St. Patrick's Day Parade 2014

Outside of the first day of football season, it's time to celebrate our favorite holiday!

This year's Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade was (surprise, surprise) a COLD one.  And what do you get when you combine cold, cloudy weather, two young kids, and a 90-minute wait in the parade staging area?  

Les miserables.  

They at least tried to feign happiness...

To help pass the time while waiting for our turn to step off, we tried to keep both busy and warm.  Mr. Sullivan let the kids help him play the trumpet...

We located our favorite float...

We piled on the accessories (hey, those beards are actually quite cozy and warm!)...

We snuggled into blankets and willed it to get warmer...

And we caught up with friends!

Brigid and Liam, ready to rock!

Finally, finally, finally it was our turn to go.  We were ready.

While Joergen tried (without success) to nap in his little blanket cocoon during the parade, Liam took his job as "bead-passer-outer" very seriously.

Inevitably, Liam would be having so much fun passing out beads and greeting the parade-watchers that he would fall behind our group.  While trying to catch his breath after running full-tilt to catch up with us at one point, Liam said, "Mom, being in a parade is seriously hard work!"

It was so much fun watching him and Brigid work the crowd!  And all along the parade route, they seemed to capture the hearts of both older girls...

This trio of girls could not get over Liam and Brigid's cuteness, and Liam could not get enough of them!

... and older women!

This lady begged to take their picture- hilarious!

About halfway up the Ben Franklin Parkway, look who finally gave up on his nap and joined in the party!  He's alive!

I was proud of all the kids for powering through the less-than-ideal weather conditions (although once we finished our route, they were DONE).  It was a lot of fun, though, and we can't wait for next year!