Last night, my family and I ventured to the Upper West Side to see the balloon inflation event for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The only time I’ve seen the parade was in 1997 when high winds forced the NYPD to stab Barney & the Pink Panther. Here’s a few of the balloons we saw, fully intact!

We didn’t get to see Snoopy, but we did catch Peanuts protagonist Charlie Brown resting up for  some football shenanigans.

I don’t know who this caterpillar/snail/dragon dude is, but he was my favorite.

Did you know that from 1924 to 1926, live animals from the Central Park Zoo including lions, bears, and elephants were part of the Thanksgiving Day Parade? After scaring too many kids, they were replaced by the first giant balloon starring Felix the Cat. Now the parade features all of those original zoo animals in huge, helium filled form!