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After enduring mock attacks by an inflatable elephant trunk and then a shark while waiting for Santa in Auckland yesterday, the Kahle youngsters seemed ready for just about anything.
But a water-bottle ambush by Mathew Kahle on his 9-year-old daughter Te Rina and her cousins, twin brothers Jayden and Cohurn, 5, and sister Santana, 4, was just the ticket as the sun started taking its toll an hour into the parade down Queen St.
Despite plenty of cover from hats and an umbrella, cheeks were reddening on the Manurewa twins as Mr Kahle crept up behind them in the five-deep crowd to squirt water over their heads.
His timing was impeccable, moments before a rotund bearded man in red appeared above them on his sleigh with a "ho, ho, ho" and a "merry, merry Christmas to my favourite town".
For all the competition Santa faced from more than 200 floats and performance acts before him in the parade, he remained a favourite for Te Rina.
"He's cool," was her verdict.
She also described being brushed by the errant trunk of Horton the Elephant as it swayed across Queen St beneath the giant helium-filled Dr Seuss character, one of several hired from overseas for the 75th anniversary of the event begun in 1934 by the Farmers Trading Company department store.
That was followed by a gentle "nibble" for one of the twins from a mock shark, and face-painting all round, courtesy of clowns.
Not even Scrooge could put a dampener on the event.
His "Christmas has been cancelled" declaration fell on deaf ears among a crowd estimated by the Auckland Children's Christmas Parade Trust at about 250,000.
"We've had 75 years of Farmers' parades and 2008 has to be at the top of the list for both fun and fantasy," said trust chairman Michael Barnett.
But most youngsters spoken to by the Herald appeared to have their Christmas present lists under reasonable control, and none owned up to anything too ambitious.
Caitlin Halls, 5, of Epsom had her heart set on a High School Musical T-shirt, although she quickly added a matching drink bottle when she realised she had the ear of her mother, Angela.
Her friend Evan Metcalfe, also 5, couldn't decide between a Stormtrooper or a Batman's Robin suit, but her four-year-old sister Allana wanted Santa to bring her a Baby Alone doll.
St John Ambulance reported few problems among a crowd which came generally well-prepared with sunscreen and cold drinks.
But one young parade volunteer had to be assisted after fainting inside a sweltering penguin suit while waiting for the event to start.
