Saturday, March 17, 2018

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

This year we had a multi-day St. Patrick's Day celebration...and we're not even Irish.


On Friday, Sophia, Olivia, and I made Shamrock Shakes at the nursing home. We've been doing this for a few years and always have fun doing it.

We had multiple containers of vanilla ice cream, milk, and crème de menthe going so that we could make and serve the seniors quickly.


Each of the shakes was topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips.


Olivia and I brought the shakes to the residents and handed out the napkins.


After we made and served all the shakes, the girls each enjoyed a shake.


They didn't have a mint-flavored one, though, since we ran out of the mint flavoring.


The room was full of residents and some family members who listened to Irish music.


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On Saturday, each of the girls received five $1 gold coins and a card.


They generally save half of the money and spend the other half.


We had a simple breakfast served with sliced strawberries and grapes (a green fruit I knew everyone would eat).


I had wanted to make Irish Potato Soup and tea sandwiches with cucumbers and green peppers, but the morning slipped by quicker than anticipated. Oh well...perhaps next year I can make the soup and sandwiches.

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In the afternoon, we all went to a puzzle competition that Olivia signed us up to do. There was a 550-piece puzzle on each table for the 12 competing teams. All the puzzles were the same - so it was fair.


We sorted the pieces while Olivia did the border. Next, we grouped the pieces by color and/or identifying characteristics.

Each person worked on different aspects of the puzzle. It was really fun...and it brought out the competitive nature in us.

In less than one hour, we completed the puzzle. We were told to raise our hands when we finished.


Needless to say, Olivia was thrilled.


She does so many puzzles and this is "her thing." So, it was especially rewarding for her to get first place.


The second place winner finished about a minute after we did - so it was a very close race. The rest of the teams continued to work at varying stages of completion.

We took one last photo before we left to remember our first puzzle competition.


Afterwards, we went to Dairy Queen to enjoy the prize we won: a $20 gift card to Dairy Queen. (We also received a chocolate candy and a certificate for a free book from the library's sale carts.)

We had mint blizzards and a chocolate malt. It was a nice reward for the competition.


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1 comment:

Love Bears All Things said...

What a wonderful way to celebrate as a family...and the girls are learning lessons about serving others...that is what our sermon was about yesterday...how Jesus humbled himself at the last supper to wash his disciples fee, hoping to teach them to serve others...
I love puzzles and always had one going until I found the Magic Puzzle App on my kindle...there's a free one each day of the month, you can choose the difficulty and its easier on the back and neck.
Blessings on you and your family.
Mama Bear