2017 Irish Weekend

One of our favorite times of year has come again -- St. Patrick's Day!!

We took off Friday the 16th for the parade and fun with the whole family!

We started things off with homemade Irish Apple Cake and Irish Coffee at Hoosier Village!

Everyone was looking festive in their green!

Lenora was having a grand time in her new shamrock outfit from Aunt Ashley!

Downtown was swimming with people!

Luckily, Emily was able to drop off most everyone a block from a great spot!

We bundled up at a quaint table with a great view of all the floats, music and revellers!

The cold, excitement and walking got the better of some of the attendees!

We brought the little leprechauns up to gran's for some lunch (and naps!).  

We had loaded the crock pot before leaving with corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and onions.

We chatted about our favorite floats and all the fun memories of St. Patrick's Days past.

Then we said our goodbyes to gran, dropped the children at gparents Schwin, and headed downtown again!

We checked into our favorite St. Patrick's Day place to stay...Nestle Inn!

After warming up in nice hot showers and donning our shamrock crowns, 

we walked the chilly block to Nine Irish Brothers!

Our cozy table overlooked all the music and shenanigans.

We ordered some snakebites and had some Irish fare!

It is always wonderful to have a room so close to our regular spots!

This year was especially perfect since the route for the walk had been moved to this area as well!

We were able to walk just a couple blocks to the start of the race the next morning after our free breakfast at Henry's!

They had Highland Reign playing in the heated tent and plenty of libations and fun!

We enjoyed the music and went our separate ways to spend the rest of St. Patrick's Day at home.

It was definitely one of the coldest St. Patrick's Days we have ever seen!

We didn't let that deter us from enjoying all the magic and mayhem of the season!

Don't mess with our Irish weekend!

Great twin time!

Lenora's First trip to Claddaugh

We had a simple dinner at Claddaugh downtown!

Lenora got to have her first peek at the inside of one of our favorite places.

We were all snuggled up for such a cold night and ready for March festivities!

Service was a bit slow, but company was perfect and we enjoyed our cozy booth and all the Irish flare.

Erin go braugh!

Granite City Dinner

On this twin night so close to Valentine's Day, we headed to Granite City downtown for their holiday menu.

Mardi Gras also fell on Valentine's this year, so we had some jambalaya.

Lenora was a perfect angel as she snuggled with Aunt Ashley through the meal.

The food was perfect and there were not many people out on this cold evening so close to the holiday.

Great twin and Lenora night!

MLK Day with Gran

We had MLK day off work and decided to pick up Gran from Wellbrooke and take her on an adventure!

We hit up the Children's Museum since it was free to attend on the holiday!

Gran was happy to be able to watch the kids enjoying the exhibits.

Aunt Ashley took Victor under her wing and showed him how to play!

Victor was loving all the interactive play.

Aunt Ashley knows how to have a good time!

Victor had the best tea party with Aunt Ashley and a couple of friendly bears.

Then they even hit up the carousel!

Afterwards, we stopped in to the Old Spaghetti Factory for some lunch.

The plates were piled with pasta and gran said it was delicious!

Victor enjoyed the spaghetti and giggles!

Lenora was happy to be along for the ride.  It was a chilly day with a few inches of snow on the ground, but we had a wonderful time!

Great snowy day with family!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the ISO

We attended Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the ISO!

We absolutely LOVE these live concerts of the Harry Potter movies!

It seemed fitting to have dinner beforehand at Nine Irish Brothers.

Ashley was channeling her inner witch with a cat familiar necklace and her Ravenclaw colors.

Emily was wearing her Hufflepuff dress and a new matching hat.

The concert was wonderful and to top it off, the tree on the circle was still illuminated!

We had a great evening enjoying one of our favorite dinner spots, a perfect concert, and the beautiful downtown sights!

Great twin night!

Faculty Gathering

Ashley hosted a fabulous holiday party for the faculty of her department!

She laid out a beautiful spread of charcuterie and a mimosa bar.

The attendees played Heads Up and had many laughs and bonding time together to start the year.

Emily was there to help set up and get the party going.

We took a moment by the tree to enjoy what a great party she had put together!

Great twin night!

Gilbert Christmas

We celebrated Christmas at Gilbert Farms this year!

Mom and gran were both there!  That hasn't happened in more years than we can count.

Natalie's tree was gorgeous and every last inch of the house was decorated with Christmas cheer.

The food was incredible and the table was set for royalty in her Christmas Spode.

Ashley made Moscow mules as we opened presents and put the children down for naps.

Opening presents took what felt like hours as the pile was quite considerable!

In the evening, we had leftovers and enjoyed being together as the children went to bed.

We had a night in with a movie and cozy Christmas pajamas!

It was really a nice way to celebrate - just being together.

We all spent the night under one roof and it felt a little like those 326 days.

In the morning, we had coffee and breakfast before heading back home.

It was a memorable holiday full of warmth, love and togetherness.

Wonderful twin night!