Oh Happy Day

March 17 is a big day in our house. Not only is it St. Patrick's Day, which is a super fun holiday to celebrate (for both drunkards and people with small children alike) BUT it also is our dear, sweet puppy dog Jackson Brown's birthday. We were thrilled to help Jackie celebrate his 11th birthday! In addition to presenting Jack with a new toy and bone, the boys insisted that we celebrate his birthday in style with noisemakers and a true party atmosphere! They even asked me to put a candle in a blueberry muffin and we all sang happy birthday to him. Jack then happily gobbled up his blueberry muffin and, exhaused from the action, retired to the corner of the family room for a nap; he is an old man, after all!

The boys were thrilled to discover some St. Patrick's Day goodies decorating the kitchen table when they woke up; nothing fancy, just some beads and gold coins and two new green shamrock mugs. It doesn't take much to excite these two!

Breakfast consisted of blueberry muffins along with Lucky Charms cereal with green milk. Ben gagged and was a bit horrified until I assured him that it was simply milk with green food coloring. He then happily gobbled up the sugary goodness!

Ben had to go to school but Joey and I decided to head downtown and meet some friends for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. We. Had. A. Blast. A tradition is definitely born. Joey was WONDERFUL. He thought it was so cool to have his lunch while sitting on a curb taking in all the sites. The Indy St. Pat's parade is a very low-budget (or "no-budget" as my friend, Ang, said) production that consisted mostly of Catholic school kids walking and passing out candy and beads! There were a few bands, though, and that was definitely Joey's favorite part. He loved the flag girls because they reminded him of his cousin Casey and he thought the drums were "so cool." He also loved seeing Blue and Boomer (the Colts and Pacers mascots). We were at the parade for about 2 hours and left tired and happy.

After a quick stop at home it was time to pick up Ben from school. The weather was gorgeous; about 70 degrees and sunny. The boys and I decided that it was a must that we hit up our neighborhood park. We ran around and happily played for an hour or so and then walked home where the outdoor party continued with several neighbors coming over to play basketball and soccer.

Nana stopped by for a brief visit and Daddy came home early so it was truly the perfect day. We grilled out hot dogs for dinner and were in bed at a decent time. Perhaps the best part of the day was that Joe was so exhausted he actually stayed in his own bed all night long! Talk about the Luck o' the Irish; that almost never happens!