Leprechauns and the Indian in the Cupboard....

St. Patrick's Day is turning out to be quite an interesting holiday for us! The celebrating began on Saturday with a quick stop at Clifford's house for his heaping pot of corned beef. I was still full from Jason's delectable brisket he made on his favorite appliance but Jason sampled Cliff's masterpiece and declared it to be succulent. How could it not be when the chef looks like this....

From Cliff's house, we ventured downtown to find the most primo parade viewing spot. Once settled in, I proceeded to snap a few pictures of the pre-parade anticipation.......

Lily wasn't in a very cooperative mood so I had to catch her unsuspecting......

Now, what you don't see in these above photos is a Native American man in wheelchair who was parked right next to our base camp. While we were waiting for the parade to begin, he greeted us and shook Jason's hand. He then either asked Jason if a. he could bum a smoke or b. offered to sell him a smoke out of his box of "slightly used" butts (we weren't exactly sure what he said). After some serious consideration, Jason declined the very generous offer. As I was snapping my pictures, our new friend asked "Hey, could I get in on that picture?" and wheeled himself up behind the girls. Everyone exclaimed "Cheese!" and the moment was captured.....

Finally, the parade began. Here is a shot of the throngs of people who came out.......

And a shot of the kilted bagpipers. Do they wear undies or don't they? One of the big mysteries of the day.....

Anyway, the parade was a lot of fun but it was just the beginning of the St. Patrick's Day excitement. Saturday we were blissfully unaware of the mischevious plans the leprechauns had in store for us. This morning I was awakened by two slightly frantic, thoroughly confused little girls. Grace and Ella informed me we were victims of a vicious ransacking apparently at the hands of leprechauns. Grace's room, Ella's room and the basement living room were left in shambles......

The toilet water had been turned green......

And even the milk was not spared......

The leprechauns weren't all bad though. They left the girls each some golden wrapped chocolates (which Lily has decided is the perfect breakfast choice). Grace and Ella went off to school brimming with stories to relay to their classes and Lily is still reeling. Here is her eyewitness account......

Happy St. Patrick's Day!