St. Patrick's Day Parade 2013

Ahh... another year, another parade. We had lots of fun, a few meltdowns (despite our best efforts to prevent them), and made new memories... that within a few years will blend into the old ones. So that is why I have to write about it before I forget!

We went down on Friday and stopped at TaiPan (yeah!) and then went to our hotel. We love Residence Inn and their two bedroom suite is so big that it is perfect for us. Here is Emme testing out her bed for the night.

She got some pretty good jumps in before we decided we had probably make her stop. :)

Oh, man. I can't go to a hotel any more without thinking of Jim Gaffigan's bit where he talks about hotels. My favorite is how he describes when you first get there you are like, "Man, this place is sa-weet!" And then the next day you are like, "This place is a dump!" That is exactly what happens to us, but in about 10 minutes. Bags all over and shoes and "Where's the baby's bottle?!" and "I thought you got the diapers!" Good times. 

And, for those who know the reference.... "My dearest Gwendolyn,...."  Hehe....

Anyhoo... Bought Alex super expensive burritos from the hotel to ward off meltdowns because he wouldn't eat what we brought. Well worth it. Then off to Temple Square. 

Do you think that if I just posted all the pictures from last year, that anyone would notice??

I just thought this was a cute picture of Irelyn's pigtails.

Played around at City Creek a little. It was a cool set-up with the fountain that went with music that played. But the stores were all Porsche, Rolex, Tiffany's, etc. Yea, right. I would not be going there even without my kids.But it was still fun playing around- and the weather was awesome!!

 

 Because you can never have too many pictures of us playing in the fountain.

 

Then we ate at Golden Corral- because they are bound to have something that everyone will like. Alex gorged on chocolate ice cream and cotton candy. Hey, we did make him eat a piece of pizza first! 

Then we went swimming at the hotel and Justin and Tara and her two kids joined us. That was a lot of fun and there was only one other person there, which is how we like it. (It was a single guy trying to relax in the hot tub. All of our kids kept surrounding him and asking him questions, but he was really nice about it.)

Next morning, up early for breakfast and getting ready. That was when I realized that I had absolutely no hair products with me and I had slept on wet, chlorine water hair. So, in upcoming pictures, I would like you to appreciate that I was able to look half-way decent on no sleep and crazy hair.

This was on our way to the parade. Alex said he was sleeping and wouldn't look at the camera.

Waiting in our spot before the parade. The group in front of us were renaissance or something... anyway, this guy was the best Jack Sparrow I have ever seen. He had all the mannerisms down pat and stayed in character all the time. (After the parade we saw him running to catch up with his float. It looked just like Johnny Depp.)  So, I had to get a picture. :)

Trying to get a picture before the parade. I think Irelyn is pointing and saying, "Goggy!Goggy!" (Doggie.)

Justin and Tara were going to come and take pictures of us in the parade, but they were late and didn't get there until we were totally done! So all of our pictures I took while we were actually in the parade.  (I have to give a little shout-out of thanks to Meggie here. Emme is wearing a dress from her, and Alaina is wearing a coat/ dress Megan got from Lauren that she was giving away and Irelyn is wearing bows she made! Thanks for looking out for us, Meggie!)

So, the rule with candy is, you can't throw it. You have to actually put it in their hands. I know, kind of silly. We explained this to the kids, and Alaina took it very seriously. She was the slowest candy giver-outer I have ever seen. She would individually greet people and then take time deciding whether or not they were worthy. Then she would give them.... one piece. She kept getting behind until we made her hold the bucket and Tristan hand it out. Alex, on the other hand, threw candy at the grown-ups' feet and if a child actually had his hand out, completely ignored them.

 

Alex couldn't wait for all his candy to be gone so he could put his bucket on his head and make strange faces to the parade watchers.

Cutesy Irelyn got lots of ooh's and ahhh's when should would walk. She was pretty stinkin' cute, I must say.

After their candy was gone, Alaina was exceptionally slow as she would go along the sides and give everyone high-fives or shake their hands. Her and Tristan really got into it this year.

Emme alternated between getting lots of attention when she would stop and wave, and crying to be held. But mostly, she was really good.

Emme, gracing everyone with her smile. See the kilt next to her? After this wave she reached up and took his hand, thinking it was Danny. You can imagine her face when a minute later she looked up and realized her mistake!

This may be my favorite series of pictures. This is Alex dancing his little heart out to the bagpipe music. It was great and I wish I could have gotten a video!

Oh, it was a great parade. Absolutely one of the best ever. The weather was perfect. The kids were so happy and all had so much fun. It was just wonderful. 

This made me laugh- on our way back to our car after our part in the parade, but while it was still going, (we are pretty early in it, and it is a long parade) Emme thought we were still in it and as we would pass by people she would smile and wave and look so satisfied.

Then we ran to get a picture where we did last year, because it was such a great spot. But the lighting was a little odd this year. Still they are pretty cute pictures, even if they are yellow and blurry.

After that we checked out of our hotel (which took absolutely forever to repack what had only taken 5 minutes to un-pack.), returned Alex's kilt downtown and then met Justy and company in Sugarhouse to see "The Rise of the Guardians" in 3-D. At the theater there it was only $3 each! What a deal!

Beforehand we made a mistake and let Alex get too hungry, which lead to him running away from us at one point and I had to chase him down and grab him by the collar. That was fun. 

After he calmed back down we saw the movie. It was really a cute film and the kids loved the 3-D. I spent a lot of the time trying to keep Irelyn from running up and down the aisles, which is all she wanted to do. Also, after the movie the kids were more convinced than ever that Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and now Sandy (the sandman) are all real. And we were trying to wean them off of those ideas. 

No pictures in here- imagine a one hour Alex meltdown because Danny made him climb in through the back and unlock the car door. 

Oh, and I realized that I had put my real sunglasses in the 3-D glasses recycle bin, so I had to go back and find them. What really made me laugh was when the worker asked me, "What do they look like?" Ummm... black, like every other pair of glasses in here. 

Then Alex wanted a Frosty and we wouldn't get it. Total, complete out of control. So, we drove all the way past Bountiful, on our way to go home, when we decided to forget everything we believe about parenting and just buy the stupid  Frosties so that we could enjoy the rest of our day. 

It may sound crazy, but it was a good move. He was able to regain control of himself and we got him some food to eat. 

Then we went to the Planetarium, because Tara had said in her blog that there were a lot of cool, free things- and our kids love space stuff. 

Tara was right, it was really cool. The kids had a lot of with all the hands-on exhibits and things. It reminded me a lot of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, with balls on the ceiling and stuff.

Wearing her 3-D glasses, that she refused to wear at the theater.

The huge planets were really cool.

Wow, they're on Mars!

And the moon! Doesn't it look just like they are there? ..... Doesn't it?

Then we messed up our GPS for a while and I wanted to throw it at someone, because I get really mad at things when they don't work. Then we went to Ikea for dinner and it was insanely late and they were about to close, so we had 15 minutes to look around. Still, their food was good. Mmmm..... 

Then onto home. 

Other than the meltdowns (Alex and me) it was such a fun trip! And, if I hadn't just recorded those for posterity, I am sure I would forget them by next year. It is really fun to have our little family traditions and things that the kids can count on. Also, it is fun to see them getting such a kick out of it. In fact, Tristan asked his teacher so many times if he could wear his kilt to school (they have a uniform policy) that she is going to let him change into it this Wednesday and show pictures to his class and talk about his Scottish heritage. I have no idea what he will say, but it should be fun! 

So, here's to another year! Things I learned-

*It is worth buying insanely expensive food at the hotel if it is all Alex will eat and will keep him happy

*It is a lot easier to pack if Danny has the day before your trip off from work

*Don't buy too much candy to throw, because it is kind of a pain to monitor and we are secretly relieved when it is all gone

*Don't take pictures of the rough spots- you don't want to remember them

*Even if it seems crazy, the bad parts get forgotten and in the end, you have made a lot of fun memories