Day #2 -- The Aran Islands

After the Cliffs of Moher, we stayed in a B&B in Doolin so we could take a ferry to one of the Aran Islands.  The man selling tickets talked me out of going to the big island that I had wanted to see; I'm so glad he did.  The smaller island, Innis Oirr, was beautiful and had plenty to wear the kids out!

The kids enjoyed the half hour ferry ride where a dolphin greeted us at the island.  We took a carriage ride around with a friendly, weathered-looking guide.  Nadia was less concerned with sight seeing and more interested in the guide's cute little terrier, Rex, that was in and out of the carriage racing against the horse.

The castle was in ruins, much to Dante's dismay.  On our drive through the Burren, we saw tons of stone walls -- more so than in other parts of Ireland.  Centuries ago,  they had to clear away all the limestone in order to build and farm and such.  Instead of hauling them away, they just stacked them into walls. 

The beach was gorgeous.  There was a local snorkeler that has been swimming with the resident dolphin for over ten years.  The dolphin's comfort with this one man has lead others to believe that it is tame.  Some idiot told his pre-teen son to touch it.  So the kid grabbed its dorsal fin, only to be thrashed by its tail and rammed in the leg by the dolphin's nose.  The boys were happy enough to get a close look at the dolphin while Nadia spent the whole time playing fetch with a random dog.

West Coast -- Day #1

Alfonso was finally able to escape from Intel for a few days, so we loaded up the car and randomly started driving in the direction of Galway.  Flipping through the tour book trying to see what was in the area and random signs along the road dictated our itinerary.  Despite the complete lack of planning whatsoever, we had a great trip.

First stop was Dungaire Castle.  I keep waiting for the kids to start complaining about another castle but so far Dante only throws tantrums if they are in ruins.  They were happy to be allowed to wander without a guide and see some furnishings.

Then we drove through an area called the Burren where the land is covered in limestone.  Went inside Ailwee Cave which was nice enough.  After the relatively recent visit to Carlsbad Caverns, everyone was pretty underwhelmed though.

Final stop for the day was the Cliffs of Moher.  Breath taking.  The lighting for pictures wasn't the best and trying to get three kids to smile for one lousy shot is worse than herding cats.  We take what we can get.

Newgrange and Farm

We went to visit Newgrange, a tomb/temple that is famous for its passage and chamber that is illuminated at dawn on the days near the winter solstice.  However, when we went to get tickets the next available tour wasn't for 3 1/2 hours.  So to kill some time, we went to the closest nearby attraction -- a farm.

The kids had a blast at Newgrange Farm. They got to feed lambs with baby bottles, hold ducklings and chicks, and pet the whole gambit of farm animals.  The only cow they were allowed to milk was made of plaster -- "Lame!"  But the fortuitous side trip ended up being the highlight of the day for the kiddos.  

The tour guide at Newgrange, although very knowledgeable was monotone and his demeanor was on the prickly side.  The kids perked up when he mentioned that the site was built 500 years before the Great Pyramid in Giza.  Otherwise, they pretty much zoned out.  Dante asked me as we were leaving, "So what exactly was this place anyhow?"  Right.

Ireland is so picturesque.  Every time you turn around, there is another gorgeous view.  We are clogging up our hard drive with photos galore.

Trim Castle

We started the kids' Irish adventure off with a requisite castle visit.  The boys scoffed at doing a tour (they were expecting a lecture) but I insisted they would find it more interesting if they knew what they were looking at.  They absolutely loved it.

Our tour guide was fantastic.  She was witty and informative and great with our kids, the sole junior members of the tour. Stories of decapitations, betrayal, sword fighting, along the gory details of castle defenses and hygiene practices of the times enthralled the boys.  Unfortunately, the outing set the bar too high.  Dante gets upset when other castle aren't as intact or one can't climb into the upper levels of the tower.  Future tour guides have also been wanting.

Aois Earrach -- Home sweet home

Almost two years after signing up to move to Ireland, we finally made it.  The kids were awesome travelers.  They survived the flights and layovers without incident.  Everyone started to melt down waiting in line for passport control (myself included.)

Our latest domicile is in Newcastle, County Dublin.  (There are a few other Newcastles on the Emerald Isle -- so you must specify the county.)  The estate name is Aois Earrach which roughly translates to "late spring."  We are about 10 minutes to a decent sized grocery store, 15 minutes from Intel, 25 minutes from the city centre (I'm totally going to adopt British spellings) and a two minute walk to the school here in town but an eight minute drive to the school that had room for the kids.  So it goes.

We live right across the street from St. Finian's Church of Ireland and a block down the street from St. Finian's Catholic Church (above.)  Because why wouldn't you name two different churches in the same town after the same patron saint?  It's not at all confusing.  Newcastle has a school, two churches, a pub,a fast food place, a butcher's shop, a gas station, Chinese take away that also sells pizza, a hair dresser, a pharmacy and an acupuncturist -- just the essentials.

 

The house is nice enough.  Plenty of room, I need to attach GPS trackers on the kids to find them.  It is an older house so things are a bit sensitive.  Each toilet takes just the right touch to get it to flush.  All the doors have different locks and you have to hold the handle up and push the door in while twisting the key at just the right angle to unlock the door.  I leave myself an extra five minutes to lock the door when going anywhere.  I have completely abandoned the idea of exiting through the laundry room because I can't get the blasted door unlocked.  Not using the laundry room door normally wouldn't be so bad except my dryer is in the garage.  But I am not complaining (too much) about the dryer being outside, because at least I have one.  They have a room where the water heater is called the "hot press" which is where many people dry their clothes.

The yard is fabulous though.  Kids have plenty of room to run but are enclosed so I don't have to worry.  We get a few cows that graze behind our hedges but the smell isn't too unbearable.  We have had an exceptional amount of problems getting settled.  Moving is always hard but the incompetence/indifference of the relocation company has been more than slightly frustrating.  Over six weeks to get internet...not cool. In Israel we had to live in a hotel for over a month, so it is all relative.

  

Time to pack (again)

We are finally just about settled and they are packing our things for Ireland next week.  My effort at posting to the blog once a month has obviously failed.  Posting the highlights for the last three months will make our lives sound action packed and exciting. The truth is that I really spend more time on laundry, cooking, cleaning and moderating homework while Alfonso practically lives at Intel.  Fun, fun.

We went to Seattle to visit a couple of my college friends.  It rained.  We had lunch at the Space Needle and the kids were in seventh heaven because the restaurant rotated while you ate and the dessert was "free." ( It was included in the ridiculously expensive meal.)

For the boys' spring break, we went to Ohio.  It snowed.  The kids got in some quality time with family.

Alfonso spent his vacation laying tile in my parents' kitchen.  Alejandro insisted on a ribbon cutting ceremony.  (Dante also cut a ribbon from the other entrance.)

On a rare day without rain, Alfonso took the kids to the park.  Dante fell off the monkey bars and busted two bones near his elbow.

Easter was nice and relatively low key after the frenzy of the egg hunt.

While the cast was a nuisance in every other way, it made it very easy to pick out Dante on stage with 30 other Oompa Loompas in the Willie Wonka Jr musical.  The boys had fun and they performed beautifully.

We hadn't had a nice day on the weekend and consequently hadn't made it back to the beach in a while.  So on a not-so-cloudy-day, Nadia and I dropped the boys at school, went to the beach, had lunch, and made it back in time to get the boys from the bus stop.

Alfonso's mom came to visit.  It rained most of the time.

Cathy came for a quick visit. It rained almost the entire time.  (The bridge at Multnomah Falls is still under repair.)

Somewhere along the way, there was a sunny day and we hit the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.  Unfortunately, the rest of Oregon also thought it would be the perfect day to go as well and we waited an hour to get in the parking lot to be surrounded by hundreds of people.  Insane.

While we have had some gorgeous days here and there, the photo below is a little better representation of our experience here.

Next post will be from across the pond!  At least, I hope so.  This move to Ireland has been in the works for about two years and it is starting to feel a bit anti-climatic.

Another month -- here and gone

There's really nothing too exciting to report but I'm forcing myself to post just to keep the habit.  We have settled into somewhat of routine without really feeling settled at all.  These short relo assignments are exhausting.

The area had a rare snowstorm and we were housebound for four days.  Unfortunately, I missed the wonderful opportunity to take a picture of Alfonso shoveling snow in cowboy boots.

Dante lost a mouth full of teeth -- 3 in one night.  He had to leave a pouch for the tooth fair who is now broke.

Mom came to visit but the weather was typical winter weather for Portland -- cold and rainy.  So we didn't do too much.  The kids loved the science labs at OMSI so we'll be headed there again soon.

There was one sunny day so we went back to the beach.  The wind was brutal, so it was a short visit.  I never get tired of the ocean.  However, the extra laundry that accompanies each trip I could do without.