Leftover photos from the Cocoa Beach Christmas parade

An Indian motorcycle-riding participant in the Cocoa Beach Christmas parade on Dec. 12 throws beads to a child, who readies for the catch.

To everyone's surprise, the boy caught the beads and promptly donned them.

A woman throws candy from a John Deere.

Two British children are dressed as reindeer.

A Cub Scout gives out candy.

Children look down State Road A1A in downtown Cocoa Beach to see who's coming next.

Sibling love.

The gift of a dinosaur.

Hank, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer from "King of the Hill" watch the parade while drinking beer.

A boy unwraps a lemon Starburst candy.

A firefighter picks up a Tootsie Roll that he had dropped.

Children reach out for candy.

A dog owner smiles after the pooch received a treat from a parade participant.

A boy and parade participant throws beads from a float.

Even the dogs got into the spirit.

Children gather candy from people riding in a Ford Mustang.

They were serious about getting the most candy as possible.

A boy recoils after getting showered with more candy than expected.

A woman chucks candy from a handprint-covered truck.

I was going for a reflection shot here.

People watch a young lady and her dog next to Heidelberg, one of my favorite Cocoa Beach restaurants that serves German cuisine.

Another dog.

And one more.

A group of teenage girls signal for a truck driver to sound his air horn. He did.

Mom and daughter wave to Santa, the parade's grand finale.

Also see
20 photos of Christmas, Day 7 | Future Santa Claus
20 photos of Christmas, Day 13 | The season's simplicity through children

Photos | Free chicken for a year? When cows fly!

Chick-Fil-A has caused a stir in Brevard County this week with special promotions for its opening of a location in Viera, just north of Melbourne. Its first 100 customers Thursday received coupons for free meals for a year. And on Saturday, a helicopter dropped 200 stuffed cows, in spurts of about 50 each, onto hundreds of mostly children and their parents waiting in a parking lot. One of the 200 was the sacred cow, of sorts, that also was the ticket to free chicken and waffle fries once a week for 52 weeks. Above, the first division of bovine paratroopers transit the sun on the way to the ground - or in some cases, the trees or the top of the hotel next to the restaurant. A lone hand reaches desperately.

Two Chick-Fil-A fans spot the chopper as it arrives on the scene Saturday afternoon. It circled twice before a man in the co-pilot's chair started shoving the cows out the door.

I ran into a co-worker, Mike, who is holding his son as he points out the daredevil maneuvers in the sky. The drop was around the time of day, about 4 p.m., when the clouds start pushing in. On Saturday, there was a clear contrast of white and blue.

In his final drop, the man shoving the cows to certain hard landings finally judged the wind correctly. Most of these stuffed animals made it to the ground instead of the top of the Holiday Inn. At right, someone stands on a covered entrance to the hotel.