Annual St. Pat's Parade Outing

                                           

The Dr.'s best guest about what's making me dizzy is that it's some sort of viral inner ear thing. Since this was my best guess too, my visit seems to have been fairly futile.  Apparently, I have to be dizzy two more weeks until I can be referred to an ENT.  Then it will probably be at least another 2 weeks until I actually see an ENT.  So, I'm just going to press on through, dizziness and all.  

Alexandria had their St. Patrick's Day parade this past Sat.  My mother, for the third year in a row, got a room at the Hotel Monaco so she and the boys could watch the parade without having to deal with weather or people.  I have to say, now that it's a "boutique" hotel, instead of your run of the mill, pedestrian Holiday Inn, the place is much more interesting.  You get a gold fish in your room and animal print robes in your closet.  They also make much ado about their "dog friendliness".  I find this feature particularly comforting, since any mess my children make should not stand out too much when compared with the hotel's furrier and, slightly less, potty trained guests.  

My father surprisingly decided to accompany my mother on this outing. When I dropped the boys off Friday afternoon, my mother announced the theme of the trip was "Make Grandpa Ron Feel Welcome."  (Previous vacation themes include "Cooperation" and "Love Thy Brother"). My father seemed skeptical.  I didn't blame him, since the children immediately came in and took over.  Out came the snacks and on went the Disney Channel.  Once their bellies were full of Smart Corn, the boys decided they wanted to go for a swim.  My father, again, surprisingly, decided he would swim with them, so off we went.  The boys had a great time diving, jumping, running, screaming, and basically flouting all the usual pool rules.  We were the only one's there, so it didn't seem like too big of a deal.  They also enjoyed getting thrown through the air by Granddad.  In fact, this was the highlight until I heard my father say "What the hell is that? All right, everybody out!"  That's when I realized there were odd bits and chunks floating in the pool.  I quickly scanned my children's faces for any traces of guilt.  I landed on Jake and asked what happened.  "I'm embawassed to say...it starts wif an 'f'."  I quietly asked "Did you fart in the pool and something came out?"  He replied, "No, I fwoo up"  To which Max ever constructively replied "Jakob, you dummy, 'threw up' starts with a 't'."  So, let it be known, Smart Corn + Horseplay= Pool Closed Due to Vomit.  It goes without saying that this incident did not really further the theme of the weekend.  I'm guessing this parade weekend will be Granddad's last and next year he'll send our part-time pooch, Butters, in his stead.

I returned with Andy the next morning, so we could watch the parade too.  It was entertaining, as usual.  It started out with Pat Troy berating the local businesses that chose not to put an ad in the program and his annual warning that this could be the last year for the parade if people don't shape up.  My favorite group was there, as always, Shriner's in mini-cars. Although, a new club came this year that might give them a run for their money, the Beard Brigade.  There were lots of ZZTop looking fellas and they even had a full on Moses.  I tell you, if he had turned his staff into a snake, they definitely would have taken first.