the MAcy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has become one of my favorite holiday events. as my kids get older they enjoy watching it with me more each year as well. they actually ask me to show them clips from youtube of older parades because they like them so much.
traditionally my family always started decorating the day after thanksgiving but the last 4 or 5 years i've tried to have the inside of the house mostly decorated by thanksgiving so i can enjoy the decorations of the tree, candles, snowmen, and my train village while the parade is on.
i was just on the wikipedia parade page and saw that there will be a few new balloons this year
"2009: Pillsbury Doughboy, Mickey Mouse (4th version; "Cruiseship Mickey"), Ronald McDonald (3rd version), Spider-Man (2nd version)[10]"
just thought i'd share that info for anyone else who enjoys this as part of their christmas celebration as well