January 2016
Shaun is taking after his brother...he has to read the safety card for every flight. At least they want to appear to be interested in being safe! On the way back to Ireland I also get a message from Pat asking if I was still interested in an internship and I was. He was willing to let me work with him for a while to get some experience so I was happy. It looks like its going to be a good and busy 2016...
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| Surprise!!!!! |
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| Jace, Shaun, Donovan, Lino - BFF's! |
My poor Shaun is one of the most accident prone kids that I know. If there is a wall to hit or a corner to run into he will find it and make sure to fully propel his body into it. On this particular occasion he was playing in one of the swivel chairs in the kitchen and for the 100th time that week (at least) I told him to stop messing around in the chair or he was going to fall out. Of course that day was no different and I know I had told him earlier to stop messing around but he didn't listen to me as usual but this time my warning actually came true. He fell head first onto the slate tile in the kitchen!!! I mean straight on the floor with very little to cushion the fall. He couldn't even scream he was in so much pain! I couldn't even think I was so scared. After he finally started screaming, it seemed like he was holding his breath for at least 5 minutes, I tried to figure out if he was OK but he couldn't even talk to me. After he finally calmed down a little I started thinking about the time that I was playing with TT and we were running around in the house and I hit my head hard on the corner of a wall and because I was pressing so hard on the bang my head split open! Well it wasn't my head but I did end up with a cut on my head because of the pressure I was applying to the bang. So I was trying to do everything that I could to not do that but it was hard. I had to call SouthDoc, which is like the Irish equivalent to UrgentCare. The lady was not too worried about him thankfully since he was screaming and could answer a few simple questions. I just had to watch him and keep it iced. The kid didn't have a chance. We just relaxed the rest of the day and thankfully it was early enought that I didn't have to keep him up to late watching him. Man, that was the biggest knot on his forhead that I have ever seen. The boy is so strong and resilient too...he screamed for about 2 min and then nothing...it didn't seem to bother him but the size and the knot had me freaked the heck out!!! This is the next day, after I applied about 6 doses of arnica gel on it!
Oh, and the worse part about the day was that daddy was on his way to Singapore for work so I had to deal with this trauma all by myself. Of course I was on the phone with my girls trying to figure out if I needed to rush him to the hospital or not but it isn't the same. I'm just so glad that we didn't have to go to the hospital...that would have been pretty rough.
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| Christmas gift from Silva |
So Mike had to go to Singapore for a week just after we got back from Christmas. This is his first trip to Singapore so he was a little excited. It is like a 13hr flight from London! That is crazy long. I have only heard of flights like that. Of course Mike couldn't sleep on the flight and he complained about the long trip but all I could think of was freedom from husband and kids for 13hrs on a plane with free movies and food...what a treat! Mike didn't see it exactly that way...but he was looking forward to seeing the place a little while he was there. So we got a lot of pictures from him showing us some of the tourist spots. The weather seems to be pretty good...I guess it rains a lot there like Ireland but its warm rain...so maybe that is like summer in Ireland??? |
| Mike is obsessed with the flight path map |
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| Indian |
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| Ramen |
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| Dim Som |
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| The crew always together |
February 2016
One of the things I love about Ha Eun is that she is always opening up my mind to new food. She has gotten us hooked on Ramen with egg now and just recently she added this very very weird shrimp snack. Now Mike loves the Ramen and we even have gotten TT hooked on it but the spicy shrimp snack he is no fan of. I have to be honest, the first time I tried it I was not overly impressed even but after a few takes it kind of grew on me. The first time we had it we had a girl date night at her house...dinner and movie! It was so chill and nice to just relax and talk with out the kids or husbands around. So as we are watching the movie (nothing scary or serious because she just can't handle it...she is so strange) she whips this thing out. And in true Ha Eun fashion she is so excited for me to try it...I get excited too (and nervous) and then became very disappointing when I taste it. It is very hard to explain what it taste like...but its dried shrimp, cashews and some other random Asian seasoning...I don't even know where it is from! It wasn't very spicy at first and it wasn't very interesting at first either but like I said, it grew on me and by the time we finished the little container and Ha Eun was dying on the couch because she had got a Thai chili I thought that she was completely loosing it. Then my last handful I finally realized what she was talking about...I got one of those freaking Thai chilis too!!! That crap is hot!! I mean like lava in your mouth and throat hot! There is no way to put out the fire hot! Tears in your eyes and fire in your as* hot!!! After that experience I was in love!!!! I am nuts yes...my mother created me. Ask me about the story of me and the jalapeno at the BBQ restaurant with Niki & my dad when I was younger...I digress. Anyway, all that to say Ha Eun gave me a container of it because I did like and and when I shared it with Mike I thought he was going to throw up all over me...he didn't even try it. He just smelled it and was like 'no way in hell'...oh well..more for me!
These guys are the boys core friend group...Freya, Donovan, Jace. There are not to many weeks that go by when these guys aren't getting into some sort of trouble together.
Superbowl time!!! Even though we hardly ever stay up to watch the whole game we always make a point to put together a Superbowl menu, we make sure to go to sleep with the boys, set an alarm to wake up about 1hr before the game and we enjoy our Superbowl snacks and absolutely horrible slingbox viewing of the game. Most of the time our internet is so bad that it is just impossible to watch the game. At this point we actually have 2 internet providers! We use one solely for streaming but when the max data you can get is 7MB its pretty hard to enjoy much streaming without going crazy or without drinking a whole bottle of vodka. Either way, we enjoy our snacks and make due as best as possible with the TV. We always think we are going to have a little party at the house but it just isn't realist. Its ok, we will be back home eventually and will pick-up the Superbowl party tradition then. On the menu this year is buffalo chicken cal zone and Italian seasoned wedges.
So we have got a new aupair from Italy, Georgia and this is one of her first weeks and apparently Shaun gave her the shake and went to the medicine cabinet and decided that he had diarrhea and needed a few pepto bismol tablets!!! Geeze That kid is always in some sort of trouble. We think he ate 2 but there is no way to tell..he appeared to be fine so we didn't stress to much about it. That room was locked after that indecent.
So I am at my new job/internship which is working out really well. It is located in Little Island so it is perfect for us. Mike and I can meet for a coffee sometimes and its very close to home/school so if there is an issue I can get to the boys quickly. I don't work much but it is enough to keep me busy and out of the house. I am working as a project manager but mostly I am learning how things work in an IT company. It is really interesting and some days I feel like I am to old to learn something new like this but really managing projects are all the same regardless of if they are in food or IT. It is all about managing people but it is good to also have an idea about IT too. That was the whole point of this internship was to get some experience with IT so that when I get back to Texas I can have a few more options for jobs. Even though my heart is still in food science I need to be realistic and think about our future and I have no idea where we will end up in 1 or 4 years so if I want to keep myself valuable I need to make sure that I keep my options open. This was a great chance to do that and I am very thankful to Pat for giving me the opportunity to work at Aspira. So all that to say that Aspira is a fairly new company, about 9yrs old but over the past 3yrs or so they seemed to have really picked up a lot of steam and this year they were able to get the Taoiseach to come and have a press conference at the office during his campaign trail. The process for running for Taoiseach is kind of strange and only after a few months after the election did I really get the full grasp of it. I will try to explain it here but I am sure I will miss a lot and make a mess of it but that is OK because I think that is how it is suppose to be or at least how a lot of people see it anyway... So in Ireland a 'vote' can be called at almost anytime but an election must occur at least every 5 yrs. So this was the time to vote for a new party to be in control. And that is a big distinction, it is a vote for a party not a person. So after a party is elected then a Taoiseach is appointed (I think) by the dail vote. So for this year the Fine Gael representative, Enda Kenny was doing some of his campaigning in Cork and Pat was able to get him to do a press conference in the office. Pat thought that I would be very impressed by this but I was not even impressed by our own election drama that was occurring...the start of Trump running for Presidency. As much as I tried to stay out of the way of course Enda finds me at some point and wants to know more about me. I have to pretend to be interested because I barely knew who he was. But I did get a picture of him and Pat so that I could always remember this moment in time. The funny thing about the whole election and what not is that there are more than 5 parties but it always comes down to 2 maybe 3 (the labor party) and there is something about how the parties run. They don't always want to win or they don't want to win without the right support or something like this. So sometimes there is a stalemate as it was this year. Apparently the votes were even and left Fine Gael and Fisnns Fail both tied the election but neither one wanted to claim ownership (I am making this way more simple than it is). So for about 4 months or more there was no government...but I guess the outgoing government continues to run until there is a decision. I just couldn't believe that or understand it. It appears that this is not uncommon. So after the governments gathered what ever allies that they needed it as agreed that Fine Gael would continue to be the elected party. Then Enda had to resign and the government re-elected/appointed him. I think he was one of the few to ever be elected 2x...but that glory didn't last long because after a few months he resigned and there was another caimpaign for a Fine Gail representative. It is all very complicated...I can't even understand what else happened but eventually a new person was elected/appointed. This whole process seemed to take about 6 months to sort out...crazy  |
| Bad hair day :-( |
So someone at work was talking about going for a big climb with friends and it got me all interested so I decided to make a weekend plan for us to go to Mayo and climb Croagh Patrick mountain. Apparently this is a spiritual mountain where some people do their spiritual pilgrimage barefoot! This is a very rocky mountain and I could not imagine doing it barefoot but I guess that is the point of the pilgrimage. It was a long drive up and on the way up we found a really cool place in Gort to have lunch...good food is always important! The weekend was actually really fun. We stayed in an apartment in Westport that was above a bar which was cool and loud. We thought it was a perk because we could go downstairs and have a drink or to and just have to go upstairs to the apartment to sleep with the boys but the bad part was the live music that went on until around 1:30am...it honestly wasn't that bad because the rooms were 3 floors above the bar but it did make it a little more challenging to get the boys to sleep. All in all it was nice.
A weekend trip for us does not mean just one stop it means hit as many places as you can!!! So after we climbed 1/4 of the mountain we heading on down the road to Cliffs of Moher. Nana and TT have already gone to see them and we live here and haven't seen them yet so it was a no brainer to stop here while were were out this way. We decided to take the scenic route of course because Ireland is so beautiful and even thought we have seen the coast before it never seems to get old. This time we saw some really cool rocks along the coast and I made Mike stop so that we can have a closer look. The boys thought it was cool too and they wanted to go exploring so we did. This is not something that we would do in the states I don't think so it is so nice to be able to let the boys just go and do this. So we took about an hr detour here. We didn't even do anything other than walk along the rocks and try to see how far out we could get. Lino is such a little monkey and he can climb on anything and doesn't ever seem to have any issues. So of course Shaun wants to do everything that Lino is doing but Shaun isn't even 3 yet so he really can't or SHOULDN'T do EVERYTHING that Lino is doing but he WANTS to and demands it too so we have to let him. It was scary for a while but eventually we realized that he wasn't as bad or as young as we wanted to think. He as able to manage those weird rocks almost as good as Lino. He wanted us to let his hands go so he could be free like Lino but there was only so much freedom I was willing to give him. It was a nice little adventure and the views were breath taking as always.
Cliffs of Moher!!!! What an amazing view!!!! We didn't think we were going to have very good weather but we ended up having a really great day! I don't know if its just because of the location or our good luck but it had been pretty wet the past few days (which isn't out of then norm) so we were not to hopeful that the view was be as good as it was...we were so lucky. Thankfully we had boots packed in the car since we had went climbing the day before...the 'path' that we had to take to actually get to the viewpoint was completely muddy and swamped in some places too. It barely had railing for the some parts of it...I was having major panic attacks with the boys. I kept thinking about one of them jumping or stumbling off the ledge and falling to their deaths (I'm shacking thinking about it now) and what would I do if that happen?? Would I jump after them and die with them so that they don't die alone or will I say back with the other boy so that they both don't loose a mother & brother? An unbelievable thought I know but you have to remember I am a Kansas girl and we don't have cliffs like this in Kansas!!!! This is a long way away from the yellow brick road and a whole hell of a lot different too! Mike had to basically smack me out of my crazy thoughts and we were able to enjoy the experience for the most part. I was still very paranoid about the boys falling especially since there railing was so sparse. Of course we survived and the boys thought it was amazing...and so did Mike & I. This is just incredible...I can't imagine living in a place like this...and to think we only live 5hrs away for such an incredible view...unbelievable.
March 2016
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| Asian treat that I have no idea what it is but I love it |
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| Christmas gift...Superman! |
Someone at work is leaving so I decided to make a cake for them since I was going to make a cake for Shaun anyway. I thought I would be clever and put one of the letters lower than the others to make it seem like it was a mistake or a defect but no one got the joke. I did that because of the project that I was working on at the time I was looking for defects in the software and reporting those defects to the developers. I put this defective cake in front of these programmers and none of them called it out. They all thought that it just happened in transit and none of them even asked me about it. I had to ask them about it the next time I was in the office to see if they noticed it. It was a little funny that I had to ask about the joke that I had planned...oh well...I liked the idea anyway. The cake was delicious of course
St Patrick'd Day!!!
St Patrick's day was on a Thursday this year and I knew that next year it would be on a Wednesday so this was going to be the best time to go to Dublin for the big parade ( we should have went last year but we couldn't pull it together to make a decision to go or not). I heard that the parade in Dublin was suppose to be much better than the one in Cork and since it is the capital we thought it was a good idea to check it out. We took off on the Friday so that we didn't have to rush back Cork and since I wasn't working full time I took off on Wed and took the boys to the zoo for the day. Mike met up with us that evening and we had a heck of a time trying to find a place to eat. The town was jam packed with people!!! There were so many Americans who must have came over for all the drinking...it was anightmare. The problem was that we were trying to find something to eat close to Temple Bar area...why we were doing this I have no idea. I think we both thought that that area would have the most options and we could get something quick. Well it did have lots of options but there was nothing quick about it and it was loud and crazy with drunk people. It was an experience for sure...I couldn't imagine being here without kids! So the Zoo was set up for the festivities too so I had to get the boys inside of the rainbow. They had a gread time ad the zoo but I still prefer Fota over Dublin zoo. At least this time I managed to keep a hold of the boys.
The Dublin parade is so much bigger than Cork...we knew this but didn't really plan propperly for it. We left the apartment later than we should have and we didn't know where we could park and couldn't and we didn't know the best place to set up shop and we didn't plan to be there for more than 30 min (which means we didn't have chairs or food for the boys)...we basically just went up and thought we would be grand...we were but it couldn't have gone so much better. Eventually we get parking and we hike it over to the spot in front of the Dubliner museum and luckly there were food stalls there so were were able to get stuff for the boys but because we were so unprepared there were already a lot of people there and most had chairs set up right at the front of the barrier. The boys tried to squeeze in but we were worried that we would loose them again so we didn't let them go to far out of our reach. Eventually we had to put them both on our shoulders so that they could see what was going on. The parade lasted much longer than we expected so it ended up being a long morning for us. Overall, the parade was nicer than Cork but not by much. It was longer than 30min and they even had marching bands from the states there which was cool but the floats were the same old fashion floats with people pushing them. It is just amazing to me. I kind of like in now but I am still amazed at them. The floats themself were a little more elaborate too so that made it nice. We were lucky that it didn't rain so we didn't have much to complain about...well the boys were not happy that they didn't get any candy thrown into the crowd like they do in Cork but otherwise it was fine. Another iconic experience in Ireland checked off the list!
Shauns birthday party at Go Safari!!! We decided to not have Shaun's bday at the house because we were not sure about the weather and because we were both pretty lazy...we thought it would be easier and cheaper to do it somewhere else. It was a little easier but not that much cheaper. Anyway he had a great time and I didn't have to do a bunch of cleaning before/after, didn't have to search for entertainment or venue and didn't have to worry about food...it was worth the extra few bucks! Shaun loves this place and he was so excited to have his party there. We didn't invite any friends from his school since he is still small and doesn't really tell us much about what he does there so it was mostly our friends...which means his friends too!!!! It's all the same at that age...right???
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| Birthday outing with the Cuidiu girls...Mel, Lorriane, Jen |
Easter!!!! That means it is time for our annual Easter trip! We usually take this time to go on a trip somewhere in Europe since the boys get off for almost 2 weeks...its like the US spring break. This year we decided to go to Spain to surprise Silvia and to go to Morocco. Before we left Georgia did a little Easter egg hunt for the boys at the house...the love finding eggs and eating the candy! I think Georgia thought I was crazy when I said to put the candy into the eggs but after I explained it more she saw how fun it could be for the boys....they loved it.
I have wanted to go to Morocco since we moved to Ireland but Mike was not so interested. It has taken me 2 years to finally convience him to go and I only think he is going because I was able to find a cheap place to stay and it would add another tick to the list of places that we have been to. So the plan was to go to Madrid first and drive up to Burgos and surprise Silvia. We were coordinating all of this with Ramon and Siliva's mom. The boys were starting to forget her a little so it would be good for them to see her again. We were really excited about this trip. Our first stop was Madrid for a day to see the city before driving up to Burgos the next day. I love Europe and how there is always a place where people go to enjoy the weather and there is always some sort of simple entertainment for the kids...this is bubble station is so common that you would think it was a chain. It is such a simple thing but yet the kids love it. Just a few ropes and some dish soap and you have hours of entertainment for the kids...chuck in a couple euros and everyone is happy! The only problem is getting Lino & Shaun to leave!! This was in Retiro park. We spent the afternoon here and it was really nice. There was nothing special about it, other than the ducks that you could rent to ride around inside of the lake (look just beyond Lino)...we didn't do this because it was a little cold and the lines were to long.
The next day we drove up to Burgos, I drove an the boys slept. It was an easy road for the most part and we met Ramon in the town. He directed us to the house and we surprised Silvia at the door. She was so shocked to see us!!!! It was great! Her family was so accommodating and they let us stay there for the 2 nights we were in town...well we didn't have an option!!! Hahaha...it was great. We spent the couple days there seeing the sights around town and Paco took us to some of the places that he use to take his girls too...it was just amazing to be able to spend this time with Silvia. We had to give her a hard time in the beginning because she seemed to have forgotten a lot of her English so Ramon had to translate some for her. She said it was hard to keep up the English because there are not enough English speaking people in the town. That is understandable for sure...even still it was great to catch up.
I tell you it was like being at home with my mom...every thing was amazing. Home made paella because I love it so much. Mati even made these goat cheese and carmalized onion thing that as so good I think Mike & I ate over 1/2 of the tray.
Shaun's actual 3rd birthday was in Burgos so they did up a 3 chocolate cake for him...which was very good. I couldn't stand chocolate before I moved to Ireland but now I can eat it and I even find myself enjoying it more and more.
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| Burgos City |
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| Big kids |
Paco took us to this park where he use to take his girls all the time...at the park is a huge slide in the hill that the kids and adults race down on cardboard boxes or bags. It was a lot of fun and a little scary but the boys loved it. It was very cool...I don't think I have seen one like it before.
Last day in Burgos was Easter and we got a nice surprise breakfast...Churros which apparently it is tradition to have Churros & chocolate for breakfast for Easter. The boys did not complain about this at all and those were some of the best Churros that I have ever had...I haven't had many but still it went straight up to the top. It was a great way to end a quick trip. I feel like this is another home away from home for us!Back to Madrid but not without drama...on the way from Burgos to Madrid we decided to stop off at the Europa Park which is this big park that has a bunch of miniature European monuments inside. Ramon said that the boys would love it but he didn't say that we would need to spend 6hrs here in order to get the full experience!!! That park is huge and the boys wanted to do every single thing that they saw...the first thing was a huge playground and just next to it was another huge playground (almost exactly the same), we probably spent over 1.5hrs at the 2 playgrounds!!!! Once we finally got them to leave we were able to walk around a bit and see some other things there...there was a ton of stuff. I mean I think we could have spent more than 6hrs there...more like 2 days! I wish we had the time but we didn't, and it was kind of fortunate that we got there late or that we spend 2 hrs at the playground because most of the stalls were closing..oh and it was Easter Sunday. So we had to drag the boys out, as usual, and since we left at the last minute there was no place to eat so we thought we would just find a place on the way to the airport to get something to eat...this is where it all started to go downhill very fast. We left the park and tried to find a place to eat that was easy access off/on the highway...this was impossible. We stopped at like 2 exits and still couldn't find the right place to eat. So we eventually got gas and just said forget it and we would get something in Madrid. So we took the car back to the airport and Mike kept asking me if the check-in time at the hotel/airbnb was a problem and I told him it wasn't because I had emailed them a week before to confirm that we could pick up the keys at the late bar. So we didn't worry to much thankfully but it was stressful enough trying to get the car back and keep the boys from not going to crazy from not eating. So from the airport we took the train to the city which required a transfer. At this point it was close to 10:30 or 11pm so we were all exhausted. When we got onto the second train we were talking and we realized that we didn't have the book-bag...this is critical because it has all of our important documents in there and passports!!!! So we look all over and of course we don't have it. Mike thought that I picked it up and I thought that he picked it up...neither one of us really had possession of it but it was still our responsibility. Either way it wasn't there and we needed it ASAP! So we got off and tried to find a police or someone to help us. We were only 2 or 3 stops from where we had gotten off but that didn't really matter. We walked up and down and finally found someone who we could talk to...but of course they couldn't speak English very well...FUCK!!!! So they send us to another lady and she calls in the problem and they tell us to go back to the airport stop because that is where they would return it if it showed up. At this point we did not feel like we were going to be lucky but we made our way back to the airport (it took us about 20min) and somehow they had our bag! We had to answer all these questions about the bag and they were asking for ID but we didn't have any since they were all in the bag...I felt like I was in some sort of Amazing Race episode! But they could see that we were with kids and they went into the bag and found our passports so could verify that it was us...we were so lucky...we were very BLESSED that it was turned in and there was nothing missing! We were like, it only added an hour to our day but that is nothing compared to what it would have been if we would have lost the bag completely. So now we start again back towards the apt and keep a very close eye on the bag in the meantime. When we finally get to our stop and trek our way 10min to our hotel the front door is closed...I only had a mild panic attack before I remembered the late night bar that we were directed to go to if the office was closed. So we walked up the road to the late bar and it was closed too! What the heck is going on???? I had to double and triple check my email to make sure I wasn't going crazy with the name of the late night bar and I wasn't but the bar that they people said was always open late (like past 3am) was closed at midnight! I was even shocked that it was closed. So we went next door to the bar and got the boys something to eat and a drink (the people there were really nice) and I called and called the apt number and didn't get an answer at all. We walked back down to the late bar to check and make sure it didn't open back up or something but it hadn't we even asked the people at the bar we were at if they knew of the apt we were staying at. They did and the guy even had their contact number so he called them at least 3x and they didn't answer him either! After about 30min of calling and waiting we decided to just go and find a place to stay. At this point it was about 12:30am and the boys were so tired from the day of traveling and I was so upset from all the drama of the day we just needed a place to sleep. So we went to the first place we could find and they didn't have a room, the next place had a room but it was like e250 for the night for a double room...that was more than 1/2 the cost of our apt for 4nights so I couldn't do it. The next place was the same. At this point I think I was about to kill Mike because he was the only person that was there and I was so frustrated. We were still calling the apt trying to get in touch with someone but no answer...finally we found a place and the guy seemed to feel sorry for me because he somehow gave us a room that apparently wasn't really available. and he only charged us e100. Even though I didn't want to pay for a room when I had already paid for one it was the best we could do at 1am! So we finally got a room and it wasn't the best but it was the best we could do at that time. I was just waiting for the next morning when I could get my hands on the people at the apt. We all passed out after about 10min of getting into the bed, it took me 12min because I had to send a nasty email to the property but after that it was lights out. The next morning we got breakfast and heading to the apt...the guy must have saw on my face that I wasn't happy because he immediately was like "Renee??" He knew I was coming and he knew I wasn't happy. Thankfully I didn't have to do a lot of fussing with him because he was very apologetic and he re-reimbursed us for the night we paid for at the other place. The whole time he was talking I just wanted to take his head off. I told him over and over that it was not professional to do that especially when people travel to this place with kids. Anyway, it all worked out at the end and the apt was fine except the sewer smell in one of the bathrooms (we just kept that door closed). The apt was actually really perfect and spacious and great location (of course it was because I spent a lot of time researching it) so it was a shame that I had to give it a 3 on tripadvisor because of the issue with check-in. Thankfully the rest of the trip was much less stressful. The rest of our time was spent seeing the sights and enjoying the amazing food.
Market in Madrid...I have no idea what this was but I wanted to try it. It was really weird and I would never eat it again. It wasn't horrible just not good.
Churros at one of the oldest Churro factories...Chocolate 1902
After 2 days in Madrid we were a little over seeing all the Cathedrals so with the help of Ramon we decided to take a day trip to Segovia which is about 1hr south of Madrid. It was a very small and old town that is known for its aqueduct. We really enjoyed the town and the dinner was great too. Ramon told us to try the traditional desert there called The Ponche Segoviano and Mike fell in love...we had to get a whole loaf to go back with us that he ended up eating the majority of. 
Next stop...Morocco! I couldn't wait to go here! There isn't much to say other than its amazing and crazy. We had a really cool room in a resort and since it was off season the price was amazing and the food in the room was so good too. When we were checking in we were giving some Moroccan tea and the boys fell in love...basically hot sugar tea! They let them get as much as they wanted...they love kids there. The bad part was that the weather wasn't as warm as we would have liked which wouldn't have been bad but the boys saw the pool and had to get in...even though it was freezing! Our first night there we went into town just to see what it was about and it was so crazy busy. I feel like there wer 2x as many people in the square than there was room for. The people didn't seem to mind. The next thing we noticed was all the people trying to get you to buys something...even kids selling stuff! It was a little overwhelming for our first day but also a cook experience too. We didn't stay long because we knew that we would be back. Were were very intriged by the inner portion of the square where all the food stands where...everyone told us not to eat the food there or else we would get sick so we didn't risk it (the first night). The next day we had a camel ride at sunset followed by tea and snack at a locals house...this was a cool experience. We got all dressed up and packed up on the camels. The boys thought it was so cool! Even thought we were not in a dessert but something in between residential and dessert land it still was cool and had the feel of being in the dessert anyway.
The amazing food stalls in the market! We couldn't resist this place the second time and the guy with the British accent who encuraged us to go to his stall didn't help us to resist the erge...there were other non-locals there eating and they all looked fine. The guy who was telling us about his food kept saying that he promises we would not get diarreaha...how could he make such a promise and how could we believe him we will never know. Regardless the food and the experience was amazing, I'm glad we did it and we didn't get sick either. The boys actually liked the food too, they had the lamb kebabs which we told them were sausages. After dinner we took a stroll around again and noticed that there were 2 kids following us...one of them kept trying to give the boys stuff and saying "its no problem' but we were like ' that's nice but no thank you' finally I just broke down and bought something form one in order to get rid of him because the boys were getting upset when I made them give the toys back and a whole flock of kids came over to us trying to sell stuff. One was selling this wooden rattle snake toy and kept giving it to Lino and he was really upset. But we were worried that if we bought something else we wouldn't get rid of the kids so we didn't get it. I had to be rude to the kids and tell them to leave us alone. I didn't like that at all but I guess that is the culture. I know people told us before that it was a culture of haggling but this is was more like stalking! I guess its all apart of the experience. And even as we were leaving which was after a stop to get some more tea it was super crowded in the streets...it didn't look like the place quiets down until very early in the morning.
The next day we went to lunch at a place that was ranked #1 on tripadvisor so we were excited! Except when we got there it was all Americans or European's...no locals! Hahaha...it was funny because I am sure they all did the same thing we did and found places to eat and go based on tripadvisor reviews. We should have known but oh well...it was good anyway. Then we took a stroll through all the shopping areas...its like a maze in there. So many colors and smells its amazing. Somehow we got trapped by some guy who saw that we were looking around and he convinced us to follow him around. He seemed like a good Samaritan but after he took us to the place where they 'dye the scarves by hand' we soon realized he wasn't all that trusting. Long story short this was a coop and they swindled us into buy the authentic hand made hand died Pashmina scarves. I was really convinced at first but Mike wasn't...either way we ended up with 3 really nice scarves! Then the guy tried to get us to give him 300 dollars for our time! He told us originally that he was just helping us find the place where they dye the scarves now all of the sudden he needed compensation for his time and to help him with school because he was going to the university. But the way he looked with half of his teeth missing was like he was a little bit of a loner and swindler...needless to say he didn't get any money off of us...even though he offered to walk us to the ATM so we could get cash! I mean that was scary...we had our boys with us and everything. Sometimes I don't know what goes through my head. That was definitely not a good idea but thank God we came out of it ok...we only lost a few bucks on the scarves but honestly I was going to buy some anyway so it wasn't that much of a loss.
So outside of getting our money taken from us by the fabrics guy Lino & daddy were intreiged by the guy taming the rattle snake! I thought that it was all a gimic but maybe not. Maybe they take out their poisonous glands or something like that but either way its cool. Oh and the guy makes you pay if you want to take a picture of them sitting taming the snakes and don't even think about taking a video!!! Its all about getting your money...it was all apart of the experience I guess.
One of our cab drivers told us about this resturant and he said it was pretty popular with the locals and tourist but the first night we found out about it we couldn't get in because they were all booked but we did get to go before we left. It was a really nice dinner with a little bit of everything and then there was belly dancing!!!! The first lady who came out was an older lady and we were not sure how good she would be but she was amazing. Then there where a few other ladies to came to join her and it was a great show. Glad we go to go there and experience it.
Last day by the cold pool with some hot Moroccan tea!!!
April 2016
My friend asked us to do this Lulu doll for her friend. Lino didn't really get it why he had to tell about himself to the video but I think the girl appreciated it. We sent our doll on to Japan so that Duc could do it with his kids.
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| Lino Hurling! |
Since I have qualified for my Project Management I have to participate in so many PM events in order to keep my certificate. This year my boss was leading the PM conference in Ireland and it was being held in the Aviva stadium in Dublin. I needed the credits and I had never been to the stadium so it was a great opportunity to go. The day was actually really informative...I hope I can go back next year too. The stadium is amazing and the history there is pretty fascinating too. The stadium has been there for a long time and there was a lot of drama around renovating it but I feel like they did a good job trying to keep the spirit alive with the new stadium. I think there are still some old support beams and bricks from the original stadium that they kept and used in the new stadium...its not exactly the same but its a nice gesture. If you ever get the chance to tour the stadium I suggest you do. |
| Shaun at Little Kickers |
Lino was starting to participate in a lot of sports. From Taekwon do, swimming, hurling and now rugby! Poor Shaun was being dragged from place to place and he was starting to feel left out. So since Lino had Hurling on a Sat morning we decided to try and find something for Shaun to do during that time and the only thing that we could find was Little Kickers all the way in Bishopstown by CIT. It wasn't close but the times worked out for us so thats what we did...Shaun loved it. He couldn't wait for it to be his turn to go to 'his' soccer!
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| Baby Tadgh |
So after nearly 6 months from the original date when I was suppose to have my girls outing we finally get around to scheduling our trip to Paris. Karen & Rosine had already went so we were the 2 dragging our feet. We finally make a plan and then I get excited to go. So Mike & Gernot were going to hang out a little with the kids while we were gone so everyone was happy. Ha Eun picks me up and we head to the airport. We get all checked in and ready to go then decide to go to the lounge for a few drinks to start the trip off right and when we do start to board I realize that I have forgotten my passport! Of all the crazy things to forget. And we sat at the airport for over 1.5hrs just relaxing and not at one point did either of us think to check to make sure the other person had their passport. I have no idea how I forgot it but I tried to get the people at the gate to ignore it since I was going to another European country but they were having none of it. I couldn't believe it. Ha Eun was in such a shock she didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to say...what an idiot. So Ha Eun was just going to not go but I told her to go and I was going to get my flight changed to go from Dublin and fly out from there. It seems easy in theory but I had about exactly 4.5hrs to make it to Dublin in order to make the flight. So I had to get Mike to race me my passport and I had to try and convince the people at Aerlingus to change my flight which they kind of did but it took them so long that I had to get the taxi driver to drive like a crazy man to get me to the bus stop in time...I didn't even make it in time and I had to have Mike stall the driver for me. That is something he would never do but he did it for me and thankfully he did or else I wouldn't have made it. So all that to say I made it to Dublin on time and made it onto the flight and Ha Eun only had to have lunch without me! The whole trip was a lot of fun...I have so much fun with Ha Eun its incredible. And I was so looking forward to my fresh crossiants but the place we went to originally wasn't as good as I remembered but Ha Eun rectified that and found us a bakery that made them fresh and kept them warm...and they were amazing! This was such a better experience compared to the first time in Paris when I was with Dannon and pregnant with Lino and had a scan planned for the week I returned because there was some small anomaly they saw on his heart...and then the stupid Icelandic volcano eruption that kept me in Paris an extra week along with all the random strikes that kept happening when I was on the train to work causing me to have to adjust my travel plans mid-transit almost every 2 days! I hated France after that...not a very logical reason but that is how I felt. |
| Mojito's for the boys |
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| Amazing croissants! |
We went to this Michelin start restaurant and had a 5 course tasting menu that was so very tasty. I was not expecting it to be so good and so CHEAP. That was one of the best experiences I have had in a while. I guess we were both expecting it to be a lot more pricey but it wasn't but the food was really good. Very good find and great night out.
May 2016
After over 1 month in transit, the fancy scarves that we got in Morocco finally made it to Silvia! I had the address put on the package wrong and it took forever for it to get back to me to fix...what a pain but it was all worth it in the end.
Family trip to Kilarny! Although I have been to Kilarny with the girls I haven't been with my family and we didn't get to clime Torc mountain so we decided to go up one afternoon. The boys and us are really starting to get into the outdoors thing so it is always nice to have a dry day to go do something like this. Its also nice that Kilarny is only about 1.5hrs in away so it isn't that big of a trek to get there.
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| Morning after breakfast with Mike...kitchen crap everywhere! |
While Lino doesn't seem to enjoy GOING to hurling practice, once he gets there he seems to enjoy it. A lot of the boys from his class play and are on this team so he has a lot of friends to chat with during practice. He never wants to give up his Saturday morning iPad time but when he gets on the pitch he doesn't stop talking to his little buddies! I am not sure if he is really suited for this sport but for the time being its good to just have him doing something and if all of his other friends are doing it too it might encourage him to get into it more. I guess only time will tell. This is one of his first scrimages and I am glad I brought the camera because he won't be able to play this sport in Texas ( or at least not very easily) so its better to document it now. I hope he remembers this when he is older. He isn't half bad when he puts his mind to it and keeps his mouth closed!
It is our 8 year Anniversary and it has been a rocky last few years. With the boys and the move and me not working really everything that was familiar is no longer. The one constant in my life has been Mike so I need to keep that in mind when I think its the world against me. Anyway, so I know I don't always give Mike the time and credit that he deserves so I thought that he would appreciate a quick getaway for our anniversary. So I got Georgia to watch the boys overnight and I had Mike get off of work early on the Friday and we headed to one of his favorite places. Well he didn't know where we were heading but after we were on the road for a little while he kind of guessed it but I didn't confirm it for him...that would just be too easy. The annoying part is that we left late and we should have been to the hotel in less than 2hrs but there was road work or an accident or something crazy and it took us over 3hrs to get there. So by the time we made it there I was frustrated and it was late...I had planned for us to spend time in the spa and relax before dinner but it didn't matter we made the best of it anyway. Ha Eun and Gernot introduced us to this place a few months back and we went with the kids on a crazy windy weekend but it was a very nice hotel and the beach is suppose to be one of the nices in Cork. Mike loved it and kept saying he couldn't wait to go back so that is what I did. I am not normally one for repeat visits but if that is what the hubby wants then that is what he gets (this time).
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| Inchodony Beach |
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| Sports day at Lino's school...I missed the action and only got them sitting! |
Feeling home sick so I made myself some jalapeno cheddar bread...it was suppose to be a replica of the bread we get in West Texas at the Kolache shop...it was good but no comparison to that amazingness there...oh well.
We are learning very fast that you just need to enjoy life and go with the flow and do what you want to have a good time. The boys wanted to paint faces just because so that is what we did. It doesn't have to be Halloween to get your face painted as I have learned here and the boys definitely don't care. So they got me all painted up like some sort of zombi with blood and then they painted each others face...its the simple things in life.Another simple pleasure is nice weather...it doesn't seem to happen often enough so when it does we have to take advantage of it fast! This was a pretty warm day for Ireland standards so the boys went out to paint daddys face who was trying to get a little sun on his bone white skin. After they got daddy all painted they decided to get into the water then sun bath! Look at those cute bottoms!!!!
June 2016
Another beautiful day in the garden! And a creation unlike any other...I had a girls night with the 
Cuidiu gang and we went to paint pottery...I was not interested in this I was more interested in the drinks and hanging out. I have no idea how to draw and I don't feel creative at all but somehow I was able to create this cool cup! It took me all night and I didn't talk to the girls much at all but at the end it was amazing. I was so impressed with myself. Me & Lorraine were having a competition too and I think I won! I am not even sure what we were competing about but it was great fun either way.
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| Birthday cake creation for Jace...easier the 2nd time around |
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| Impromptu BBQ! |
Yet another holiday!!!! Since we do a lot of busy trips all over Europe so that Mike & I can tick off places that we have been we decided that we needed to take a slow down trip sometimes too. The boys always ask about going to the beach and even though we seem to go a lot in Ireland it is just not the same. So this year we (I) decided that we were going to somewhere a little more sunny and we were not going to do a whole lot of touristy things so we went to Portugal. I flew into Faro a day before Mike so that the boys could have more time to enjoy it. I got a shuttle to Algarve where our hotel was and it was so nice. It wasn't very fancy but it was just in a good location right next to the beach and a short bus ride from town. The boys were so excited to go! The bad part was that we went in early June so the water was still a little cold and it was really windy where we were but it didn't bother us too much. When Mike got in he rented a car and drove to us, he got a little loss of course but still made it fine. I had found a bunch of places on TripAdvisor that I wanted to try so I was excited to go. One of the first places was this little local shop that was in town and we tried to get in but they were all booked out...we had to make a reservation for the the next day and thankfully we did because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to go. It turned out to be a really really good place...one of our favorites. The food in amazing and so flavorful and cheap. We got a bottle of wine at the supermarket and it was like e2! The much nicer one was only e6! I mean that is just crazy cheap. I heard that it wasn't very expensive there but I didn't know it was like that. With every meal we had we ordered a bottle of wine and at least 1 appetizer and the bills never came over e40. In Cork we can barely get 2 mains for e40 let alone a bottle of wine, 2 kids meals and an appitizer. This is a dangerous place.
Even though it was only about 27C the boys were getting tanned!
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| Even though it was only about 25F the boys were getting tanned!! |
We went to this resturant one night and they had 2 huge shellfish tanks where you can pick your crab or lobster...so of course Mike had to do it. He got a whole crab! He is not a very good crab eater because it takes to much skill and patients but he did a good job.
So even thought there was a beach near to our hotel I saw that there was a nicer one near by and a cool reasturant near it too so we decided to head over. When we got there it was a little busy but it soon filled up. We thought we would have lunch first then go to the beach but the wait to get to eat was like 1hr!!!! I was not expecting that but the reviews were so good that I didn't want to leave so we stuck it out and it was worth it. The food was really good and so fresh. It was a beautiful day and the boys didn't mind waiting for the table because they had an icecream stand outside selling icecream so of course we all got something. This was one of the hotter days or maybe it was just because of the area we were in because even I was hot! Such a nice find...the Camilo Beach.
The beach was so amazing...the colors and tranquility was all so amazing.
There is always an adventure with me and my quest to find the TripAdvisor recommended places...this place was one of my classic picks. It was not close to our hotel and the directions that we got off of the internet took us to some place where we thought we were going to be mugged! It was funny but not so funny if you know what I mean. Eventually we made it to the restaurant and this place is packed!!!! It wasn't just a little busy it was super busy!!! The wait was over 1.5hrs and we almost didn't do it but because we had driven for about 40min to get there not including the time we loss when we got lost we said we better stay and try the food...it was suppose to be very very good. Mike was not that interested because it was all fish but he was a trooper and hung in there anyway. Finally it was our turn to get a table! Not to order, just to get a table...then we had to put in our order right away but we couldn't read the chalkboard menu that was in Portuguese. The waiter didn't seem to have much patience for us but finally spat out a few key fish names for us and we ordered. Everyone around us seemed to be enjoying it and it was full of locals so I knew I wanted to stay. I'm glad we did because it was some really really good fish. Almost as good as the fish at Oktoberfest...maybe it was actually better because it came with all of the sides?? I can't really say for sure I just know that I really enjoyed it and Mike did too!
Our last full day there and I found us a tour to go on...it was a Benagil cave tour. Now I don't really like boats but the boys love them and this was suppose to take us into some cool places so we did it. I figured that could be my little bit of sightseeing and the boys could still go to the beach and do something that they liked so it was a win win for everyone. It ended up being a cool tour and I didn't get too sick because it wasn't to much moving. The coastal line in the Algarve must be some of the most picturesque in the area. I mean it is not the same as the cliffs in Ireland...which are dramatic and beautiful in a totally different way. This was something different, it was a calm beauty and add to it the really nice weather and clear skies it just seemed so stunning. As part of the tour we got to go into a few caves that depending on the high tide are not accessable so that was cool. Then we went to this one area that has an amazing rock formation with a whole in the middle. I haven't ever seen anything like this. The beach that is in this cave is almost like a private beach because you have to either take a boat or be a really good swimmer to swim there. I couldn't get the same picture as they have online but it was still pretty stunning.At the end of the tour the boys got a nice treat because we saw a Pirate ship! They almost jumped out of our boat to get to the pirate ship. And the ship must have been use to kids having that reaction because they even blew their horn which sent the boys into full on excitement. To wrap it all up, as if the boys were not already doubled up on adrenalin our boat driver decided to speed race us back to shore! Now I was doing really good up until then but that was more than I could handle. I had to fight the urge to let my lunch go and take a picture of the boys...the pure excitement on their faces is priceless. Such a simple thing, speed, can make their entire day!
After the boat ride we had to hang out at the beach because it was our last day there. This was another nice hot day and Lino was all in the water...he is a fish out of water I tell you. He didn't want to go to far into the water but that didn't stop him from swimming along the shore. He was even ridding the waves! Shaun is more like me! He likes the water a lot more than I do but he doesn't love it like Lino does and he isn't completely immune to the cold either. So Shaun had a slightly different version of the same activity. Instead of swimming along the shore Shaun was racing the waves to get back to the shore before the waves touched his little toes! Then after he got a little wet he decided it wasn't that bad but he only would let the water to to his ankles. It took a rouge wave crashing into him for him to finally sit in the water!!! And he didn't dare go out with Lino, he just sat right along the edge so that the water could get him a little but not too much. While all of this was very exciting for them it was too hot for us but the water was way way way to cold for me to even think about getting in so we found a nice spot in the shade to watch them. Oh, and we got a little show in the process too...the family next to us was packing up or getting stuff together and when I looked over at them I could see the poor mans 'goods' coming out the side of his shorts!!! I was not expecting that and I don't think he was planning it either..it was a little shock and a lot of laughs. Such good times.
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| View from our roof top balcony in our apt |
The wolf/bear costume still hasn't died! It is for sure at least 1.5 sizes to small and every time we try to hid it he finds it. We should just vie it up but I am worried that he will get an infection from the costume being up his but so high!!! He loves it so we will let him enjoy it a few more times...but this will likely be the last public sighting.
Mike had a trip to Texas for work and had to meet up with Aaron Bush and go to our old stomping ground...the Taco Stand. Its so sad that it is not as popular a place as it use to be but I guess there are so many new places that have opened up down there that it was inevitable...regardless we always make a stop there if we are in town. The best and strongest margaritas I have ever had and some of the most tastiest nachos you will find!
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| Play time gone crazy...why are they spraying the wall I will never know. |
Sadly my most favoite great Aunt passed away suddenly...well it was sudden for me at least. And I was very torn on if I should go to the funeral or not but in the end I decided to go. The tickets to Chicago where actually not to bad and the timings work for us so I went. I am glad that I could have gone but I know that I can't always make these events but this one was special to me. Auntie died at 94 and she was a very special lady. God broke the mold when he created her. It was a sad time but she lived a long and full life so you couldn't be to sad for her because that is not what she would have wanted. While this wasn't a social visit anytime the Brittons get together its a social event so I had to stock up on the Christmas in June stash..
Love these ladies!!! My sis, granny and sister from another uncle!!!
Time for another cake. This year Lino was all over the place with what he wanted for his cake but finally I was able to get him to agree to a construction cake. This is definitely one of my least favorite cakes and it took me the longest it seems. I'm glad he didn't have to high of expectations because it wasn't the best...he liked it anyway...the prep always begins about 1 week before party time...sometimes more if it requires a lot of little pieces. The thing that I did realize is that when I make the cakes early which I tend to do, if I ice them and freeze them it seems to make the cakes even more moist so that has become my standard procedure. I only freeze them for less than 2 weeks so not like they will be freezer burned or anything and no one has said anything so I think it works fine....It definitely helps me with my time because I wouldn't be able to make the cake and all the little pieces within a few days...I am just not that skilled.
Lino's 6th birthday party! I couldn't deal with the entertainment drama of last year so we decided to have his party at the house again...which was so less stressful. The biggest stress is the weather. I always pray we get good weather so that the kids can be outside. We were lucky
So after 3yrs with only 1 car we decided to get another car. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on it so I found this car on the aupair site and thought it would work for our short term need. With me going to work more regularly we needed the aupair to be a little more mobile and able to take the boys to places so that I would be stuck with all of the school runs and activities. Plus Shaun was going to be starting school 5 days a week so we needed the extra wheels...the long and short story about this car is that it barely lasted us 4 months. I am not sure if it was because of the car, the driver or the mechanic but one of the 3 killed it...and that was the beginning to the end of our good stretch with cars in Ireland...more to come next year!
So this summer Mike and I have big plans to have a kid free summer and to go to Africa for 2 weeks! This took a lot of planning and coordinating in order to make it work but it did. So the grand plan was for Nana to come over and take the boys back to the states with her and I was going to go over later in the summer and bring them back with me. That sounds so simple but it really did require way to many brain cells. We eventually figured it out and Morgan even decided to join Nana which was actually a big help for her. Morgan loves coming to Ireland which is such a change from her first visit when she didn't like the taste of any of the food here! Now is is getting so big and is such a little lady...its incredible. So besides having guest from the states we also were dog sitting Lucy for a week while Dave & his family were on vacation. The boys were so excited to have her at the house. She is a pretty old dog but I think she enjoyed the attention...I'm sure she wasn't expecting to get so much attention from Shaun but still she loved it. Such an amazing dog...she really made me think about getting a dog but after one day of dog hair I knew I couldn't do it. But for one week and for her it wasn't a problem...oh the fun.
I decided to take Nana and Morgan to the pottery place to do some painting because I enjoyed it so much. I couldn't recreate the same maserpiece as the first time but I got a pretty desent piece of art at the end of the session. Mom was really in to it too but she was a little frustrated with her work but I think it was fine. I couldn't tell with Morgan because she is so a pre-teen...I mean most of the time she was just mean mugging her goblet but at the end she was very excited about her work and wanted to do another one...so who knows. I am just going to stop trying to please her...thank goodness I do not have girls!!
July 2016
To keep everyone excited about Ireland I always try to do something different with them and since we had just went to Killarny and had such a good time on the mountain I thought I would take the crew there too. Morgan wasn't that excited at first when I said we were going to climb a mountain but once we got there and she started climbing all over the rocks in at the base of the waterfall she was excited. It was such a good day and a great chance for me to try out my rented lens that I got for the Africa trip. I was toying with buying it but I knew that I wouldn't be out using it all the time so there was no need. But I needed a lens that had extra zoom so that when we were on our Safari we could get better pictures than with my regular lens...it took some getting use to but eventually I figured it out.
By request from Morgan we went to afternoon tea after the mountain. It was funny because we were all a little dirty and we were going into the Killarny hotel for tea. We tried to sneak in and change in the bathroom but it didn't work...we just had to do what we had to do. Eventually we all got changed and pretty and ready for the tea. I didn't think Morgan liked it that much but I guess I was wrong...she is an expensive niece.
Since we were all nice I figured we could take a few pictures by the lake...so we had a mini photo shoot after tea.
Before my precious little men were carried off to the states we had couple more stops to make and one was heading up to Glendalough to see the park which was amazing (no pics) and the other was to take a trip to Johnny Fox's. Jen Kubik told me about this place and I was very curious to see how it was. It turned out to be a really cool experience and we found out that Shaun loves mussels. Live Irish dancing and music along with traditional Irish food...it was a unique experience. Lastly is the day before the gang left...we had a medieval dinner at Knappogue Castle (Bunratty was sold out for the night we wanted to go). This was pretty cool too. I wish I had prepared to go and drink because there was free Mead there which is wine with honey but I had to drive so could only have a little. Everyone enjoyed the skit, dancing and singing.
Off to Africa!!!
This trip was so amazing and crazy at the same time. It was a trip of a lifetime for us and we were so luck to be able to do it. I am glad we were able to get the boys to the states so that we didn't have to worry about them and so we could go for 2 weeks without having to rush too much. I will try to summarize all the events because there was a ton that went on but I hope I don't miss anything special either...
Lets start with the arrive to Tanzania! We get there and get picked up by our driver who after about 20min we realize he is stalling to get us out. Apparently we landed a little early and the home office or wherever he was taking us wasn't opened yet. So the drive from the airport to the safari company took about 2x as long. We were pretty tired but in Africa so couldn't really sleep. We dozed a little but not much. As we got closer to the safari company or the city of Arusha we started to perk up. We pulled into what looked like an alley and started to go along this really bumpy road...at this point I was really starting to get scared. We passed a lot of people coming and going and then we passed a car with the trunk open and after further inspection we saw a half or whole cow in the trunk being cut and portioned off with people lining up...I guess that was the local butcher. It was a little shell shock. So we make it to the safari company and find out it is just a house. We meed the owner who is a guy from Australia who has started this company. He tells us this long story about all the drama with the company and he tries to re-assure us that it will be fine...so we are worried even more. Apparently he got sick a few years back and his brother ran the business for a while but didn't do a good job so now the once booming company is struggling to get people. We just decided to go with them because a friend had recommended them from 2yrs prior when she went. Oh, well. So our driver finally arrives and the first stop was to get gas!!! What kind of company is this. We have started off really weird but again we are so excited to be in Africa we let most of this go. Like I said earlier it was an experience!!! From the moment that we landed to the moment that we got back to Ireland!!!!!
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| 1st pic of the safari! In the 'jeep' |
Our first sighting was elephants...we saw a ton of them but they were all so amazing because how close we got to them.
One of the most fondest memories we have about this trip is this jeep...I am so glad that Mike got a picture of it because we will never forget it. This jeep...man, I don't know how it made it as long as it did. As soon as we got on a little hill the poor thing started smoking black soot as thick as sand...poor Mike was in the back so he was getting a full dose of it. And even with the poor jeep wasn't going up a hill it was sputtering out smoke! On the first day we got a freaking flat tire! We were not even 4 hours into the safari! Bernard said this was normal but I don't think it was...it was just another crazy addition to our experience.
One of the coolest things about this safari was glamping!! We got to stay in this really cool tent in the Serengeti. It was a tent but it was like a hotel! There where 2 room inside our tent, one for the bed and one for the bathroom/shower. I was impressed...but I wasn't impressed with the bugs!!! When we got there there were some spiders skirting along and I nearly wet my pants! I am getting use to the spiders in Ireland because I know they are not poisonous but I know the ones in Africa are so I had to tell the people and Mike thought that there was nothing that they could do but they sprayed it while we were at dinner. It was like a little hotel I am telling you...the food was good too! All at a little camp site...so cool
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| 2 Cheetahs! Bernard was so excited to see them he had to take a few pictures too. |
Leaving the Serengeti to head to Ngorongoro crater we had to go through a real cloud of smoke because apparently the have planned burning.
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| Ngorongoro Crater from our hotel in the crater |
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| A local village |
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Another bad sign that we had not picked the best safari company was that we were lodging in the owners cabin...I'm sure it was to save money for him an to try and boost his place but seeing as though it looked like we were their only customers in the last 4 months it was going to take a lot more than that.
We had one night in this place and as much as I didn't want to stay here we had no choice. The outdoor toilet and shower were not the problem but the bees! All I could think of was the crazy killer African bees!!! And they wanted me to just shew away the bees to get into the water bowl...there was no way! Apparently it was dry season so the bees could smell the water probably 10 miles away and they came running...well they can have the water I will just stay dirty for the day. The other thing was I was not too sure about the safety of this tent...not safety from people but from insects. There were a few holes in the nets around our tent and I was worried that some bug was going to get in and crawl into my mouth or nose or ear for all I know. So I had to do what I had to do...I needed to sleep but needed to protect myself too...so I came up with my own mask. It worked pretty well...it took me about an hour to get use to it but I was so tired it didn't stop me from sleeping very long.
So as we were leaving we passed a few of the boys who are what they call warriors...I guess every so many years the boys have the chance to become warriors and a part of this is that they live outside of the tribe for some time and when they come back they ware warriors. This can happen for a boy when he is 7 or even up to 18 depending on when he was born and when this window happens. I heard the whole story but it didn't make a lot of sense to me. These boys are part of the Maasai people which are native to the Serengeti. I was not suppose to take a picture but I had to.
After a brief review with the owner about our safari and me complaining about the jeep and all the problems we were on our way to South Africa!!! We were going to leave all the drama of Tanzania behind...but no that was not the case. During our flight to South Aftrica we had a transfer in Kenya. When we arrived in Nairobi we found out that the connecting flight was overbooked. In addition the people said that I couldn't continue on because I didn't have enough pages in my passport to enter SA. This we didn't understand, we didn't need a Visa to get into SA so why do they care if I only have 1 free page visa page...well there appears to be a rule around this so as much as I tried to get out of it there was no way around it. So the lady said we had to go to the embassy to get a new passport! Thankfully for us there was an embassy in Nairobi and thankfully we had changed our travel plans a month prior to finish our safari on a Thursday because originally we were finishing on Friday...which if we were finishing on Friday I would have had to wait until Monday to get my passport. So all those things were in my favor...the next issue was that I did need a visa to get out of Kenya! And since I didn't have any free visa pages how was I to get out of the freaking airport to get the passport to go to the country that I was traveling to??? The only way to do things in Africa is to bribe someone...so I basically had to pay the lady at the boarder control $50 to let me out of the airport...she didn't stamp me or ask me for any paperwork or anything...so shady. Mike of course had to pay too. So we get out and try to find a place to stay but we don't know where is a good place to stay so I ask some lady working there who gets me in tough with her friend who 'helps us out'...basically she scams us too. We went for it anyway because we were kind of stuck and very frustrated at this point. But the lady did find us a room and set up a driver to take us to the hotel and pick us up from the hotel in the morning to take us to get passport photes and got to the embassy. So we just went with it. We asked the lady at the Kenya air desk if we needed to book our flight for the next day and she was like, you should be fine there are lots of seats avaialbe for Friday so you shouldn't have a problem getting on one. I told her then we should book and she didn't want me to book and then something happened and we couldn't make it then we would loose out on that money too...fair point so we left it...bad decision we wold find out the next day. So we get to the hotel and don't know where to go so we have dinner there...it was freaking $100 for burgers! We thought it was just the hotel but we soon found out it wasn't...so the next morning we get picked up by our driver, we get to the embassy and we have to get pictures...I say we but I mean me. I get my picture and get back to the embassy and I feel bad because there is a line out the side of the building and if you don't have a booking you are not getting in...at least for Visa people. Thankfully I didn't need a booking since I was American and we were able to get in. There was another 'American' who was giving the people all kind of crap about his rights and what he wanted...I don't even know what he wanted and I don't think he knew what he wanted but no one seemed bothered. Anyway, after only a couple hours I was issued an emergency passport with 5 pages. As soon as I got the passport we tried to call our driver then call the airline to see if we could book our flight (like we were on the Amazing Race or something). Our driver, which was a kid picks us up and apparently takes an illegal turn to go the opposite direction on the road and we get stopped by what I like to call the militia! As it turns out the road that the US embassy is on is also on the same road as another embassy and it is also adjacent to some super rich housing area...and there are 'guards' everywhere...and not just guards but militia looking people with automatic weapons locked and loaded! So we get pulled over and our kid driver nearly shits himself. The guy starts talking to him in Swahili and asked him to get out of the car and open the trunk and all this stuff. Then he starts talking to me in Swahili and I just shake my head...he was very confused but then I said 'I'm American'...and he understood. So he explained that the driver did an illegal move and he needed to question him at the compound and we were going to have to find another ride. I couldn't believe it...the driver really looked pale at this point so I had to tell the guys that we were in a hurry trying to make a flight and the whole sad story about my passport and finally it seemed like he was going to let us go. He talked to the driver again and finally let us go. I told the driver that at least he was nice enough to let us go and he said he wasn't nice at all...the last thing the 2 of them were talking about was the military guy asking the driver for a bribe!!!! The bribe ended up being the equivalent of $10 which the driver didn't have! I couldn't believe it...so scary. So needless to say we couldn't wait to get out of there. So we make it back to the airport on time and try to book the fight out and we find out that flight was sold out and the next 9 flights as well!!! Which meant we wee stuck in Nairobi for the day! I was in tears...I am normally up for an adventure but I was not interested in this at all. We tried everything we could to get out of there...we went from travel agent to agent with all of them telling us they could do something for us but none of them actually doing anything but wasting our time. We went back to the Kenya air desk so many times the guy knew me by name and would just shake his head when we came in...basically saying there were no cancellations. He said the best we could do was wait at the gate to see if someone missed their flight so we thought we would probably just camp out at the airport because there must be a chance someone would miss the flight. Well that was a good plan in theory but in reality we couldn't get pass the security gate because we didn't have a ticket for a flight!!!!! So after about 4 hours wasted we just decided to book the flight that was available the next evening and to try and enjoy the little time we had there. Little did we know it would not be so easy. I will not bore you with all the details but lets just say we spent our 48hrs in Nairobi inside of the hotel, only venturing out for about 1hr total and then running back to the hotel. We at least found a nice hotel, Hilton, which was like a compound to get in and out and we put in the extra cash to upgrade the room to so that we could check out late and enjoy free drinks and snacks at the executive bar. Oh and then we had to spend a butt load of money to get our clothes washed because ever inch of our clothes smelled like smoke from the famous jeep...it was them un-pleasurable expensive 2 days I have ever had. I could not wait to leave that country and I did not ever want to go back...thank God we got out on our flight fine...goodbye forever Kenya!
After escaping Kenya we had to stay the night in Johannesburg before our flight to SA. Mike had suggested that we take some bus that was $5 each to go to Cape Town but I didn't think that was a good idea...thank goodness we didn't do that. Instead we slept on the benching in the airport which wasn't that bad...it was just cold. We made it to SA and had a great trip there! We had to adjust our plans a bit due to unexpected detour but we still ended up having a good time. We took a drive down to Wine Country when we arrived and I was immediately shocked by the site of the townships just outside of the airport. I had heard a little about them but didn't realize what they were really about... basically a large percentage of the black population live in these townships which are usually not that big, maybe 1/2 mile big and they don't have houses but metal shacks with no running water or sanitation system that I could tell. It was so disheartening to see that...and at that moment I realized that I was not African American but a Black American. I don't think most black people in America would relate to the way these people live so how can we call ourselves African...anyway I diverge again. After my initial shock I was struck by the beauty of SA. One of the things that we found out was on while we were in wine country was Bastille festival. Now we had no idea what this was really all about but it was cool that we got to go to it while we were there. The weather was amazing the the festival was so lively. Our hotel was so nice and fancy it was just a great time all around.
We are in wine country so that means wine tram! It wasn't as amazing as I would have thought but the wines were all really good and very cheap. It was incredible. We had a great day on the wine tram.
Our one day stop was at this amazing treetop hotel that was just to dye for. Thankfully we were traveling off season so we didn't have to pay an arm and leg but man I wish we could have been there when it was warmer and been there a little longer to enjoy the place...Regardless it was a great stop over.
The next day I did ziplining and Mike went hiking...both of us had a great experience!
So we only drove for 1 day and then flew back to Cape Town. Our first night there we went to this place that Cara recommended and it was awesome. We would highly recommend the Gold resturant to anyone visiting. You get a selection of different African dishes and live traditional music and dancing...it was a great experience.
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| Bo-Kaap area |
The next day was our Shark tour! Before that we went to Boulder beach but we weren't able to go in without paying and we didn't have that much time so we just walked around the parking lot area and caught all the penguins hiding. It is a penguin heaven for sure
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| Boulder Beach from my camera! My most prized picture ever. |
So like I said we were both scheduled to do the shark dive but I pretty much chickened out before we even got onto the boat. I wasn't so much scared of the shark as I was scared to be frozen in the water that was about 10C. I was having no part of that...and the bad part of the whole thing was the cost for me to go out was the same weather I dove or not...sorry Mike. But Mike ended up going in 2x so he got his moneys worth. The sea was very calm and we saw 4 sharks so I think it was worth it...Mike really enjoyed it. Oh, I almost forgot...he bought this fancy water proof case at the London airport so that he could take his phone down with him and record footage of the sharks and take pictures. But, the thing we didn't realize was that he couldn't get the buttons to work with this fingers under water so he wasn't able to use it at all really. I had to wait until he came back up before I found this out. And with me being so easily sea sick I didn't spend to much time watching him either because I knew that would be a disaster. Either way, we did get some shots of the sharks and some video of them feeding...its so staged but still amazing to have those animals so close to you and next to you if you are in the cage!
vcvbn
Our last day in Africa!!! Our flight wasn't until later in the afternoon and since we didn't have a chance to to go Table Mountain before we decided to go up after breakfast. We read that the best time to go is right when they open so we took the bus and got there about 15min before they opened. When we got there it said that the cable car was not in operation due to high winds...we had the same thing happen a day or so ago when we thought we would go but we saw on the website that the cars were not operating due to the winds. So we had prepared ourselves mentally for the this and knew that we had enough time to walk up the mountain if we booked it! So we did!!! I think it took us less than 2 hours to get up! I was prepared for the top even thought I didn't know that I was suppose to be prepared for it but Mike wasn't. Once we got to the top the temperature dropped by at least 10C...it was freaking cold and windy up there. At first it was fine because we had worked up a sweat climbing up the hill but after about 30sec of the sweat freezing to our skin it was time to get out of there. By that time the cable car was running so the one cafe that is at the top was completely full. This was a nice way to end our trip in Africa...we had such an amazing experience. There are so many memories there...I will never forget you mother Africa!
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| My regular view of Mike going up the mountain |
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| Willoughby Sushi |
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| Township that we passed on the way to the airport |
This is so funny I know that I will not give the story justice so I will not try...if you are really interested in the story just ask me because I doubt I will ever forget it. The base of it is that Mike loves to carry the bags by the handle that you use to pull the bag when it is rolling. So when we get to check in his handle won't collapse because he has over extended it somehow. So he spends a good 10min pretending he is in WWF until he finally disconnects the handle from the bag. I was laughing so much and so embarrassed that I had to walk away and sneak this picture of him...I didn't want anyone to know I was with him...too funny.
We where only back in Ireland for the week and Mike had planned another quick trip away for us...this time to Copenhagen! What a cool trip. We were only there for 2 nights but had a blast parting and getting our feet cleaned by little fish!
Late night party at some strip club I think...when we finally went home it was morning so we had to take a picture but this guy totally photo bombed us!
Tour of Carlsburg!
August 2016
Honeymoon is over...time to go and get the boys...one last non-kid picture before I head off!
While over gettng the boys TT and I decide to take a quick trip down to Texas so see my old friends. We were luck enough to be able to stay with Kandi and I got to meet up with Gina and her new man. It was a great night even though I got completely cussed out for being late (nothing is new) and I was sad that it was so quick. But there is always time for Uncle Julios and Taco Stand!!!!
Nana always gets all the grand kids season passes to Worlds of Fun and I never really thought it was worth it but when I was there this summer I could see the benefit. The kids were at WOF or OOF almost 3-4 days a week. So just in 1 of the 3 weeks they were there the season pass was paid for. I guess you don't have to use it over a 6 month period to get the benefit out of it...you just have to go and the kids wanted to go all the time.
We had a really fun family night out in power & light...we got an uber into the plaza and we had so much fun on that cab ride. It was only suppose to be a 30min car ride and it ended up taking us almost an hour because we had to stop to go to the bathroom and get drinks. We had such a blast that night...I love my peeps!
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| The gang reunited over pizza at San Marco's |
August 29th...Shaun's 1st day of Pre-School!!!!! His hair is so bleached from the summer he is almost unrecognizable. he as so excited to to go school! And of course he has his shoes on the wrong feet...that is such a Shaun thing. Enjoy yourself big man! I can't believe he is in school...he was only 4 months when we moved here...now look at him.
Cork city match with the family. We took our new aupair Miguel to the match because he loves soccer...I don't think he was impressed with the weather but he enjoyed the game.
August 31st...Lino's first day of Sr Infants! He was so excited to wear the new shoes that Nana got him. Doesn't he just look huge! They are so handsome I could eat them up! Go get'em tigers!
After almost 4 yrs of avoiding taking the stupid driving lessons and getting the licence in Ireland I had to break down and get it. We needed to insure the second car and I wanted to put it in my name but that is such a freaking pain here. I couldn't just transfer our car insurance over to our new car I had to get my own insurance because the other one was in Mike's name and I was only a named driver...even though I drove the car 98% of the time. It isn't like in the states where both names are equal on the insurance. Anyway, I buckled down and did my 12 lessons in about a month and had to stalker call the driving license office in order to get a test scheduled for sometime before 6 months from then...it was such a joke! If I had just scheduled the driving test on line like most people it would have been about 6 months before I would have got an appointment but if I stalker called them to see if there was a cancellation I could likely get an appointment in a week or 2 and I think it took me about 5 or 6 calls to get an appointment (less than 2 weeks). Long story short, I passed on the first go which I was prepared to fail because all the American's that I know seem to fail the first time and pass the second...it just seems like way to get more money out of us. But regardless now I'm official...even though I don't put the N on my car.
September 2016
Midleton Wine & Food Festival! It is not an amazing event but it is something to do and we have gone to all of them since we have been here. They have food stalls and little vendors selling locally made things...Irish wood or clothing or other stuff. This year the boys some how convinced Mike that they wanted to ride this crazy spinny ride and so he took them on it. I didn't think it was a good idea and I knew for sure I wasn't getting my butt on that thing. Well they went on happy but came off super upset! That ride freaked them out completely!!!! I am not sure when the next time they will ride something like that...I hope it didn't traumatize them for the rest of their lives. The poor boys were full of tears it was incredibly sad.
Beer festival in Cork city hall. Mike was suppose to meet me there but never did so I was there alone looking pretty pathetic. It could have been a cool event but it was just very weird to be there a lone.
Afternoon at Fota Gardens...we were showing Miguel around the place. We collected a bunch of different mushrooms and had a pretty impressive variety I think. I didn't even know mushrooms came in so many different colors, shapes and sizes.
While its summer we have to enjoy the remaining few nice days...this is one of the nicer days in Cobh after the boys swimming lessons. I never noticed all the flags along the boardwalk.
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| Aspira gang doing one of my crazy Friday puzzles |
October 2016
Afternoon trip to Kinsale with Ha Eun & Gernot. We had went on an adventure that day and somehow ended up in Kinsale. They took us to a bar right next to the docks we had a few pints while the kids played on the shore.
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| Beautiful day in Kinsale |
This weekend Gernot was away and Ha Eun wanted to do something because the weather was so nice so I found us a park and trail to go on that wasn't too far. We ended up in Kilbritan and it turned out to be a nice afternoon. There was alittle playground with a whale skelaten in the front entrance, the kids thought that was so cool, and then a little nature trail. It took us a little time to figure out the route because it wasn't very well outlined but eventually we found it. I can't say it was anything special but it was nice and the kids enjoyed it. They really enjoyed the snacks that Ha Eun brought them which was chocolate chip cookies!!!! The house of horrors lady who doesn't even put sugar into the kids pancakes brings chocolate chip cookies as a snack for a hiking trip. She is so unpredictable some times...thats why I love her so much. The kids really loved her that day!
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| Mr Mix-Match Shoes |
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| Lino with his his snack at Shaun's swim lessons |
So after only working at Aspira for a few months and really only just getting back to the office after the summer break one of the guys sends out an invite to a family fun day at his house. I didn't know if people normally go and I didn't really want to ask and seem out of place so we decided to go because we didn't have anything else on and I thought it would be fun. Well we were the only ones from Aspira so it was a little weird at first but it ended up being ok in the end. There was a ton of stuff for the kids to do...big and small. From a treasure hunt, to duck races down the stream and even a huge water slide! This was when Lino really fell in love with this party...they had a massive tarp that they had smeared at least 2 bottles of dish soap on and turned on the water and the kids started flying!!!! The big kids seemed to be having the most fun. And I might add it was a freaking cold day in October!!! Not the kind of weather that I would be sliding down a soapy hill but they did it and survived...what a day.
This is one of my most impressive cakes...at least to me...and mostly due to all the cool cutouts that I got. Freya had a Halloween themed birthday party this year and this is what I did for her. I couldn't have been happier with myself. The little ghost and Frankenstein head...I love it. I didn't even want to take it to the party because I didn't want anyone to cut it...hahaha. I have to take note of this because the last few cakes haven't been as good.
I found this recipe on pintrest and had to try it out. So we had it one night with just Mike & I and it was awesome. Its called Turkish Gozleme with Minced Lamb...talk about yum! The first time I made them I was able to do it all in about 30min which was impressive seeing as though I had to make the dough too. For one of the next times I made it we had Ha Eun & Gernot over and I also did up some Falafels and we had ourselves a mighty fine dinner. That is one of the great things about Ireland is that all the food is so fresh and it makes everything taste so much better. |
| Halloween at work |
Just to do something different this year we decided to go to Meath for a Halloween event. We haven't been to the midlands/Meath before so it was a good chance to knock of another place in Ireland. Ha Eun found this Halloween park and I found the hotel (at the last minute) and we made our way up. We had a pretty good time and the farm where the Halloween activities was at was actually pretty nice. After a day there we stopped in at the pumpkin farm just before they closed and did the corn maze which was a little more difficult than I thought it would be.
Before heading back to Cork Gernot found this place that was suppose to be pretty famous so we went there...turns out Newgrange is famous. Here is a brief history about it...keep in mind it dates back before Stonehenge
Newgrange is the best known Irish passage tomb and dates to c.3,200BC. The large mound is approximately 80m in diameter and is surrounded at its base by a kerb of 97 stones. The most impressive of these stones is the highly decorated Entrance Stone. The most famous features is the small opening or ‘roof box’ situated above the passage entrance. At dawn on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year (December 21st) and for a number of days before and after, a shaft of sunlight enters the chamber through an opening in the roof box.
To the Neolithic culture of the Boyne Valley, the winter solstice marked the start of the New Year-- a sign of nature’s rebirth and promising renewed life to crops, animals and humans. It may also have served as a powerful symbol of the inevitable victory of life over death, perhaps promising new life to the spirits of the dead.
We are all big kids inside...as seen by the irresistible impulse to have a random and very serious leaf fight in the parking lot...Ha Eun is so competitive yet so not a threat!!!
Trick-or-Treating with Cara. We went TOT with Cara in her neighborhood because last year was just a little too boring even for me. The kids really made out well...again the Irish people are so good to the kids. They get hand fulls of candy and even treat bags at some houses...this year the boys were Dracula and Flash. This year GG was in Kansas for Halloween as she has been for the last few years and she always has a costume on...she is definitely the oldest kid that I know.
November 2016
Lino is helping me make Miguel's favorite caramel cookie cake so that I can take it to work...such a good helper.
This was a fun day overnight trip up to Dublin. So Aspira is a sponsor for the Cork City football club (soccer) so they get 4 tickets to all the home games. This year the team did very well and went to the leauge championships in Dublin vs Dondoalk So we got tickets to go and we went up. The match was during the bank holiday so all the hotels were really full but the best part was most of the good hotels had kids clubs!!! So we were able to put the boys into the kids club for an afternoon so that we could hang out! It was so nice and they had a great time. The match was pretty good too but unfortunately it was on the bank holiday Monday and the boys and Mike needed to get to work on Tuesday so we ended up leaving at the end of the match before the extra time began. I know that is a crazy thing to do but we had a long drive back and needed to get back. It was fun enough to just be at the game with the boys. Miguel and Vicki also went too and Cork won!
Chilli party!!!! There is no limit to the crazy type of parties that we will have just to do something and this is no exception. Ha Eun had this crazy idea to have a chilli party and so that is what we did. It seemed a little silly at first but after we started thinking and talking about all the different ways people eat chilli we knew we had to do it. And I must say this was an awesome party and great chilli! To make it even funnier we had a few Spanish aupairs over too and they had no idea what chilli was to begin with let alone why you would put in on, in and with so many different things. Even though they were pretty confused they loved every bit of it...everyone did. We had 4 different types of chillies: regular, spicy, veggie and chicken; then all the additions: hot dogs, potatoes, jalapeno and regular corn bread; then all the fixings: guacamole, cheese, onions, sour cream, jalapenos, hot sauce, and even wedges! It was a massive feast!
Because Mike is so awesome and never ceases to amaze me he got me tickets to the Ireland vs New Zealand match!!! He is all about surprises too which is so like me and my family so on Saturday morning I wake up late, because its my day for a lie-in and when I finally roll over there is an envelope on the table saying to pack an overnight bag and the tickets to the match are inside!!!! So the background to this day is that over the summer Ireland played New Zealand in Chicago and won!!!! It was also the same week that the Cubs won too I think...so the whole city was in a frenzy of excitement and celebration. Apparently their last world series win was in the early 1900 so it was a big deal, and the same was true for Ireland, winning their first ever match against the All Blacks in over 100 yrs as well. It was all such an amazing event and I was talking to Mike about it and tell him how I wish we could have gone to an Ireland vs All Blacks match in Ireland or NZ. Then later we found out that there was a match coming up in Dublin but the tickets were sold out or way to over priced. Either way we were not going and I told Mike don't worry about getting the tickets because we could always go someday. It wouldn't be the last match ever so there was no reason going out of our way to find tickets. But just as soon as I said don't worry about it he had the idea to make it happen. He knows I love rugby and I miss playing it so much, I don't even get to watch it on TV as much as I want because we are so busy with the boys but somehow he found tickets and then surprised me and here we are. Like I said, he never ceases to amaze me. We had a great time and unfortunately Ireland lost but it didn't matter.
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| Thanksgiving at Ha Eun's! |
Oh man...I could write a novel about this picture. Anyone with a partner like mine will feel my pain and understand where I am coming from. I don't even know if I can go through the whole story without getting upset again. I will start off by saying that I love my husband...he is a good man and he is always trying to do things to make me happy. But there are some times (sometimes those sometimes become a lot of times) when he does not agree with what I want and instead of just doing it because I want him to he pushes back. Or maybe he doesn't push back so much as rushes to do it just to be done with it...that is what you have here. So Shaun has been sleeping in his crib since he was a baby (of course) and we have taken off one side of the crib so that he can get in and out and doesn't have so many sides that he can fall out of the bed. But we were noticing that he falls out of the bed all the freaking time!!! I told Mike one day that I think he is just getting to be to big for the bed so we need to get rid of it and get him a new bed. Well this is a whole debate in itself because we don't want to buy a new fancy bed here in Ireland for 2 reasons: 1) they are usually over priced & 2) we will be moving in the next 1.5yrs more than likely so no reason to get something nice that they will have to take apart and put back together again causing it to be not as sturdy. So the agreement was that we would get something cheap but functional so that means we went to Ikea! It took a little time to agree on the final bed but at the end it only cost us like e100 for the bed and mattress. I mean its just for Shaun so it doesn't need to be fancy. The only issue with the bed was that the frame was unfinished wood and I wanted to stain it so that it would kind of match Lino's set. I know that it was just a cheap bed but it didn't have to look like it and stain is not that expensive but would make it look nice so I didn't think it was that big of a deal...but my husband was not in agreement. Anyway, he didn't think it needed to be done and he didn't want to do it so the bed sat in the garage for at least 2 weeks before I told him that I was going to stain it myself. Then all of the sudden Mike was going to do it so I left him to it. I tried not to look over his shoulders because I knew that he didn't want to do it in the first place but after 4 days of his staining I had to see what it looked like and this is what I found. What the Flip kind of crap paint job is this????? I nearly lost my shit on hi m right then an there. And then I noticed that he had stain all over our outdoors chairs. He had put a little plastice on the floor but not much and it didn't catch the mess of stain that it looked like he threw onto the bed frame. I was so upset I didn't even know what to do...I had to ask my friends if I was going crazy but I was assured that I wasn't. So I had to tell him and that didn't go down well so I spend day's trying to sand down all the extra stain. I eventually got it to a half decent state and he finished up the job. We figured it out at the end but I tell you in the moment it was not good. Good thing I love my husband!!!!December 2016
Its Christmas time in Ireland...which actually starts even before Thanksgiving. But we usually wait until after Thanksgiving to celebrate. This year we went down to Glow with Michelle and Freya and had a really nice evening. The Glow event is where they decorate up the little park in the city and then bring in a farris wheel, food stalls and a few other things. I can't say that it is overly amazing but it is nice for Cork. The boys enjoyed it regardless...
This year we stayed up for the entire Late Late Toy Show and Miguel and Vicki joined us too.
Christmas event after Christmas event/party. From Mikes kids Christmas party with Pepsi and my Cuidiu Christmas party we are always busy with events the weeks leading up to us heading home for Christmas.
Miguel's Birthday party at the house!!! So we always like to celebrate birthdays because those are the holidays that are just for you (for the most part) so Miguels birthday was Dec 9th and we had a little party for him at the house. He had his friends come over and he made a bunch of stuff and I made a few items too. I tried to make Silvias paella recipe but I put to much liquid and it didn't turn out good...I was so sad. But everything else was really good. Since we were having a party that means we have to have a few drinks too and since it was Miguel's birthday he had to have a few extra drinks!!! By the end of the night we were play spoons and Burro with the aupairs and having a blast! Well we were having a blast but the poor birthday boy was on a horrible loosing streak...he couldn't win a hand to save his life (It reminds me of a time when Mike, TT me and James were playing spoons at the house and James couldn't get a spoon to save his life either...a story for another time). Mike as always felt sorry for poor Miguel...the funny part about that is that Mike never feels sorry for people it is usually me who is the one who feels bad but not when it comes to this or drinking...at least not when I'm not loosing. So Mike helps him out a little and we start giving him water shots and a few other things to help him out but he still keeps loosing...it was a no win situation for him. Eventually me, Vicki and Veronia were drinking and hanging out while he was trying to pull his self together. The poor kid didn't make it and most of his evening festivities came up...he was hung over for a good 2 days!!!!
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| At Joan's School |
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| Lino's Christmas play at school |
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| Shaun got another bang on the head but he is happy anyway |
Christmas cookie making time!!! We always make a few different types of cookies and this year we even decorated the house so we are really getting into it. This is an all day and night production and we usually make some of the doughs the day before or even the weekend before so that there is less stress on baking day. My little helpers are actually getting to be kind of useful! I love this tradition.
Since we had Thanksgiving over at Ha Eun's we decided to have a small Christmas dinner and cratfs at our house. I think my friends enjoy this because it gives them a chance to do some sort of Christmas craft with thier kids instead of just getting stuff from school that they did. I try to think of something different every year but it is genrally very similar...some sort of Tree, Randier or Santa something. I keep saying I want to do something with Olaf but I don't think that is as much Christmas as I want it to be. Oh, and this year we did a beef wellington and Crowley's butcher hooked us up. This is our butcher for all of our party meat needs. Tristan is an awesome butcher and he seems to know me and Gernot very well. He knows when I come in to the shop in the summer time that I am looking for a pork shoulder (that he cuts right in front of me) or if Gernot is in he is looking for some sort of tasty burger or steak to cook. This place is amazing and the quality of the meat is top notch. I don't know if its just the buther in particular or Ireland in general but it is something very unique for me and we will not be able to have this sort of hand cut perfection when we go back to Texas...we savor every event we have.
Four our traditional day in the city Ha Eun and Gernot wanted us to go and try their favorite Korean BBQ place. We had tried to go their the previous year because we thought it was like a fast food type of place but it is a sit down production. So this year we went...but why did we go on the day that we had reservations at Scott Conan's restaurant I have no idea. We thought that if we went early and did a lot of walking that we would be ok for dinner. Well we did do a lot of walking and we went early but having 4 meals in less than 4 hours is probably pushing it just a little bit. But this places was awesome and totally worth it. We were a little disappointed when we couldn't make it the last time. So when we got there we were ready to eat... the problem was that there was so much to choose from and we had no idea what the difference was between a lot of the different items. So Mike spent 1/2 of the meal texting the guys back in Ireland to check to see what we should get. He was sending them pictures of all the stuff and eventually we got a nice little selection of food. It was all so amazing and it was to funny when the little Korean lady started cutting our meat with her scissors. I really thought that was just Ha Eun and even thought she told me that it was a Korean thing I guess I just didn't get it until the lady did it so naturally and skillfully! As you can see there was more than enough food for 4 people but Mike & I put a nice dent in it...we didn't want to leave anything on the table because it was so good.
And as iff we didn't just stuff ourselves like pigs we had to go NEXT DOOR and order this black bean noodle dish and have this god offal Korean beer that is really sake in a bottle. The noodles were rich and tasty the beer nearly killed me. I had Mike drink my portion.
Thankfully after the double Korean food stop we had a little break to walk around and see the city. We didn't do anything special but it was nice to be out. Dinner at Scott's place was really really tasty. Mike's dish was better than mine and he offered to change me but I didn't let him...he is too good for me
Proud parent moment when your more than picky 6yr old says he wants the little burgers then proceeds to eat 3 and say how much he likes them!!! I never thought I would see the day...go Lino!
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| So tired that he collapsed on the stairs |
This year we went back to our old faitful Carmines for Christmas Eve dinner. Patty and her family joined us and we had a feast of a meal.
There is always some party going on and this year we had planned for a surprise early B-Day party for TT. Even though it was 2 months early we wanted to do something for her and we both wanted to be there for it. So the best we could do was plan it over the New Years trip. It wasn't easy trying to get in touch with her friends that I didn't know and that lived in Kansas but somehow I managed to do it. It was a bad time of year for most people because if they weren't traveling to see family they had family in town so it wasn't easy for them to get away. The small few who were able to come made the night a very memerable one for TT. Between Tamika and Tabitha I couldn't have pulled this off. TT has some amazing friends! So the plot to surprise TT:
The plan was to have a full day of activities for TT and make her think at every turn that there was going to be a party. She had been hinting to us for months about doing something over the New Years break because we were in town and we told her that we would do whatever. And even while we were there she was hinting about what we had planned for her surprise party. For a minute there I was getting a little worried that she knew what we had planned...but she didn't. So the day of the party we told her we were going to go find something in the city (I think) and we gave her the directions and we ended up at this Escape Room. Robert met us there and we surprised her with that. She was excited but I think she was also a little disappointed...like...'really is that it???' So we made her think that was the surprise. The escape room was super hard and we had to get so many clues that there was no way we were going to make it out of there in the 2hrs that we were allotted. It didn't matter anyway because we spent the whole time laughing at ourselves and how stupid we were to not get the clue that they gave us. It took us over 2.5 hours to get out (with a lot of help)...it was a blast. Then next to our favorite sushi place for a late lunch / early dinner. Again, I think TT thought that we were going to have people there but it was just us 4. It was actually a nice outing and after we were done we headed home and on the way home we were like we need to get some drinks going!!! It had been a long afternoon and we had only had one drink at the restaurant so it was time to go. We talked about picking up ice on the way home but we totally forgot to get it...which was the point. So while we were on the way home the friends were heading over to Tabitha's house to get ready and wait for the party bus. Tamika and Frederick were in charge of the drinks and food! So we get home and that was the last straw for TT...she just knew that there would be people their waiting for her when she arrived but it was only the kids and Nana! I almost couldn't contain my laughter because I could see it on her face. So we let her sit down and I had texted the group to say head over. They were going to head over and be at the door when we went back out for the ice. So I remind TT that we need to get more ice and the weather isn't that great so she said that she would drive...so she gets to the door and opens it and Tamika and the party bus are outside the door!!!! Her face just lit up! Ive never seen her so happy and excited and shocked in my life. She was not expecting that at all! So we ended up giving her a great surprise and she had to go get all fancyed up to go out and we had a ball. The weather was crap because 2 days before there was a big ice storm that shut down the city and this night was freezing but it wasn't nearly as bad as 2 nights prior. We had to go easy on the roads but it didn't matter to us because we were on the bus with our booze and food.
Our itinerary was to go to Power & Light district because apparently that is where all the cool places are in KC. We started off at Howl at the Moon which was a little bit of a contraversy because no one had been there before and we didn't know if it would be any good on a random Wednesday in January. Well there was no one in there when we arrived but it was bouncing when we left. We had a blast there and TT's old work partner meet up with us there. TT is usually up in front of the crowd directing people to do stuff but this night she was up there trying to find her Star Search self! It was great! She was so animated it wasn't even funny. She just let go completely and had a ball. So did Tonya! She is crazy but such a good friend to TT.
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| Charlies Angles! |
Happy Birthday my Sister!!!!!
Continue to part 3
