We are still alive! we have not dropped off the face of the planet! the break in blogging was due to 3 weeks on the trot of back to back visitors to our house from the UK.
We have been very busy bees!
First to visit was Aun Weez, the kiddos godmother and my BFF whom I have known since secondary school, gone through 2 Duke of Edinburgh expeditions together, 1 ski trip, an awesome La Manga holiday, births of 4 children, her going off around the world (like twice) and 1 wedding. This was her second trip to see us here in the Emerald isle and we did a lot of chilling out and a little bit of exploring.
We went to Birr Castle on one of our day trips, which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone coming over.
The best thing about Birr is the completely awesome huge treehouse/playhouse they have there. We were so lucky the day we went as it was a bit rainy so there was hardly anyone there! This meant Weez basically played with the kiddos the whole time because she is actually a big kid!
We were very sad to see Weez go, but not before I got to have a child free day in Dublin with her. We went to Jo Burger off Grafton Street which was YUM. In fact we enjoyed our lunch together so much that she nearly missed her flight home. There was a reasonably high stress drive from Rathmines (where I parked) to the airport and I think she made it by the skin of her teeth! Mr Clevs little car is still not quite recovered from me driving it at 80 on the M50!
Next up to arrive were Mr Clev’s Brother and Sister-in-law with their 3 children. It was quite a squeeze here at the house of Clev but we managed and the cousins got in lots of cousin bonding time which my kids LOVED!! We had a full week of exploring most days and managed to get in Coosan Point, Athlone, Galway, Glenamaddy Horseriding and Birr Castle AGAIN.
My sis in law is a hairdresser and not only gave the kids a trim when she was here, but also did Amelie’s hair most days in the cutest little plaits!! On their last day here Mr Clev, his brother and his two older children went for a surfing lesson in Lahinch, co. Clare. Mr Clev said it was brilliant and wants to really get into it – all the more reason for the kiddos to do their swimming lessons next month.
Our last night with them was spent having a lovely (well until Vivi vommed allover me and Amelie and complete chaos ensued) meal at Fat Freddys Galway. This is one of those places which is not that great, but you know its child friendly, cheap and even better as it was a lovely sunny evening we were able to sit outside and watch the goings on of Shop Street. We drove out to Salthill for a little photo session but I will post those photos on another post (because I went a bit snap happy and took like 1000 photos.)
This brings us to this week….
We had my friend and her two children here. I met her at toddler group when I just had Luis and she just had her son, since then I’ve had a further 3 babies and she welcomed her lovely daughter!! Again, it was a bit of a squeeze here but we all managed and I got a preview of life with lots of kids in it – their ages were 7,6,5,4,2.5 and 1!!! Wowweeee!!!! I am 100% stopping after this bambino pops out!
We again explored lots and made the best of the bad weather (lots of rain this week) we went to Dublin Zoo after picking them up from the airport. I have to say I found the zoo really overpriced for what it was. The animals were great, but there was a lack of seating and picnic areas and some places were really hard to get the pushchair round. I do have vouchers that can be used during term time only so maybe we will visit again as a family later on in the year for another look around.
We also managed Galway for a day, Salthill and Athenry on the way home, Clonmacnoise and Ballinahown Park, and then Athlone Castle. It was our first time in Athlone Castle itself and I was very impressed, cheap to get in and really well thought out with exhibitions for kids and adults alike.
We had a little bite to eat in the Cafe there and I was talking to one of the curators about funding etc and volunteering. Perhaps one day I might get back into something historical, I still love learning about the past (sad but true!)
That brings us up to speed – Its Monday now and after a relaxed weekend I have just dropped Luis off at soccer camp for the day and come home for a nice cup of Raspberry Leaf Tea (oh yes!its that time again!!!)
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