St. Patrick's Day 2012

Though you wouldn't necessarily tell by our appearance, the Wensuc boys do have an appreciable amount of Irish in in our genetic pool. I suppose on St. Patrick's Day it wouldn't much matter...Everyone is Irish today!

It goes without saying that St. Patrick's Day is a High Holiday for the Irish and steeped in tradition. Today, I thought that it would be a good day to return to my cherished tradition of attending the St. Patrick's Day parade (I could not have picked more beautiful weather..check out the T-shirts).

For the first 7 years that I lived in Colorado, I attended this parade religiously. For the last 12 years, I had not attended this parade once. How times of changed...not only in my choice of drink, but more importantly, how I now view these things from Blanden's and Ellis's perspectives. I'm not sure that the boys fully understood many of the costumes that were worn today. Truthfully, there were a few that I could have lived well without seeing myself ; )

Uncle Jim and his "Mini-Me" Ellis just outside the Oxford Hotel. Every week when I see Ellis with fresh eyes, he seems to be getting cuter and cuter. Strangely, I never held the same affections for by younger brother's appearance when I was young...(ha)

Yep, a rarity on the E.B.W. Blog...a picture of Dad. Also rare in Denver is getting your first sunburn in the middle of March. I'm definitely not complaining...though Blanden does look a bit unenthused.

Just a crowd shot to get a sense of the celebration occuring at our vantage point.

Persistence and Patience Prevailed! After a bit of a wait, our two boys were able to elbow a front row "standing room only" viewing-spot to the parade. I had JUST missed the shot of the decade where Blanden had his arm around Ellis. My solace is that I'll get a lot more opportunities to capture the perfect image!

After the parade, on our walk back to the car, we happened upon one of Blanden's favorite urban parks. I had forgotten (or never knew) this park's name, but is well known among Denverites...it's the park across from the Pepsi Center located on Speer. After this particular slide, Blanden said, "Did you get good picture of me being really brave?"

To answer Blanden's aforementioned question, I said to him, "I don't know B...we better try again to make sure we got." Blanden hurriedly ran to the top of the slide again and waited until Dad gave him the thumbs up.

Okay! Two Dad shots on one E.B.W. Blog posting. This shot comes courtesy of a random stranger who thought it would make a good photo if he shot me shooting a picture of Blanden. His shot turned out better than mine. What technology...this photo was shot on his iPhone and instantaneously sent to my email account. Thanks, Sean Altman.

The concept of this shot was to make Ellis look larger than life, regal, and self-confident. I needed to know very little about photography to make this happen. The subject carries this shot by himself.

Just as I was getting the composition of this capture right, Ellis seemed to be saying..."Enough Already! Photography class is offically over. I need to rest in the car, then I need to eat something, then play with my cousins...let's get this circus on the road."
Naturally, we left soon afterwards and headed South to Highlands Ranch

The last stop on today's adventure prior to our Irish-styled siesta was lunch at the Lansdowne Arms. Uncle Jim ordered the Potato Leak Soup, Dad had the Shepard's Pie, and Blanden and Ellis shared a double-order of Chicken Strips and Grilled Cheese. Our late afternoon lunch received good reviews from all in our party. Ketchup, oddly, was the big hit for Blanden and Ellis. On the way out of this restaurant, we watched young Irish dancers perform. You know that you are in Highlands Ranch when the St. Patrick's Day celebration contains family-friendly entertainment. (photo credit unknown)