Grammy Jo & Aunt Connie - After much suspense and anticipation, Grammy Jo and Aunt Connie successfully arrived in Dublin at 9:45 am after an overnight flight from Chicago. The trip went off without a hitch, THANK YOU JESUS! I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if this adventure started out as a nightmare!
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"When are they going to come out?"
"How much longer until they get here?"
"Can we run past security when we see them?"
"Are they going to see us when they come out?"
"I see them, I see them... no, that's not them.... ugh, when are they going to get here?" |
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| So excited... I can't hold still! |
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| FINALLY!!!! It felt like a lifetime standing there waiting for them to walk through those doors! |
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| Pre-pool silliness! |
The first day we walked around the village and showed Grammy Jo and Aunt Connie all of our typical hang-out spots. Some of the first stops on the itinerary were Dillon Park, Sorrento Park, Handworks (local craft store would be overstating it a bit, especially if you are using Aunt Connie's standards) and Coliemore Harbor. This first day is always the hardest because of the long day of travel and poor sleep on the plane. We did our best to keep things low key but also awake so they didn’t suffer for days on end from jet lag. Of course, the girls insisted on having them come to swim class so they could show off their skills.
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| Picture of just our kids in the pool. Grammy Jo was scolded by the pool warden for taking pictures of the kids... Nice way to start of vacation.! |
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| Dillon Park |
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| Making silly faces to send messages to Uncle Mike & Aunt Cab |
The first weekend we hopped on the DART and headed to downtown Dublin. Aunt Connie had a list of a few things she wanted to see so we started our walk at Merrion Square. Of course we didn’t get very far as a result of the massive playground at the front entrance.
One little bit of excitement from the park was Grammy Jo climbing all the way to the top of the play structure because Loralye managed to get herself “stuck”. She started yelling from the tippy-top of the play structure, “I’m Stuck, I’m Stuck”… Grammy Jo took off like a bolt of lightning, climbing over the rope bridge, up the wooden ladder and through several levels of tiny openings to reach the top only to find Loralye laughing and saying that she didn’t want to climb back down! If Grammy didn't have a heart attack on the plane ride over, she surely almost had one at the Merrion Square playground after that little escapade.
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| It's so hard to smile with a mouthful of ice cream! |
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| Run Grammy Jo, run... God forbid we get our hair wet! |
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| Taking cover under the pavilion |
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| Umbrellas's from the EuroGiant (known as the Dollar
Store in the U.S.) made the rainy day a little more bearable. |
After managing the decent from the top of the jungle gym, we decided that was enough time at the playground and moseyed down to St. Stephens Green. True to Ireland's reputation, it was a rainy wet day but we didn’t let little raindrops get us down… in fact, walking with umbrellas proved to be entertainment in and of itself.
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| It is surprising with as much fun as we had whipping these umbrellas around no one lost an eye! |
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| Lots of rowdy, inebriated, sailors! |
After all that walking we were ready for lunch and headed down Grafton Street to find a nice pub. Of course, I managed to pick the one which had been infiltrated with a very large group of men, dressed as sailors. We also managed to find some sailors who seemed to have dried their uniforms, a bit too long. I believe the groom-to-be had on a belly shirt and very tight, white underwear, complete with a pink sash. Needless to say we were all awkwardly staring at them throughout lunch. These festivities are referred to as "Stag Parties" instead of bachelor parties.
After lunch we headed to Christs Church and the Dublinia Museum. The earliest manuscript dates Christ Church Cathedral to its present location back to around 1030.
The girls got a big kick out of the exhibit with a guy in a pillory (a wooden device with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation.) They had balls to throw at his head and when successful he would utter the reason for being punished. Even after 1,654 blows, we still couldn't figure out why he was there!
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| Without any prompting... Annelyse decided to make a notation on the prayer list for Russ and I... such a sweet girl! |
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| Christs Church |
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| "How much longer until it's done???" |
The girls have really been into ‘knitting’ and ask me to do it all the time. Unfortunately, I have never been very good at “sewing crafts” so we were all very much looking forward to Aunt Connie coming to teach us a thing or two. She must have anticipated their wants because she brought along some yarn! However, her stash wasn't enough to accommodate all their project ideas...
While out and about Aunt Connie managed to find some yarn and not long after Loralye requested a blanket to be made for Twirly Baby. Like any good 4 year old, she seemed to think that crocheting a blanket should take oh, about 2 minutes. Little does she know how fast Aunt Connie really is at crocheting!
Annelyse was anxious to get started on knitting and gave Aunt Connie a whole 30 seconds of demonstration before she "got it" and headed into her room to make a tutorial for YouTube. She really got into "finger knitting" for a while and was sort of getting the hang of it. Then she started introducing forks and tape and things went downhill after that.
The next day the girls were treated to a trip to the zoo while I was at work and Russ relished having a few hours to himself! From what we heard, the Meerkats were the highlight of the visit!
The girls also spent time at the parks, picking flowers and doing flower arranging! We had some beautiful centerpieces compliments of the parks gardens! Lots of seashell hunting and fossil finding was done in preparation for the clay coasters the girls made Russ for Father's Day!
They also made a trip over to Dalkey Island with Mr. Ken the Ferryman!
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| A view from Dalkey Island, looking towards Greystones & Bray |
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| Looking for stones, seashells and sea glass for daddy's Father's Day Project. |
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| On the bus headed for the ferry! |
Liverpool: We figured if Grammy Jo and Aunt Connie made it
all the way over to Europe, we had to push them to see at least a couple cool
things. Knowing that another airplane ride might get me disowned, we opted for
a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales and a road trip through the English
country-side up to Liverpool for a Beatles experience. The girls really love
the Beatles, so we thought this would be a great experience for everyone!
The two-hour ferry ride
over to Holyhead was fairly smooth, assuming you didn’t decide to stand up on
the boat. Lo was keen to try the gambling machines, so of course, Grammy
obliged. Not long after we stammered over to the machines, the swaying and
rocking became much more pronounced. Not to mention all the flashing lights from
the game didn’t really help.
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| Whew... we are all better sitting down! |
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| We
made it! Windy day though, as you can tell by their closed eyes and
blowing hair! |
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| Pre-tour
hot chocolate in the Beatles Cafe! |
No trip to Liverpool would be complete with out some Beatles
History! We hopped on the Magical Mystery Tour bus for a tour of some of the
famous sites from their songs and past their childhood home. The best part by far was the music playing on the bus! The funniest part of the trip was at each of houses the girls kept thinking the Beatles were going to come out... sort of disappointing but funny nonetheless.
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| Trying
to pick Ringo's nose. |
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| Photo with Mr. Lennon |
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| Tickets
in hand... they were wishing it was a yellow submarine rather than a tour
bus! |
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| Bus Buddies! |
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| "Penny
Lane, is in my ear is in my eye"... The girls love this song and randomly start
singing it all the time.. cracks us up every time! |
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| 12 Arnold Grove, George Harrisons childhood home |
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| Strawberry Field! |
Even though we tried to take precautionary measures given our queasy stomachs, the sea got the best of us, Annelyse in particular. The bright side is she got a new shirt out of the deal and eventually felt good enough to pose in her avant-garde ensemble.
Back from England, we tried to cram a few more things into Grammy and Aunt Connie's last few days in Ireland. We opted to do some of the more famous things this wonderful island is known for. Monday afternoon, we had blue skies and sunshine, so we headed for Powerscourt House and Gardens. Powers court is located in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, is a large country estate noted for its beautifully landscaped gardens, today occupying 47 acres. The house was originally a 13th-century castle, but was extensively altered during the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels. A fire in 1974 left the house lying as a shell until it was renovated in 1996.
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| Near the grounds is the Powers Court waterfall. At 121 metres, it is the highest waterfall in Ireland! |
We finished off the evening by driving through the
seaside down of Bray and visited the McDonald's that occupies the old city hall.
This building has castle-like features and by far the cutest McDonald's we have
ever visited. We also drove by the famous "Soon Fatt" restaurant which was featured on the Ellen Show.
The next day Grammy and Aunt Connie treated the girls to the best breakfast in town at the Corner Note Café. The girls must have grown a worm overnight, because they ate their weight in French toast, eggs and bacon… even nibbling on the adults when their portions didn’t satisfy them. After brunch we headed up to Malahide to visit the castle and gardens. Malahide became a permanent settlement from the coming of the Vikings, who landed in 795. From the 1180s, the history of the area is tied to that of the Talbot family who built and lived in the Malahide Castle.
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| In front of Malahide Castle. |
We finished off the evening with a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Dalkey, the Magpie Inn. Everyone enjoyed the best fish and chips in town before indulging in more of Boris’s Gelato and strolling down Coliemore road and settling in for the night.
Funny stories… of course the girls always keep us laughing and they didn't let Grammy and Aunt Connie down. I am sure there were more than these, that I have already been forgotten, but some of the funnier conversations the girls had with Grammy and Aunt Connie are below.
"A-Deer" Loralye was blocking Grammy in the kitchen and she told her that she needed to say the password to pass. Grammy asked for a hint and Loralye said “It starts with an A”… Grammy proceeded to guess Anteater, Alligator etc to which Loralye replied, “No, it’s a deer”… While she hasn’t watched The Sound of Music , she did learn some of the songs during the latter part of the school year. Guess that one stuck out more than others!
The "N" Prior to Russ getting his drivers license, Russ had to driver around with an "L" on his car to warn people that he was "learning" how to drive. After getting his licence he was able to trade the "L" in for an "N" which stands for 'Novice"... again, still to warn people that he is on the road! Grammy asked what the 'N' on the back of the car was and Loralye quickly replied, “Not a Learner” The way she said it too was hysterical... full of pride and making sure to mention that Russ passed his test!
They also got a big kick out of the different words used for things such as...
Erasers = Rubbers. Lots of good fun with this one!
Underwear = Knickers
No Bother = You’re welcome!
Cheers = Thanks!
Give Way = Yield
To Let - For Lease
Mind your step = Watch your step
Two of the fastest weeks of our lives that came and went to quickly!
Love you guys!
The first weekend we hopped on the DART and headed to downtown Dublin. Aunt Connie had a list of a few things she wanted to see so we started our walk at Merrion Square. Of course we didn’t get very far as a result of the massive playground at the front entrance. 
The two-hour ferry ride
over to Holyhead was fairly smooth, assuming you didn’t decide to stand up on
the boat. Lo was keen to try the gambling machines, so of course, Grammy
obliged. Not long after we stammered over to the machines, the swaying and
rocking became much more pronounced. Not to mention all the flashing lights from
the game didn’t really help. 
The next day we headed over to the Museum of Liverpool. I had found an exhibit called "When I was Little" that I thought the girls to and Grammy Jo would enjoy. With a backpack in hand full of prompts and things to find, the girls and Grammy set off! Along the way, they chatted about what toys Grammy played with when she was little, did karaoke to some Beatles and sat in an old train car and talked about the vacations Grammy took when she was little. 
After the museum we headed over to The Wheel of Liverpool. Aunt Connie reminded me that the last time she was on a Ferris wheel was with me and my cousin Jessica. Apparently it stopped at the top and that was enough to make her never want to ride one again. Grammy decided to keep her company down on the ground where it's safe. 
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