Weeks of Nov 22 and 29 - Loralye's Birthday and Thanksgiving

Loralye's Birthday! 

Four.Years.Old. I have no idea how this happened!  I can remember like it was yesterday waddling around pregnant with her, chasing after Annelyse. 

Now she is big, feisty and full of energy!  She could not wait to be four and announced on her birthday that she was "actually 5".  She is totally put off by the fact that she is younger, second, smaller, etc.  A few months back she literally had a tantrum because she was born second and that isn't fair.  Her spunk is inspiring, but exhausting at the same time. 

Independent, self-assured, opinionated and strong-willed, traits that we know will serve her well in life... maybe just not as well right now...

That Smile! 

Because this child never sits still we thought a party at FitZone would be perfect for her and her endless amount of energy!  Much like Annelyse's party, 10 little ladies were in attendance for a highly energetic afternoon!!  One difference we noticed from parties here in Ireland compared to home was the lack of parent participation.  Prior to Lo's party, I had this epiphany while dropping Annelyse off at a party she was invited to.   I planed on sticking around to visit and watch the kids, but was politely asked to leave...



Loralye and the Twins! 

The only 'action shot' that I got during my allotted 'minute'... then they told me "no photos"

Annelyse was obviously too cool to be with the little kids... love her fake smile. 

Ms. Helen's Class

DISCLAIMER (I will completely digress from birthday parties here for a moment)

One other difference since being here for me  has been my absence from the kids daily routine at school and feeling involved with the parents, teachers and school faculty.  Back home, I was in the class weekly, helping with reading or math.  Worked regularly with the art teacher on props and decorations for the school programs, coordinated Box Tops, organized the book-fair, you name it, I was ready and happy to help!  But here, I can't seem to get into that routine.  Russ and I talk about it often, because it weighs on me, but given I don't drive and logistically it's a nightmare, it's likely not to change... That being said, we knew this was how it was going to be going into this and Russ has been beyond wonderful to bear the burden of drop-off, pick-up, and all the chaos that goes with school stuff!  

Cupcake Time!! 

This was her "lion" face... obviously her BFF Emma seems completely un-phased by this, which leads me to believe this is not a rare appearance from the lion at school.  Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change...

Loralye was also showered with gifts and we went the date-night route as our gift to her.  We took both of the girls to see Disney on Ice and I found yet another billboard on my way to work, only this time it was for a pantomime performance of Little Red Riding Hood. 

It was a great day filled with singing and laughing!

The Big Bad Wolves... 

We also took the girls to Disney on Ice... They weren't as impressed as we thought they would be given the number of skits which featured movies they hadn't seen.
Guess we need to start exposing them to more of the Disney classics.

Nonetheless it was a good excuse to play dress-up and head out for the afternoon! 

We quickly realized they haven't seen very many Disney movies when they were asking who certain characters were.  Thankfully there was quite an extensive Frozen scene! 

Lo and her buddy Drew

We knew Thanksgiving would be weird/different so our American friends who are currently living in Belgium decided to make a trip over to Ireland.  We all hopped on the train Thanksgiving morning and headed for the west side of Ireland to a town called Galway. The train ride was a great opportunity for us parents to catch up and the kids to goof around! 

Annelyse and Gwen being goofy (and too cool for a picture)

We spent the afternoon walking around the Galway and the Christmas markets.  We found the Spanish Arch, which is not at all what we were thinking it would be and walked the Promenade.  It was quite chilly and rainy, which didn't make for the best conditions to be walking all over the town, but tried to make the best of it!  Nonetheless, we found some hot chocolate, gummy candies and a nice little pub.  






Shortly after arriving in the pub we noticed they had seated us next to a reserved table which was for 'the band'... We didn't really know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised when the band arrived with bag pipes, fiddles, violins and flutes.  The kids were in awe and broke out their best Irish dance moves for the crowd.  So much fun!! 

 

Under the Spanish Arch... almost walked right past it... obviously they weren't impressed, sadly we really weren't either.

Walking along the promenade

Feeding the birds... kids were in heaven!

The Kids on the Bus!

Friday morning we headed out on a bus tour of Galway and the surrounding area.    Before boarding the bus, I warned our friends that I didn't want to be in the back given our track record with car/bus sickness.  Sure enough, we were the last getting on the bus, therefore the back was the only option.  The kids were thrilled to have the whole back seat to themselves... Russ and I buckled up and prepared for the worst. 

The first stop on the tour was the Aillwee Caves.  The Aillwee caves are located in the heart of the Burren in County Clare. The Burren is rich with historical and archaeological sites. There are more than 90 megalithic tombs in the area. The rolling hills of Burren are composed of limestone pavements with criss-crossing cracks known as "grikes," leaving isolated rocks called "clints".  The limestones formed as sediments in a tropical sea approximately 350 million years ago.  The landscape is truly unique.  

We headed into the deep, dark cave to explore the beautiful caverns, over bridged chasms, under weird formations and alongside the thunderous waterfall which gave us a gentle spray, sending all of the kids into an uncontrollable giggle.  The frozen waterfall and extinct brown bears bones were super fascinating for everyone!  At one point they turned all the lights off along the walking path and it was pitch black... you could see nothing... not even your hand in front of your face.  Needless to say I had a firm grip on both of the girls during this little experiment.  Even though I couldn't see them, their shrieking and laughter made it very obvious where they were! 

Before the tour of the cave.  They had the place all decorated for Christmas which was great for the kids. 

Walking through the caves

Frozen Waterfall

Cavewomen! 

The pictures in here didn't turn out that great in the cave given the light (or lack there of)!

No fear... this child walks aimlessly into the dark... the leader of the pack!

Even beautiful on a cloudy day!

Feeling much better after some fresh air.  

  

Cliffs of Moher:  By far the 'planned' highlight of the trip was the Cliffs of Moher. These awe-inspiring, 700ft high, rigid cliffs with edges dropping into the untamed Atlantic Ocean were the primary purpose of this trip.  Of course, as our luck would have it, we picked the windiest day of the year to visit.  When we arrived at the Cliffs, the bus driver seemed a bit confused when the gate wouldn't open.  He popped out of the bus to investigate.  While we were waiting for him to return, the bus was rocking back and forth because of the huge gusts of wind.  The driver came running back and revealed the reason the gate was not opening because they had closed the Cliffs!  Wind gusts were reaching  over 150KM/hour.    They told us we could go into the visitor center and viewing the Cliffs was "at our own risk."  Having come all that way, we decide to go in to the center which ended up having a nice display and interactive spot for the kids.  The walk from the bus to the exhibit was quite hysterical.  The girls could not stand up and literally looked like little versions of Mary Poppins as they blew around the parking lot.  At times, it was hard to catch your breath when the wind hit you in the face... It really wasn't cold, but immensely powerful.  The staff took the wind especially seriously, scolding any children(or their parents) who were not being held onto. Once all the kids were safe in the building, the parents took turns watching the group so we could at least go out and take a peak.   While the wind made it difficult for us to focus, the view was spectacular nonetheless.  We managed to take a few pictures to at least remember the experience... hopefully one place we can make it back to in the summer! 

Cliffs of Moher

See the 'face' in the mountain

We at least got one picture! Didn't take the girls for fear of one blowing off the edge!

A castle along the way to the cliffs

Sicky pre-nap!

Doolin: After the Cliffs, the bus stopped for lunch in a charming seaside village along the Wild Atlantic Way called Doolin.  Many of the houses had thatched roofs, which we learned had their own patterns, unique to that roofer.  As I suspected it would, the bus tour eventually started having a negative impact on Annelyse, so the driver parked her up front in the open "co-pilot" spot to help ward off the sickness.  The little princess had the best view in the house and managed to take a nap on the way back to Galway...

The rest of the time in Galway we spent walking around town, swimming at the hotel, and relaxing.  The kids had a nice time hanging out with their American friends and having "movie-night" on Thanksgiving with a hamburger from room service.   While Thanksgiving was not typical or traditional for us, we were still able to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for. 

After our non-traditional Thanksgiving, we were excited to head into the Christmas season and our trip HOME!!!! Both of the girls were very excited for their Christmas programs at school and we loved hearing them practice  all of the sweet songs they were learning!  My personal favorite was "Donkey Plotting"

Each of their classes put on a program which were beyond cute.  Annelyse was an Innkeeper and Loralye was a donkey, complete with a face mask.  Both shows were quite amazing given the stars aged from 3-6 years old.  Adorable performances like all Christmas shows!!

The Innkeepers talking to Mary and Joseph

Can you guess which one is our donkey?!? 

Ding, Ding, Ding... right between the angel and wisewoman! 

For our pre-Christmas "experience" we headed to the Airfield estates, complete with reindeer, a visit with Santa, hot chocolate and ginger cookies!  We even had the opportunity to sit in Santa's sleigh and write letters to the Big Man himself.

They had nice lighted path for us to walk along as we went to the different spots.  Along there way, there were tiny little fairy houses, all decked out for the holidays which were a big hit!

The visit from Santa was of course the highlight and each came home with a Xylphone!!!  Just what we needed.

Is it Rudolph??  Lo said "no... he has a brown nose"!!

SERIOUS STUFF going on in this picture!! 

The finished product! 

Santa's Sleigh!! 

Seeing that we couldn't stand being in a house without some sort of Christmas decorations during December, we caved and bought a tiny pine tree to decorate.  While it wasn't quite the same as home in Kzoo, it did make apartment seem cozy and warm!  I will say, it was refreshing to spend 20 minutes decorating vs. the 2 days I typically spend.

We also were fortunate enough to mention to Santa that we would be heading home for Christmas, so he was able to surprise the girls by arriving a bit ahead of the 25th and bringing some of the bigger stuff he knew they wouldn't want to take on the airplane.

"Christmas Morning"

We cant wait to pack our bags and head home to see everyone!!  Six months already... where did the time go???