The people your mother warned you about.

I’m a bad influence. You shouldn’t hang out with me.

Since Alex sprung himself from his school commitment on Tuesday, he was free to go to the parade with us. His buddy Joe, was not. But then, I talked Joe’s smart mom into keeping Joe home and brining him to the parade with us. It wouldn’t have been the same without Joe! When we go somewhere with the Staperts, we’re usually a unit and it would have been sad not to have Joe there. There was only one solution. It couldn’t be helped!

If you are truancy officer, you should know I’m a known liar and this story probably isn’t even true.

My friend Marianne met us at the parade with her two boys, Evan and William. All together we had seven kids and they were really well behaved. It was, dare I say, manageable!

We had a great time! The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The parade doesn’t amount to much aside from television anchors, Catholic school groups, and several past and present “Irish Citizens of the Year.” Chicago puts us to shame. People threw candy and that’s all the kids were truly interested in anyway.

Joe even wound up with a green roll of some sort. Or maybe it was a bagel, we’re not sure. Marianne said, “I think they just threw Joe a sandwich.” I laughed out loud when I realized she was exactly right! Odd, but ‘hey, free roll!’

As the parade ended, Marianne treated the kids to cotton candy. Actually, my big mouth called the vendor over and Marianne wound up paying. That wasn’t my intention but I wasn’t up for a wrestling match. Try giving cotton candy to children whom have eaten nothing but sugar for two hours and then ask them to walk calmly back to the car. It was crowded and they seemed to be determined to get lost or kidnapped. We made it to the garage with everyone in tow and none the worse for the wear.

I don’t have any fabulous pictures of fun things in the parade or adorable group shots, but here were some fun individuals that could have just as easily been taken in my driveway.