Getting Ready for St. Patrick's Day!

This Saturday was the Alexandria St. Patrick's Day parade and it sure was a beautiful day for a parade. I think last year it was about 35 degrees and we camped out in the Chipotle on King St. But this year, we had front row seats and got all decked out from Ali's secret stash of green beads and tattoos and other paraphernalia. Our favorite part, as always, was the Shriners in their little go-karts. Every year I go home and think, "I have GOT to join that club," but I'm pretty sure no one under 65 is allowed in.

Click here for more pictures.

And on Sunday Jake had his official first "playdate" with a friend from school. Ali took him over and I stayed home with Sadie. Before we went outside, she insisted on making some movies. Here's one:

When I'm Not Home

Tonight after we FINALLY got Jake down for the night (long story), and after we watched the Wizards beat the Bucks and Obama beat Clinton, Ali went to bed and I cleaned up a little. I found the camera in the kitchen and turned it on and found this video. This cracks me up. Apparently Ali is running a little Irish indoctrination camp while I'm at work.

Getting Ready for St. Patrick's Day

Saturday was Alexandria's St. Patrick's Day Parade, and funny dog show and car show, etc., and we went down to check things out. It was a bit chilly, so we ducked into a Chipotle for a bite and to warm up. We got some seats right at the window looking out on the parade route and ate some traditional Irish fare -- guacamole and chips (hey, at least the guacamole was green). The parade was fun and both kids enjoyed the show. And we were happy because on the way home, two great things happened: 1) we stopped at the Italian Store in Arlington to pick up some hoagies and 2) both kids fell asleep which meant we could thoroughly enjoy our hoagies.

Here we are in Old Town, outside of a pub waiting for Ali to check out the scene inside. Turns out it was a bit too crowded for our little leprechauns: Oh, for those of you out there with little kids: I read somewhere that a funny thing to do on St. Patrick's Day is to mess up the house after the kids go to bed -- turn over furniture, open drawers, put pots and pans on the carpet -- and then tell your kids that the leprechauns came! The only challenge for us will be to make the distinction between the mess that Jake and Sadie make on a daily basis, and what the 'leprechauns' do.

Racecar

After going to the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown on Sunday, Jake's new word is "Racecar". We watched the Irish step dancers and the marching bands and firetrucks, but I think his favorite part was the shriners driving in their little go carts. And to be honest, that was my favorite part too. These guys drive with the precision of the Blue Angels, and not one lost his fez through all the turns and manoeuvres.

When we came home Jake saw the neighborhood kids playing in their little kid car and he got a serious look on his face and calmly said "racecar", as he marched towards it. Here he is, engine idling.