Holiday Parade Sat Dec 5 - where to park and stand with little kids?

Planning ahead for the Little Rock Holiday Parade on Saturday Dec 5. The details are here if you haven't seen them. Family fun runs 2 to 5:30, the parade steps off at 3 from Broadway and West Markham and ends up near I-30, and there's a float competition this year. Then fireworks at the State Capitol.

We're in the Quapaw Quarter so we're close, but I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old and I don't trust them to walk all the way down and back in the cold. So for those of you who've done this before:

1. Where do you park? Is it worth getting there early for a deck, or is there a street spot people swear by?
2. Where's a good spot to stand with little kids? Somewhere they can actually see over the adults and where we're not wedged in a crowd for two hours.
3. Do you stay for the fireworks or bail after the parade? Not sure the kids make it to dark.

Also, I'm already checking the forecast like it's a hobby (you all know me). If it's one of those gray, windy Decembers I'll be bringing every blanket we own. Any tips on where to find some shelter from the wind would be great too.

Since you're in the Quapaw Quarter I'd just walk up as far as the kids can manage and skip the parking mess altogether. Even a few blocks of walking beats circling for a deck at 2:45 with two cold kids in the back seat.

For watching, I'd go toward the I-30 end, where the parade is winding down. The crowd thins out there compared to the start at Broadway and Markham, and the kids can get right up to the curb. Throw a little folding stool in the bag too. A 4 year old on a stool at the front sees more than one on somebody's shoulders in the back row.

Wind is mostly about what's behind you. Put a building at your back and it's ten degrees warmer than standing out in the open on a corner. Don't trust the forecast until that Wednesday or Thursday, because anything farther out is a guess. December here can be 65 and sunny or sleet.

I'd bail after the parade. Fireworks at the Capitol don't start till after dark and a 4 year old won't make it. We usually did the parade and then hot chocolate and home.