St. Patty's Day 2015

Several years ago I dispensed with helping the kids make leprechaun traps but that has not stopped them from putting some together themselves. Year after year the two boys get so frustrated when they fail to catch any of the little people. This year, after watching Darby O'Gill, I pointed out to them how easily King Brian goes through doors and walls; leprechaun magic is active at night so there is no way little cardboard boxes are going to trap any of the wee folk! The boys were still hopeful but ended up again having to settle for just little pots of gold rather than wishes.

Gold, especially gold covering chocolate, can always put a smile on their faces!

Getting into the spirit of the day with a little green!

Later that evening we settled down for our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. After last year's horrific stomach illness I got on St. Patty's Day and cringing from the very thought of corned beef throughout the entire past year, I was not sure whether I'd be able to partake this year. But I gave it a go and guess what? Corned beef and braces are not a good mix!  

But everyone else enjoyed the meal, especially their green drinks. Cheers!

After dinner it was time to head up to the church for meetings and youth activities. David even sported some green socks for the occasion.

For the combined youth activity we competed in the Highland Games and it was a blast! The young men and women divided into 4 teams, each group giving themselves an Irish name. I can't remember all the names that were chosen but there was for sure a Finnigan clan.

Each team got awarded points for how much green they were wearing which amounted to a lot! I loved how into it they all got!

And so the games began! There were various competitions, like the stick toss...

and lots of goofiness in between!

Go Ashton!

Silly races, both forward...

and backward.

A boulder toss...

giggles...

and a jumping contest.

Testing accuracy with the rag swing toss...

and a show of strength with the stick pull.

Savannah beat her first opponent but had a more difficult time with Carolyn.

Some of the boys went flying on this one!

I think all the kids would agree that the log roll was their favorite. One person laid on top of the "logs" and whoever was able to roll their way to the other side of the gym without the person falling off the logs was the winner.

Those logs went a rollin' and Savannah kept her balance to help her team to victory!

Other teams struggled a bit, ha ha!

Enjoying our view from the sideline.

It was definitely a fun filled evening! After the church activities I took the kids to McDonalds to end our night with a shamrock shake.  Happy St. Patty's Day!!!