Go N-éiri an Bóthar Leat!

Happy St. Patrick's Day (Observed)!!!  

My favorite, morning weapon of choice.

St. Pat's itself actually fell on a Friday this year, but, after a full day of work and last-minute, party preparations in full-swing at home, nobody really felt like doing anything to celebrate the actual holiday.  Nope, we always celebrate this third-favorite holiday of the Houghs (it ranks behind Christmas and Halloween for us) on the closest Saturday to March 17th.  

As always, this kicks off first thing in the morning, with Irish beverages being consumed as we watch The Simpsons, a late morning/early afternoon outing to downtown Clare, MI in order to get a couple hours of their annual Irish Fest in under our belts, before returning to Midland for our annual St. Patrick's Day Party.

This year we were fortunate enough to accomplish every, last one of our family traditions, and threw the biggest St. Patrick's Day party we ever have - nearly fifty adults and kids - and added karaoke and beer pong to our usual mix of holiday shenanigans.  Another epic day in the books for the Houghs, for sure.

Behold. . .

Kris went a little more mild (obviously), but she got into the spirit of the holiday a little bit.

The Simpsons' 'Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment' - I make a point of watching this every year on the day we celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

A couple of attention whores. . .

Our two teenagers, spending nearly the entire morning in the bathroom in order to make themselves look presentable for the day's festivities.

This year we mixed it up a bit.  For the last two or three years - since I introduced Clare's Irish Fest to our group of dads - a handful of the local guys and I have spent the morning bar-hopping throughout Clare before hitting up our party in the early evening.  I usually ride up with Kris and the girls and divide my time up between hanging out with them and meeting up with the guys at one of Clare's downtown watering holes.  This year, all of our regulars aside from Erik and I were busy during the day, so him and I decided to drive up an hour or so before Kris left in order to get a head start on the day.  On the drive up, we passed through a random - and pretty intense - mini-blizzard, between the Beaverton exit and Coleman, thereabouts.

Around 10:15am, we arrived at our first stop of the day - Ruckle's Pier.

We hung out at this Clare classic for a couple green beers (Bud Light, but still - it was green.)

All decked out for the big day.

While we were downing a couple pints of green beer down the street, Kris and the girls arrived in Clare and, after finding somewhere to park behind the Doherty, made their way over to Cops and Doughnuts Clare City Bakery (where they were lucky enough to beat what would eventually become a line formed all the way out of the door and onto the street.)  Abby brought along her best friend, Ella (Erik's daughter.)

The Cannonball brought along her two besties, Cristina (left) and Lexi (right) - Kris definitely had a full van full of estrogen on the ride up.

We grabbed our green beers and made our way down McEwan towards Kris and the girls to touch base and say hi.

These old clocks they restored and put back up downtown are pretty awesome (note the green beer in Erik's hand - we weren't sure if we were allowed to carry them out of the bar, but the bar maids said we'd 'probably be fine.')

After shoving our way past the throngs of people that were now lined up for their morning doughnuts - again, not sure how the hell Kris and the girls managed to beat the rush, but they were lucky they did - we found the womenfolk in the dining area of the establishment.

Kris' mom, Marcy, had met them all down there as well.

Kris always likes getting these posed pictures inside the Clare City Bakery whenever she takes the kids here.

Abby and Ella

Cristina

Yes, you read that right - Alayna has a boyfriend now.  I'll touch back on this another time, but it's pretty hilarious.

Lexi

Freshmen

. . . aaaaand one of the whole gang.

Coming out of the bakery, Erik and I decided to try our luck at the Speak Easy (not sure if that's the place's actual name, but that's what it's supposed to be modeled like) around the corner, while Kris took the girls out to check out a couple of shops downtown (definitely her cup of tea.)

The Johnsons

The Speak Easy (or whatever the hell it's called) was closed, so we said 'screw it' and just went down the block to Bob's Lounge (now called The Evening Post, which is lame - they don't even have the frickin' chicken out front anymore. . . what the hell is happening to this piss-hole of a town?)

Meanwhile, back down the street, Kris and the girls continued ducking in and out of local shops.

Inside the Evening Post (a far cry from what it used to be back when it was Bob's. . .)

At some point, the girls each got a balloon animal from some random-ass dude who was making and handing them out.  Here's Cristina with. . . something.

Lexi with a giraffe.

Abby and. . . I think it's a chicken.

Ella walking a dog.

Who frickin' knows what the Cannonball has. . .

This leprechaun statue was downtown in the middle of McEwan St with what most likely was intended to be some kinda Blarney Stone knock-off, so Kris had the girls - and their newly-acquired balloon friends - pose with it.

Kris and her mom.

A little while later, in a random coincidence, Erik snapped this pic of me with the leprechaun as we made our way from the Evening Post across the streeet to Four Leaf Brewing, Clare's local craft brewery.

I hadn't been in this place in like seven years, but it was just as 'meh' as I remember it.  Not terrible, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Inside of Four Leaf (we only bothered staying for one beer at this place.)

Back out on the main drag.

They had food trucks downtown, lining the street, kinda like last year.

(You can spot Kris there in the pink hat, with the girls off to the left.)

Kris is cold.

Ella and Abby

Kris got in line to grab the kids some lunch from the previously pictured food truck, and so Erik and I went across the street and into the legendary Doherty Hotel for a few beers.  When we got there, Erik ran into this random old guy who has been hanging out at the Doherty every year the last few times we've been there.

The girls entered the hotel as soon as they got their food, and I walked them into the back of the hotel where there were small tables set up in anticipation of the night's surely-to-be much larger crowds.

This will all be shoulder-to-shoulder packed by the end of the night.

Heading back through the front entrance to rendezvous with Kris and grab the other three teenagers.

Girls wanted to check out the bar of the hotel on their way back.

Courtesy of the Cannonball (note the lady photobombing us in the back.)

This old guy danced nonstop for the duration of this guy's set.

The kids table, at the back of the hotel.

After checking in with the girls, I headed back - once again - towards the front of the hotel to hang out with Erik, have some beers, and watch this old guy ham it up along to the music.  Kris had by this point asked me to periodically check in on the girls while she and her mom staked out a spot from which to watch the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Faded murals in the mens bathroom, downstairs.

Down in the men's room.  The door towards the back leads to the entrance to the fabled, underground tunnels that run below the town. . .

At the entrance of said door.  I haven't trespassed all the way into the back since the early 2000's, back when I did so with high school friends, one of whom had worked at the Doherty and knew the quickest way back there.

So, seeing how I had kids sort of under my supervision at the time, I figured I should just save that trespassing escapade for another time and return to the bar upstairs.

Kris returned shortly after and we grabbed the girls from their table in the back of the hotel and escorted them back up front.  The parade was going to start soon, and Kris and the girls wanted to watch it. . . despite it being ridiculously cold out.

Old dude must've pulled something in his back.

The parade begins.  Kris took this from the curb outside the Doherty - you can clearly see the girls right at the center, in front of the firetruck (Clare definitely loves its firetrucks. . .) 

Back in the bar, patrons quasi-watch the parade as it passes by.

The bar starts to get busier

The Cannonball kicks Lexi.  I took this one from inside the bar, through a dirty-ass window and zoomed in a ton.  It was too damn cold to be standing outside, screw that nonsense.

(I forget who took this one.)

Back outside, in the cold, the girls watch as the famous Clown Band marches past. . .

Cristina stole my official St. Patrick's Day sunglasses.

Bunch of old guys, living their best life.

Heading down the stairs for another bathroom break. . .

Got a little farther down the forbidden corridors this time.

Didn't get to the entrance to the tunnels, though - maybe next time.

Back upstairs

Our buddy Brad, who had drove in on his own in order to rendezvous with us, finally showed up in the early afternoon.

After having a beer with Brad at the Doherty, the other two guys were hungry and Brad wanted to check out this barbecue joint that was set up outside the White House across the street.  Kris loaded up the girls into the van and began the drive back to Midland.

Freshmen in the back of Kris' van.

Outside the White House, one of Clare's cornerstone establishments.

This giant smoker was being used by the proprietors of some local weed dispensary, who were giving away free shirts, edibles, joints, and other THC-laced goodies.  Due to the cold, they had a ton of stuff on hand, and so Erik and I walked away with a king's ransom in goodies.

Grills, smokers, and merch tables.

Erik and Brad load up their plates.

Artwork on the side of the White House.  Not sure how long ago that shit was painted on there.

After getting some food to go, we began our walk back to the cars (Brad and also parked behind Ruckle's.)

Walking behind my dad's old office building. . .  what used to be an old 7-11, my old preschool and the local RLDS church.

Back at the parking lot, after about four hours of partying in Clare.

Meanwhile, back in Midland, Alayna started inviting a bunch of her friends over for the evening's big party.  As teenagers started showing up, they hung out in Alayna's room, where they screwed around with some weird augmented reality crap on their phones, like this creepy-looking leprechaun.

One of the dads in the friend group texted us this pic of bacon-wrapped and cheese-stuffed jalapenos that he was grilling up for our upcoming party.

Kris planned out a wide variety of dishes for the party - two types of corned beef briskets, a huge 'potato bar' (something Alayna had requested), a fruit tray, a few dips, some desserts, multiple types of snacks, a charcuterie board, etc.  She had prepped a lot of this the evening before, but it still took like four hours of kitchen work after we got back from Clare in order for everything to be finalized for guests.

Our parties only work because Kris and I divide and conquer: while she has always handled food, I always work on customized playlists, party activities (like beer pong, photo ops, karaoke - as seen here) and overall decor.

Aside from the girls' friends, the first folks to show up in the afternoon was my brother, Chris, and his twin boys, Louis and Sam (his wife, Nicole, and their daughter, Nora, didn't end up showing up I think because Nora was a little under the weather.)  They showed up around 4:30pm - about an hour and a half before the party officially started - as Chris wasn't expecting to stay very long because his boys need to go to bed somewhat early.  I set up a show Sam wanted on the projector in the basement and hauled out the old Star Wars toys for the boys, hoping to preoccupy the two long enough for Chris and I to have a beer or three in peace.

Louis digs into a bunch of Abby's old Star Wars vehicles. . .

The twins soon got bored being down in the basement by themselves and came back upstairs wanting food.  While Chris got them plates of stuff to snack on, Louis attempted befriending the dogs, but my dogs have no attention span.

Dad of the Year.

Samwise.

Louis busts out his velociraptor impression.

Showing off their butts.  I had zero hand in winding these two up.

Kris went ape-shit with food this year - the guests hadn't even showed up yet with their dishes yet.

Aside from these potatoes, Kris also made baked potatoes and smashed potatoes for the pictured toppings.

Sam did not appreciate Louis' choice in songs for karaoke. . .

The boys only sang this one, like, two dozen times.

The karaoke was meant to keep the boys occupied for a bit and wind them down some, but it had the opposite effect - it just wound them up more.

Abby and Ella make an attempt at singing with the boys.

The Larsons showed up first, and white Danielle and Morgan helped set up their contributions in the kitchen, Sophie and Jackson joined the karaoke shenanigans in the Study (Louis and Sam moved over to piano as the older kids took over vocals.) 

Our brother, Jeff, showed up about an hour or so before the boys' wound-up antics finally drove Chris to the point where he decided to drop them off at home with Nicole.  Before he loaded the boys up we were able to get a Borthers picture in front of our usual St. Pat's backdrop in the living room.

By point in time - 6:45pm-ish, folks were starting to roll in more frequently.  Various components of the Bardens, Holtys, Griffins, and Bos families can be seen here eating at the dining room table.

More folks chowing down in the living room.

Lonnie Big Balls tries some of the rum-laden party punch the Larsons brought with them.

Mitch and Tom

Kris and some of her coworkers and their spouses.

A bunch of the guys - including my neighbor, Dave - take the first round of Irish Car Bombs. . .

For those of you who grew up under a rock, this St. Pat's staple has you dropping a shot of half-Bailey's/half-Jameson whiskey into 3/4 pint of Guinness and chugging it.

It's rad.

The Cannonball gets some hugs from Samson.

Alayna and her friends, Amelia, Cristina, Gabby, Lexi, and Amy's daughter, Elle.

Grazing in the kitchen.

Mitch, Lonnie, and Tom

Around 8:30pm, Jeff and I realized Chris had no intention of coming back to the party, so we texted this to the lame son of a bitch to show our displeasure.

Kris wanted a group picture of everyone wearing green, white and/or orange, so we did our best. . .

Lot of folks stayed out of the pic in order to make room for others, but we kinda made it work.

The karaoke raged all night.

Susan and Amy

Not sure if Kris or Abby drew this up on the whiteboard that chills on the side of our fridge. . .

Bunch 'a broads.

The Cannonball attempts to photobomb.

Tom and Erik

Steve, our neighbors the Angelotti's, Mitch, and Alicia

Back in the living room. . .

Elise, Alivia, and Nora

More food (this group isn't afraid to eat, that's for damn sure.)

Shots in the kitchen (Jeff is clearly not a fan.)

Kelli and Danielle

Mitch surprise-attacks Steve

Morgan photobombing Eric and Trina's pic in front of the backdrop (definitely didn't get as many in front of this thing as in previous years - Kris thinks it's because we've used it so many times folks are good with it now, so we'll probably replace it for next year's party.)

Paul (Kris' boss) and Melanie (his wife, who Kris is going to New York City with next week - more to come regarding that soon.)

Alivia, Nora, Elise, Danielle, and Courtney take a turn belting out some jams. . .

Lonnie's a fan.

Erik did this.  I wasn't aware of this earlier, but apparently this is a signal that means this house is down for 'swinging.'  How he knows this, I don't know.

This pretty much ran unabated for the rest of the night.

Courtney and Danielle muscle their way in.

Holtys.

Kelli, getting sleepy (she's an accountant so these days, seeing how it's tax season and everything, she works like 16 hours a day.)

Amy, Stephanie, and Omkar.

Kris and Jeff

Lonnie, handling some basketball business (he coaches the boys team at Northwood University.)

Out in the garage, beer pong started to heat up. . .

Susan kills at this game.

More shots for the garage crew.

Danielle and Susan

Jeff, Courtney and Mitch in the peanut gallery

The tweens, still at it in the Study.  Most of the younger kids remained in the basement for the duration of the night, with the high schoolers watching TV in Alayna's room and Abby and the other 7th graders hanging out in the back den watching horror movies.  The younger middle schoolers eventually took this room over. 

Danielle and Alicia bust out some early 2000's pop standards.

Boy band craziness.

Morgan and Courtney team up against Jeff and Erik

Tom and Mitch step in.

Kris, Morgan and Courtney

Borthers, ASSEMBLE.  (We lost anyway.)

Morgan and Danielle duet on 'Island in the Stream,' which, coincidentally, was one of Morgan's Brocation picks from last year's mix.

(Featuring Mitch and Kelli's kid, Audrey, on piano.)

This god-awful song made an appearance this evening as well. . .

At the end of the night, as folks began to pack up, a few families decided to squeeze in some last-minute family pictures in front of the backdrop.  Here are The Larsons. . .

The Johnsons. . .

. . . and The Houghs.  Slainte, Internet - we'll see y'all next year.

- Brian