And EVERYONE wore green!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! We took the boys to their first parade. Here in the Midwest the celebrations and parades are crazy huge! Chicago dyes the river green and it’s just gets sillier from there. A gazillion Irish people settled in the middle of the US so this is a big deal to them. This parade was set to last four [FOUR?!!!!] hours. We decided to see the first hour and go from there!

We were advised to arrive an hour early if we expected to get a view at all, and we paid $15 [£10] for the privillege to park six blocks away and walk it. I made the mistake of taking the buggy because I thought I didn’t want to carry Sprinkles the distance but once we arrived close to the front lines the traffic of people was so thick I had to fold it and carry him AND that. Mr. Stone had Jack on his shoulders. So it wasn’t the best plan in hindsight. But we worked our way forward and Jack did manage to wiggle to the front to get a close up view.

He was mesmerized. Yet  I felt bad for Jack as we’d made a big deal about jumping to his feet when floats went by to be prepared for the spray of candy. And no sweets were thrown! Awww. Some silly health and safety rule. Mr. Stone bought him treats from the many vendors walking around and it sort of made up for it. But Jack still jumped to his feet with every float. Just in case.