they had on holidays when they were kids. 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade '18.

In all our years of going to the Macy's parade on thanksgiving day have the temps ever been in the teens, and this past Thursday was the coldest day ever of fall! Tradition is tradition, and even though we heard that it would be brutal we put the warmest clothes we had on, and stocked up on hand and feet warmers in hopes that they would last all throughout the parade, and it did! 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade '17!

I can't believe another Thanksgiving has passed us by, and that this was our fifth year going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. We braved the cold temperatures this year (last year it was in the 50's) and stood for about an hour, and a half until the parade got to our part of Manhattan. We stood right smack in front of Radio city Music hall, and had a pretty good view of the floats. People are always kind to let Chelsea and Noah stand front and center of the parade. They had a clear view of all the floats, and people walking in the parade. It was nothing but magical, and fun. 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade '16.

Five years ago we began the tradition of going to the Macy's thanksgiving parade in New York, and every time we go there's always a new float, and balloons. The kids are fascinated by the balloons, and waking up at 5:30 in the morning to get a good spot is no easy feat, but because we've been going to the parade for so many years has made the kids get out of bed a bit easier. 

Thanksgiving Day 2015.

This is the second year in a row where we didn't do a thanksgiving dinner. The fact that we have no immediate family around gives us an excuse not to cook, and venture out to the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, and to spend the entire day in the city. Our kids have enjoyed going to the parade since the first time we went three years ago. I'm not sure we've made this a permanent tradition because there are years when I would love to invite a family, or someone who's on the same boat as us with no family around over for dinner. I know how it feels to be without, and to eat alone around the holidays. Those were the years when I was a young single adult, but now that I'm married with children I don't mind having our own little gathering, and just doing our own thing. We are that bonded as a family. Still...one of these years I would like to invite someone over who may be feeling alone on the holidays. Time will tell, but the kids are totally hooked on going to the parade every year, and in all honesty I can't say no to them because Jon and I both love going too!  

Lexie loves to see the marching bands that are performing, and of course Noah and Chelsea look forward to seeing which cartoon characters will be floating around Manhattan. There's something about seeing it live, and taking in all the excitement from the crowd. We always end up making new friends when we go. It's interesting to know how far families, and people travel just to see the parade. When I tell them we live in Jersey they say how lucky we are to live so close to New York, and to be able to expose our kids to diversity, and culture. I have to agree with them. As a youth I didn't go anywhere, or experienced any real family outings. I feel so fortunate to be able to do that with my kids, and no matter how old they get we will continue to explore with them. 

When Sierra saw my snapchat and saw that we went to the city she truly missed it, and misses hanging out with us. We face timed as soon as we got home, and we all talked about our thanksgiving day. I'm so glad she is with family, and that she's always had a nice holiday since she moved out west for school. Truly grateful for my in laws to take her in, and treat her like their own. The fact that my mother-in-law raised four boys, and one girl makes her extremely happy to have another girl in the house. We sure do miss her, but know that she is where she should be, and luckily she has time off from work so she can come out and visit us during the holidays as well as after the new year before she leaves for her mission. 

The weather was a perfect 61 degrees, and we stood comfortably warm among the crowd. Last year it was freezing, and towards the end of the parade snow flurries began to fall. So this time around we took our time, and walked around the city to window shop, and see all the decorations that surrounded fifth avenue, Radio City, and Rockefeller Center. 

Here are a few photos from the parade leading up to the end of the day...

This year they had scrat, and his acorn. The kids love the movie Ice Age so seeing this balloon was a real treat for them! 

I didn't take too many photos because I wanted to notice, and take in the feelings of the parade, and the city. If you take a gander at this post, you'll see how I captured so many photos of the parade. It was our first time taking my dear friend Maggie so it was mandatory to take all those photos! 

After it was over we walked towards fifth avenue, and saw the tree at Rockefeller Center. Super huge, and looks so dull when it's not lit! I just love the decorations they put out there. 

^^^ The angels and the tree in the background make a perfect backdrop for a perfect photo. As you can see there was room for my Sierra had she been here! ^^^ 

^^ When in New York it is a must that Noah eats a hot dog, and a pretzel. This kid just loves new york dogs, and pretzels. I have to say I don't blame him. They truly taste better than your regular store bought dogs. That and the pizza alone are the most delicious here compared to anywhere else! ^^^

^^^ Noah just strutting in the middle of the street after the parade. ^^^ 

We couldn't leave the city without venturing out to Central park.

The granite slide has become the kids favorite attraction, and if you look at this video you'll see why!  We could have stayed here for hours, and the kids could have played for days, but darkness was falling, and it was time to go home and have some grub. 

It was such a beautiful day, and as much as I complain about the little things, I am well aware of how much to be grateful for, and strive to find joy in the beauty in all things. 

So grateful for this day, and to be surrounded with my favorite people. I sure do love my family so, so much. I wish we could have more days like this like before the kids grew up! Spending it with them 24/7, but now the kids are no longer little. That is except for Noah & Chelsea. They grow up, get busy with school, and eventually move on their own, but luckily we have technology to stay in touch. I cherish these moments whether my kids are six, or 20! I count my blessings every single day, and I truly love my life. 

No matter the ups, and downs, I truly love my life! 

Whether or not y'all celebrate Thanksgiving I hope it was a great day for you, and that you are ready to kick off the holiday season! 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2014.

I love, love the holidays and I'm so grateful that we survived yet another holiday. This Thanksgiving turned out to be perfect in every way. We may not have cooked, had major family over, or prepared huge dishes, but spending it with one of my dear friends including my sweet family in New York City was perfection.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012

This Thanksgiving holiday there was no cooking for us to do, no dirty dishes to wash, & no cleaning up after anyone after dinner. It was just another adventurous day for the Jorgensen clan!

We did it.

We were brave enough to go see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade live, and in person! The weather was perfect, and all of our kids had a blast! We didn't mind the crowds, and we were lucky enough to have stood on a pretty good spot on 45th street. All of our kids were troopers including the little ones. Noah sat on dad's shoulders, and was in awe as he saw all of the balloons floating in the sky. Chelsea even made friends as there were many small children sitting up near the sidewalk.

Sierra, Lexie, and I stood along side millions of people as everyone was cheering on all the different bands that were playing. We snapped all kinds of photos, and I tried to get pictures of all the balloons & floats.

Here were some of my favorites...

Spidey! 

Buzz lightyear!

Elf on the shelf! What a cutie! 

Here is the Pillsbury dough boy in black & white..just like how it was filmed in the 50's.

Po from Kung Fu Panda.

Chelsea's fave...Hello Kitty!

Mickey!

Ronald McDonald

One of Noah's favorites...a dragon

Smurf from my generation!

Charlie Brown and the football he never gets a chance to kick!

And last, but not least...Santa Claus!

There were numerous bands playing, and floats that were very well decorated.

Ninja turtles!

The Big Apple!

Although we saw many celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg dressed as a pirate, Jimmy Fallon doing his signature dance, Flo-rida, Karmin, Colbie Caillat, Cody Simpson, & Jennette Mccurdy, the only picture I got to take was that of Trace Adkins! 

Going to the parade is the perfect way to get us into the Christmas spirit, and the perfect way to start decking the halls in our home.

We are so grateful to have had this opportunity with our children, and I know that they will never forget it.

Whoever says the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade is a boring tradition, or too chaotic too attend...don't knock it until you are actually there in person to witness it!

It. Was. A. Blast!

And we would go again in a heartbeat...with four kids in tow!