Okay, We're Finally Done.

It's been a marathon of St. Patrick's Day Festivities around these parts...

. . . I mean, every day, we don the beads.

We don them to serve . . .

. . . we don them to partake . . .

It's been super fun . . .

. . . and we've had some celebrity guest stars pop in to visit . . .

. . . Scottie! . . .

. . . Louie! . . .

. . . Larry! . . . 

. . . and two of my favorites in all the Land . . . 

But, man.

Between the boozing . . .

. . . and the parade-going . . .

 (this time all the way over in Mystic)

. . . and the bag-piping . . .

. . . and all those celebrity guest stars! . . .

. . . well, I think we've all worked hard, and we've all had just about enough . . .

. . . well, okay, maybe not these guys . . .

. . . these guys don't seem like they've had enough yet.

But for the rest of us? It's been a great couple of weeks celebrating our Irishness with music and Guinness and corned beef and soup and jigs and parades and love.

And now we're done.

See you next March.

Sláinte!

Photo Friday

I Love A Parade

Oh, I love a parade . . .

. . . as long as it's the St. Patrick's Day parade in New London.

Because, right?

I'm not much for military-might. But the Coasties?

Oh, we here in New London love the Coasties.

Okay, okay, we love the Navy, too . . .

. . . oh, and look! These guys. We love these guys, too.

But mostly . . .

. . . we love the family with which we watched the parade . . .

. . . I tried so hard to make this kid smile . . .

. . . close. So close.

. ..  and then his sister walked -- nay, marched -- by.

And then?

Our most beloved State Rep Mr. Chris Soto marched by, too. We are lucky to have this man working for us in Hartford. He is good, good people . . .  

. . . plus? He can do an Irish jig.

The Green Street contingent. The zero-degree weather scared away the masses. Did the weather scare us away?

As if.

Because we had a trombone . . .

. . . and a non-tuba.

Wouldn't this kid's mom love this photo?

The Hibernians, godblesstheirsouls.

. . . and the Hibernian's girl. Only in New London do you get half-a-head-a-cabbage as a parade treat . . .

Don't you think for one second I didn't serenade the Scarecrow as she walked down the street . . .

I could while away the hours, 

conferrin' with the flowers 

Consultin' with the rain. 

And Dorothy? With the shoes?

And Toto too? 

And Toto too.

Oh, wait. I think the kid is finally smiling . . .

. . . must be the pony.

Bye-bye Parade . . .

. . . and hello Mr. Dibble!

Look at these two -- adorable, right?

I mean, can you stand it?

Frankly, the adorableness abounded . . . 

. . . aw . . . 

. . . aw . . . 

. . . aw . . .

. . . aw . . .

Top O' the Mornin', y'all.

2nd frousins

Would you just look at these two lovelies?

It was so nice to visit with the wonderful Rubios last week, we had a nice dinner and shared some laughs, and reminisced about the relationship that Clara and Mia have formed over the years. I know there are more photos hiding around somewhere, but here's what I've got so far:

First meeting in 2009, they kinda hit it off

Secret beaching in 2011

An after Thanksgiving stroll - also in 2011? That doesn't seem right. 

A desert hike in 2015

I love the second cousin thing. I don't know if I know any of my own second cousins - they must be out there somewhere! In Ireland, I bet. Hmmm, I might just have to take a field trip over from Scotland this May....

Be bold

Seeing as today is International Women's Day, I thought this photo fitting.

Never underestimate the power of a GIRL!  Or a woman either.

As the saying goes:

Here's to strong women. 

May we know them. 

May we be them. 

May we raise them.

#BeBoldForChange #IWD2017helpither.