Before the festivities began, four Bellingham Police officers on motorcycles lined up to mark the start of the parade. In front of the imposing bike cops was 2-year-old Ryan Rousseau, riding a much smaller, plastic, pedal-powered version of the police bikes.

Ryan’s parents, Mike and Chris, tried desperately to get their son’s attention for a photograph, but the 2-year-old’s eyes were fixed on the men in blue behind him.

“Last year he was so excited and fascinated by the (marching) bands that we said, ‘We gotta go again this year,’” Ryan’s grandmother Ann Rousseau said.

Barb Cummings watched for her granddaughter Ciara to come by with a local preschool. Cummings said junior Ski to Sea ranks as one of the area’s best parades.

“It’s my favorite of all, because the kids are what it’s all about,” Cummings said.

More than 40 kids from Lakeside Cooperative Preschool and their parents marched with a makeshift train that read, “Education is the transportation to the future.”

Kealoha Harmon and Lee Everett, parents of 3-year-old Stephen Harmon and 4-year-old Samara Everett, said the kids had a great time in what was the first parade for some.

“The kids love it,” Lee Everett said. “And we get to do another (parade) next weekend.”

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