Monday, March 19, 2007

Fun Monday #9 A life in the day...

Enidd is hosting today's Fun Monday and came up with the brilliant idea of producing a post entitled 'A life in the day' based on a regular Sunday Times feature. I chose to document Saturday which of course does not reflect an average day in my life but thought it would be fun to share the St Patrick Day celebrations with you.


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Breakfast for me was spent blogging, this is usual on a weekday as I wait until everyone has left for work or school then have breakfast whilst I catch up on blogs or even prepare my post for that day. It is a bad habit to eat at the computer and my children are not allowed to for fear they'd spill something and then we'd be computerless but when I am alone I can break my rules! Mollie and Ben dressed in their Irish t-shirts but declined my offer of painting their faces (sigh, how quickly they grow up)!


Joules was spending the day studying and Dillon was meeting friends so Mollie, Ben and I set off for the Dart station (a ten minute walk away) to catch the train into town.

This picture isn't very good but the man in it has to be wearing the tallest hat we'd ever seen!

It has been three years since we last watched the parade and Saturday's trip was the least successful. The route the parade takes has changed, we used to drive to Joules work to park the car and walk for five minutes where we'd get a front line view of the parade. This spot was actually before the official starting point so we'd see all the floats, band, dancers etc and then have plenty of time for a walk or picnic somewhere. This year we got to town a good hour before the parade was due to start but the crowd was already six deep. If you look closely at the photographs you will see a man carrying a step ladder which is not that unusual on a day like Saturday, I was wishing I had a ladder with me. We found some railings the children could stand on to see and Mollie gave me a running commentary whilst I held them tight to prevent them from falling. Unfortunately I didn't do that a great a job as they both fell back when I was trying to get more comfortable. I managed to hold onto them until they reached the ground so they were a bit shocked but unhurt. Ben did the usual but luckily I had an empty bottle on hand for such emergencies. After 45 minutes of mainly watching other peoples heads and seeing the odd float we decided we had seen enough and headed home.


I bought Mollie and Ben a snack on the way home. This was Mollie's first day without crutches but she is still limping a bit.

Ben was exhausted and nearly fell asleep on the train ride home.


As soon as I got home it was time for a peppermint tea, a flapjack and ...


...a read of the paper. Before I knew it, it was time to jump into the shower as I was heading back out at 5:10pm. My mother-in-law was treating the girls to dinner and a trip to the theatre to see Mamma Mia. Unfortunately our niece had to go into hospital on Thursday so my sister-in-law was unable to attend.

As there was a spare ticket Mollie brought her friend Annie.

We had a delicious dinner in Ely HQ overlooking the quays then it was a short hop to the show. Mamma Mia was such a fun show, who can fail to enjoy all the Abba songs and the fit young men strutting their stuff, not to mention the fabulous singing and comic timing of all involved. Unfortunately no cameras were allowed. It was nearly midnight when we arrived home and I fell into bed exhausted.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a fun-filled day, and ideal for fun monday! it's nice to read about people enjoying themselves after enidd's depressing monday entry!

Steffi said...

Wow,Beccy great pictures! I enjoy it!Unfortunately we had here not "Patty´s Day".But your pictures looks great and I think your kids had fun!

~ej said...

what a fun day, i went with daily boring, but i prefer your patty's day photos and mamma mia!! :)

Anonymous said...

Beccy,
I'm tired just reading about it! Great pictures, and I'm sure jealous of the weather! Glad the show was good.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you shared the excitement. I did nothing for St. Paddy's Day, but am glad to see that you guys enjoyed it! A parade and a show in one day...wow!

sallywrites said...

What a great day out!!

Much better than my boring ordinary stuff. I really enjoyed reading this!

My kids always take the mickey out of me for admitting that I like Abba......as did my friends when I was at school!! But hey .... I bet they too would be delighted to see Mamma Mia!

I thought it was very funny that you break your own rules when the kids are out. Shhhh! Don't tell, but I break one of mine, by often eating my lunch in front of the TV, so that I can watch Neighbours.

Still - when they are grown ups, they too can break all the rules, and at least they will know what they SHOULD be doing!!

Amy W said...

What a great day!

I saw Mama Mia in Washington, DC and LOVED it. Even bought the CD.

Anonymous said...

WHERE WAS BEN WHEN HE "USED" THE BOTTLE??? IN A CROWD??? Oh, my...lol.

Sounds like a FULL day, and a good one in spite of the parade not quite exceeding years past.

Although I haven't seen Mamma Mia, I know I'd thoroughly enjoy it to hear the sounds of Abba...would definitely take me back to high school.

Great way to handle this post; the photo collages were a nice way to "tell" even more (great picture of you with the girls:) ). Instead of writing one I'm trying to visit everyone else. Wish I had come up with something imaginative :/.

Sabrina said...

Thanks for sharing your Paddy's day! I wondered how you all spent the day up in Dublin! Looked like fun despite the crowd!

Beccy said...

Enidd your entry made me laugh!

Thanks Steffi, it's a big weekend here in Ireland.

EJ my everyday would be pretty boring so I was glad to use Paddy's Day!

Lisa not as tired as me reading about your day everyday.

Lucky me hey Min.

Sally I love Abba and if you need a sing song they are perfect. Lunch in front of Neighbours-snap!

It was fab Amy would love to see it again.

Robin I was afraid someone would ask that. Yes we were in the crowd we couldn't move or we would have lost our perch on the railings and any chance of a view of the parade. We are so used to Ben's urge to go in any place unsuitable that we have got it pretty well sussed. His coat and myself act as a screen whilst he gets on with the business showing minimun flesh.

It was Sabrina, unfortunately the fireworks last night were cancelled due to the weather and that's always our favourite.

ChrisB said...

Beccy this is great made me really feel part of it. I am so behind as I've had a very busy day I haven't finished writing my post yet but I couldn't resist reading yours first. Glad you enjoyed MM I still have a long time to wait for my second time of seeing it.

Anonymous said...

hee hee - boys have it SOOOO easy sometimes.

Great pic collage - okay, that gargoyle looking think was quite spooky...what was it?

Beccy said...

Mum, you are lucky going to see it again, I wish I was.

I so agree about the boys Karmyn. Not quite sure what the gargoyle was but the thene of the parade was the spirits of Irish and European and world myths

Unknown said...

Nice one Beccy, but tell me that isn`t WATER in front of you in the last pic. Glad the kids enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

So jealous! Sounds like a fantastic day!

Beccy said...

John that is indeed water as I was the designated driver ( I have the seven seater car)!

It was fun catwoman.

frannie said...

loved reading about your day... the picture of Ben with his head down melted my heart!

FH said...

You have had a great Paddy's day!:))Loved the collage.Mollie is pretty child,hope she recovers soon.
We had two birthdays to celebrate on Sat and had fun day too!:)

Pamela said...

How I would have loved to be there, too

Barbara said...

And is that Guiness in your coffee cup?

Woodlandmama said...

Lucky you. Nobody here celebrates St. Patty's. Back home in Chicago it's a big deal, two parades and everything. My sister's made me jealous by posting their fun pictures too. Here I had to bribe my family into wearing green and people thought we were weird.

my4kids said...

Great post Beccy! I loved the collages and that gargoyle was scary looking. I have to laugh when you comment on Bens urges. Maddie always has to go in the worst places and being a girl it is harder to figure out ways to take care of that! Boys are lucky. My boys have the same camouflage pullover as Ben! You've got great looking kids.

Sidetracked Home Executive said...

Wow what a great day you had Beccy!! I love all the pictures, especially the collage one, how cool :o)

Girl con Queso said...

A very excellent day. Those photos are treasures.

Beccy said...

Frannie, I hope your heart has recovered!!!

Mollie is slowly but surely finding it easier to walk Asha but it's taking longer than the hospital said it would!

Just bring your stepladder so you can see Pamela.

It's a fun day Liza, when I moved her over 12 years ago the parade was very basic and people treated it as a day off work buy over the last 10 years a lot of work has gone into making the St Patricks Day celebrations a week long event.

Beccy said...

Terri I'm glad it's one of my son's who has the 'urges' it would be much harder with a girl.

Thanks Sam and girl con queso.