The Wearing of the Green

So now that I've recovered, hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day! Mine was so fun. I was at Bridget's for breakfast by 8:15 and we left for Mass at the Cathedral by 9. After Mass, we went to the Galleria (I'd never actually been there before) and had a quick lunch in the food court before heading out to set up camp for the parade. Chris had to be wherever by noon, so we got to our "seats" (at E. 17th and Superior) by 11:45. Parade was scheduled for a 1pm start - they were 10 min late. Alright, that sets the scene, here is the rest of my day through photos.Where the parade started, 1 hour before start time.Half an hour before start time.Trying to keep a 2 year old amused while just sitting on a sidewalk - she thought the "Aunt Annie's alligator" bit of this book hilarious with me sitting next to her.Fifteen minutes before start time. See the annoying people starting to crowd into the street? That group would grow and we ended up only having a small window in front of us to see the parade. Cops are useless sometimes.Finally, it starts! I had hoped to take a picture of Kaylee in her sweater with the parade in the background, but it got too hot 45 minutes before it started and the sweater came off. By the end we girls all had a bit of sunburn - sunburn in Cleveland in March - so crazy! The pipes and drums of the Cleveland Police - the only pipes and drums I'll show, because it gets a bit redundant.Chris marching with his fellow officers.Had to take a shot of the Marines. Didn't get a good shot due to every news stations camera guys setting up with the group of annoying people in the bus lane. You've now seen 2 of them in my shots. Slider from the Indians. The Hot Dogs were there too, carrying signs telling everyone that Opening Day is in 24 (now 23) days!This was the closest we saw to dancing in the parade. They did a kind of weaving thing while marching. And the rest of the parade pics were shot as I was trying to keep up with Chris - speed walking back to the car in order to beat the buses back to the IAC.The alma mater's marching band, we only just missed them playing.The dancers from Bridget's dance school, why we didn't stick around for them I'm not 100% sure... and by that point they really didn't need those sweat shirts anymore, it got up to about 70!

We stopped briefly when a newscaster stopped them for a photo - notice the mock "Quiet Man" cottage in the background.I turned around to snap a pic of Brutus, the OSU Buckeye for Ellie.Kaylee was mostly happy to have a balloon - a major highlight of her day.Most of the rest of the day was spent at the East Side IA Club, chasing Kaylee around the dance floor.

I was a bit worried when the DJ (some of you will recall him from John and Janessa's wedding, yeah, that guy) started handing out props. Small children+no naps+sensory overload+props= meltdowns. Oi.

Hard to get a 2 year old to realize that the point for the game is to balance the feather on your nose.Kaylee taking a break. Too cute not to take a picture of.Kaylee did really well for not taking a nap, but as you can see, by 5 pm she was fading. The eyes kind of glazed and stared off into space while she ate her granola bar.Just the girls, living it up.

Kaylee getting down, not surprising that she crashed shortly afterwards.

So tired, she stopped dancing, stopped walking.And yet, very unwilling to leave the dance floor. Knowing that by leaving the dance floor, the adults would attempt to make her leave the club, putting her ever closer to bed time. Unacceptable. But inevitable. We did manage to get her out the door and in the car to get home.It took some convincing, but I talked Kaylee into putting the sweater on again, only if she could wear Chris' hat too though. And then it was up to the tub and bed, where she passed out almost as soon as the binky was in her mouth.

And then the grown ups ate some brie (spelling?) and had some Irish Cream while talking. All in all, a really great day.