Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Today Amy and I prepared ourselves for the St. Patrick's Day Parade/street party. Nathan has been scared for us all week because the nurses at the hospital have been telling him how crazy it gets. It was really important that we were safe and we decided that it was best if we just went to the parade and came home early (especially before dark).

Since the parade didn't start until 11:30am , we decided to use our morning wisely. In the morning we walked down the street to Half Priced Books. Amy (being a first grade teacher) is always looking for good books and weirdo items (she bought 30 star-wands from Hobby Lobby) for her kids. The bookstore was great. Everything is literally half-off (or less) so there are some great deals - especially on hardcover books. Amy bought a few for her class and was impressed with the deals. After we returned, we changed into our green and got ready to go since on our walk home we saw packs of people covered in green heading toward the parade route.

At noon we ventured into the crowd. A typical extrovert, Amy had made friends with a group of people by the time we were half-way to the parade. They were a group for Independence, MO and were all very nice. There were about 10 guys and girls and most of the were related to at least one other person in the group (siblings, cousins, etc.) Once we arrived in Westport - I was stunned. First, green EVERYWHERE. Second, cops EVERYWHERE, third, roads closed and bars OPEN. There were so many people it was overwhelming! Who knew there was so much Irish Pride in KC? The environment definitely had the potential to get rowdy as the day/night wore on, but Amy and I only stayed for about 4 hours. We were back home early enough to make dinner for Nathan on Amy's last night with us. We had an early night because Amy's flight home leaves tomorrow morning at 6:15am which means we'll be up at 4am. YIKES!

Yes, that is Amy's jean jacket he's wearing like a cape

This week has been so crazy. I feel like I've seen more of KC in 4 days than Nathan will his whole time here. We crammed so much in during her time here and I'm feel like I gave her the real Kansas City tour.  I'm so glad I had an exploring partner and a support system this week. Amy's visit came at the perfect time and I know it will help me get through a little longer.