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I just got home and I can’t begin to express how happy I am to be in my own house!

Yesterday (our last day in California) was spent at Sea World. We all saw a bunch of shows and most importantly we got to see Shamu! He is a killer whale and Sea World is known for him. It was a very pleasant relaxing day. My favorite show was the dolphin show. I was amazed at how high the dolphins could jump. After Sea World we went to Seaport Village for dinner. It had a bunch of restaurants and little shops. We got back to the hotel around 9:00 pm California time. I know that we all enjoyed our final day in California.

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Today after breakfast we went to go look at all the floats. It was so wonderful to get to see them since we had only been able to see a few. I was amazed with all the colors and how many flowers there were. Some red roses had already started to turn black and others were drooping. It is crazy to think about how much time and effort people put into decorating them for one day only.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

This morning we finally marched in the 2008 Tournament of Roses parade! It was everything I had hoped it would be. The crowd was fantastic and I couldn’t believe how many people came to the parade. I am proud to say that no one in the Broughton Band dropped out! The floats were all absolutely gorgeous and I am so glad I can say that I have marched in the Tournament of Roses parade. Luckily I made it out of the parade with only one tiny blister. At the end of the parade most of us still had a lot of adrenaline running through us so the exhaustion hadn’t hit us quite yet. Throughout the parade the audience had posters for the different schools and posters and posters saying only three more miles. I know it all made us smile to see how the crowd was rooting us on. My favorite part was when we only had about a quarter of a mile left and when we looked down on the pavement their were chalk drawings saying “just a little bit more”. It was the crowd and their signs and their chalk drawings that kept us going till the end. It was an experience of a lifetime and I will never forget how good it felt to step off and play our music to the sounds of thousands of cheers.

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Today was a relaxing day but we are all exhausted and ready to go to bed.

We were finally able to sleep in today! Breakfast was at 8:30 California time and after that we went to Santa Monica beach and stayed for a couple of hours. After that we headed back to the hotel for one last practice and then a dinner with the band from South Dakota and the band from Switzerland. We just finished cleaning our shoes and are getting ready to go to bed.

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This morning we performed at Band Fest. Which were all the bands that are in parade performing their field shows. We performed right after Pasadena City College who had on gorgeous red uniforms. As a whole we played great and we were all glad it was the last time we would ever perform our field show. It was a great final run through.

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My plane arrived yesterday at about 4:00pm California time. I was on the flight that had a lay over in Denver. Lucky everything went pretty smoothly and we had no problems with our luggage or making our flights. We then had a two-hour drive to the hotel. By the time we got to the hotel we were all exhausted and ready for some food. For the rest of the night we hung out until dinner and then we all gladly went to our rooms to get a good night’s sleep. We had a big day ahead of us. Our first full day in California was a long one!

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We just had our final rehearsal before we leave. It was a long rehearsal and most of us have to come back at 1:45 am. We are tired and are dreading the long day ahead of us - but we can't wait to arrive in California.

Today's rehearsal consisted of about two hours practicing our field show and the turn, and the rest of it was spent marching in circles around the track playing our parade music. There is this really sharp turn on the parade route in Pasadena, and it is really hard to march. Our drum major draws the lines on the dirt of our practice football field in an attempt to simulate the turn in Pasadena. When we went inside after practicing the parade music, we were all glad to sit down. While we were sitting, JR talked to us about what is happening later on today to make sure everybody understood what was about to happen. After that, we put our instruments in stacks based on which flight we are on and left.

        Hello all! My name is Catherine and I am a junior who plays trombone in the Broughton Band. Our band director is the famous JR, and I am lucky enough to have known him for almost ten years now. I saw my brother play in the Broughton Band when I was seven years old, and I knew that I would want to follow in his footsteps. So here I am ten years later doing what I always wanted to do. I hope that as you follow and watch our trip unfold, you will see how much fun we have in the Broughton Band.

        As our trip gets closer and closer, we all are getting more excited everyday.This trip to California has snuck up on us all so quickly. It feels las though JR was just telling us we were accepted to be a part of the Rose Parade- which was a full year ago. Everybody is excited and ready to leave. We all have been working so hard to make sure we get our music down just right.

The Needham B. Broughton High School Band will be marching in the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. To read more about the band, go here. To go to the band's web site, go here. Updates on the band's experience at the Rose Parade will be posted here.