Last St. Patrick's Day was stressful. The beginning of Covid and everything being shut down. I actually remember very little about St. Patrick's Day last year, so I wanted this year to be extra special. I had a small group of kiddos, so I didn't go all out, but our mischevious leprachauns stole the show, as usual. They kept hiding from the kids AND hid their pot of gold multiple times. It was crazy--the kids would look away and those crazy leprechauns would disappear, then reappear elsewhere in the house later on! The kids were giddy with excitement all day long.
The kids ate Fruity Pebbles pancakes for breakfast, rainbow granola bars for morning snack with green apples, corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for lunch, and green chocolate chip cookies for afternoon snack. There were worksheets about Ireland and coloring sheets. Our rainbow rice sensory bin came out for the day, the kids built a leprechaun trap (but it wasn't enough to hold our very magical leprechauns!), and the bigs read books to the littles.
Someone nearly forgot to stage the leprechauns, but that someone remembered at 11 p.m. and got out of bed to do it. Totally worth it because the kids were thrilled to see these tiny things causing trouble!
My mom got the minis new green shirts and my mother in law surprised us with St. Patty's masks! We were set for the day!
She was soooo excited to read the note from Sammie and Michael (our leprechauns).
Sammie left the daycare room and grabbed himself a cookie....without the kids even noticing he magically moved! Sneaky little fairy.
Sammie's brother Michael turned up in the Barbie toys!
Searching for the pot of gold that disappeared off of the table! The leprechauns hid it in the bathroom behind the trash can.
The kids were coloring one minute and the next, Sammie appeared in the crayons!
Michael set up a picnic with Barbie! Then, the kids carefully built a trap for Sammie and Michael. It worked for a minute, but somehow the leprechauns escaped! As the day wore on, the leprechaun's magic slowly started disappearing because it was almost the end of the daycare day. Also, a certain adult was getting tired of keeping up with those tricky fairies.
Usually, at this point I would say I was exhausted from a busy day, but instead we left the house and did something! The minis got pizza, while Hubs and I went to a socially distanced event at the zoo. My friends and I have been cautious and only get together outdoors. Thanks to our Iowa winter, we haven't seen each other since last fall! Despite the sleet and cold temps, we walked around the zoo, green beers in our hands, doing a quick catch up on life. It was bittersweet to be out on the day everything closed here in Iowa last year and life changed.
Irish nachos for dinner!
I'm cracking up because not only do I have a very visible glass in my coat (not stealing it, it was what I had my green beer in and had no place to put it!), but then I realized I was making a face for the camera...with my mask on.
I honestly couldn't think of a better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year!
