The luck o' the Irish.
Today has been a fun day. The weather was a bit cold this morning for our short-sleeved green shirts, so we all dressed with a long-sleeved white shirt underneath. A.J. didn't have school today, but Jack did, and he's been waiting for three weeks to wear his special new shirt for St. Patrick's Day. He had the "greenest" shirt in the classroom!
After picking Jack up from preschool, the boys and I went to lunch at La Mesa. We got lots of smiles from the people around us - some in green, some not. When we were stuffed full of food, we headed to Wal*Mart to pick up some 'gold' for a hunt this afternoon. We chose two bags of Rolos, and then we headed to Nobbies to pick out some special hats. The boys modeled their hats in front of a mirror before deciding on the same one (I was surprised!), and then they picked out one for me as well. We bought our hats, and then headed for home.
On the way, I decided to change up the plans a bit. I opened up one bag of the candy, and we pulled into the Housing office on base. We went in and surprised everyone working inside, and the boys walked up to each person and said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day! We brought some gold for you!" Everyone laughed and thanked us for stopping by, and we walked over to Housing Maintenance next to do the same thing. When we left there, a couple of ladies from Housing (the first stop) caught up with us and surprised the boys, handing them their own "treasure" - a chocolate snack cake for A.J. and a Kit-Kat bar for Jack. The boys thought these were GREAT! (And I find it funny, because I figure they ran to a vending machine and tried to come up with something quick - not necessary, of course, but very nice of them.)
We walked on up the hill to AmericaFirst Communities and passed out more candy to all the folks there. The secretary directed the boys and me to a back room, and we found Mr. Tom York (the man who stopped by last week & head of operations) in a conference with two other people. They chatted with us for a while, and I was caught off guard when a camera started snapping pictures of us from the doorway! A man there took several photos of the boys passing out candy in the office... but I have no idea what will happen to those pics later on!
We drove home then, and then set out on foot again to pass out candy to all the folks at Kiewit Construction headquarters. They seemed more surprised than anyone by our visit, saying that they never get to talk to family members in housing. They told us to stop by anytime, and we got to see a lot of the offices in there. We walked back home just in time to catch the mailman leaving a package at our front door. The boys ran to him, calling out, "Don't leave!" until they could get close enough to deliver their St. Patrick's day message and gold. The mailman handed me the mail and then a special, smaller package to Jack - it was the 'Emily' train (from Thomas the Tank Engine®) that he'd been waiting on for several weeks (a mail-in offer)... and she's even a GREEN train! We walked some gold over to
Marissa and her hubby Blake, and then we came home to stay.
The boys played with the new train while I hid a bunch of gold outside for them to find. When I was finished hiding pieces, I called them out, and they took turns searching for piles of gold (in every hiding spot, I'd stacked three little Rolos together). They had a great time, and I took lots of pictures. Afterwards, we played outside for another two hours or so, finally coming in so that the boys could eat their special snack "treasures" from the ladies in Housing.
All in all, a very fun day indeed. Best of all, we brought smiles to a LOT of faces today! :-)
A.J., me and Jack decked out in our Leprechaun green
'Gold' hidden on the fire hydrant
A.J. finds his first gold underneath the tree
Jack finds gold on the picnic table
Jack finds more gold
Leprechaun A.J.
First attempt at posing together...
Second attempt...
Third time's a charm - Little Leprechauns!
Finding more gold on the swingset
Jack finds some gold underneath the monkey bars
Balancing on a tire together
Jack adjusts his hat
Leprechauns on the horse swing
Snacks
After picking Jack up from preschool, the boys and I went to lunch at La Mesa. We got lots of smiles from the people around us - some in green, some not. When we were stuffed full of food, we headed to Wal*Mart to pick up some 'gold' for a hunt this afternoon. We chose two bags of Rolos, and then we headed to Nobbies to pick out some special hats. The boys modeled their hats in front of a mirror before deciding on the same one (I was surprised!), and then they picked out one for me as well. We bought our hats, and then headed for home.
On the way, I decided to change up the plans a bit. I opened up one bag of the candy, and we pulled into the Housing office on base. We went in and surprised everyone working inside, and the boys walked up to each person and said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day! We brought some gold for you!" Everyone laughed and thanked us for stopping by, and we walked over to Housing Maintenance next to do the same thing. When we left there, a couple of ladies from Housing (the first stop) caught up with us and surprised the boys, handing them their own "treasure" - a chocolate snack cake for A.J. and a Kit-Kat bar for Jack. The boys thought these were GREAT! (And I find it funny, because I figure they ran to a vending machine and tried to come up with something quick - not necessary, of course, but very nice of them.)
We walked on up the hill to AmericaFirst Communities and passed out more candy to all the folks there. The secretary directed the boys and me to a back room, and we found Mr. Tom York (the man who stopped by last week & head of operations) in a conference with two other people. They chatted with us for a while, and I was caught off guard when a camera started snapping pictures of us from the doorway! A man there took several photos of the boys passing out candy in the office... but I have no idea what will happen to those pics later on!
We drove home then, and then set out on foot again to pass out candy to all the folks at Kiewit Construction headquarters. They seemed more surprised than anyone by our visit, saying that they never get to talk to family members in housing. They told us to stop by anytime, and we got to see a lot of the offices in there. We walked back home just in time to catch the mailman leaving a package at our front door. The boys ran to him, calling out, "Don't leave!" until they could get close enough to deliver their St. Patrick's day message and gold. The mailman handed me the mail and then a special, smaller package to Jack - it was the 'Emily' train (from Thomas the Tank Engine®) that he'd been waiting on for several weeks (a mail-in offer)... and she's even a GREEN train! We walked some gold over to
Marissa and her hubby Blake, and then we came home to stay.
The boys played with the new train while I hid a bunch of gold outside for them to find. When I was finished hiding pieces, I called them out, and they took turns searching for piles of gold (in every hiding spot, I'd stacked three little Rolos together). They had a great time, and I took lots of pictures. Afterwards, we played outside for another two hours or so, finally coming in so that the boys could eat their special snack "treasures" from the ladies in Housing.
All in all, a very fun day indeed. Best of all, we brought smiles to a LOT of faces today! :-)
A.J., me and Jack decked out in our Leprechaun green
'Gold' hidden on the fire hydrant
A.J. finds his first gold underneath the tree
Jack finds gold on the picnic table
Jack finds more gold
Leprechaun A.J.
First attempt at posing together...
Second attempt...
Third time's a charm - Little Leprechauns!
Finding more gold on the swingset
Jack finds some gold underneath the monkey bars
Balancing on a tire together
Jack adjusts his hat
Leprechauns on the horse swing
Snacks