The Coastal Route

The tunnels were a big hit.

Kevin and I were talking the other day about parks. Bring Max to a park, it can be the same park 54 days in a row, and he will be the happiest kid! We drove past this park and stopped for a play...didn't tell Max until we were parking and he was the happiest and we were heroes!

We made it to the rope bridge...Dum Dum Dummmmm
There was a bit of a walk to the rope bridge, but it was a beautiful day for it. (The clouds in the above picture parted so it was partly cloudy, instead of this)

 There it is....the rope bridge!

Brave guys heading across first.

I will say that I was way more nervous going across holding Max's hand than when I crossed it alone. He LOVED it. Thought it was so cool. He looked down and said "well, there is sand so if we fall it will just be soft sand." Yyyeaah. Okay. Fearless!

 

Oh yeah, this burger happened. Go Kev!
It was right about this time that Kevin got the email saying that the movers would be at our house on Wednesday. It was Monday and we maybe had one suitcase packed. So, we changed our plans and headed back to Dublin the following morning. Our plan was to take our time, head to Giant's Causeway and then make it back in the evening. Well, we had a lot of work to do that Tuesday before the movers showed up Wednesday morning. And that is what we did. Packed and made a huge pile of things for the movers. As it turns out, 100 cubic feet is pretty massive.
It was a real adventure of a final trip. And now we know we have to go back because I imagine there are many action shots to be done at Giant's Causeway :)
Cheers!

Belfast/Titanic

In all the trips we took, not one of them was to Northern Ireland. We have touched all of Ireland's coasts but that one. We knew we had to get there before leaving, and we did. We took a trip to Belfast and the Antrim coast...the weekend before our moving weekend. Cutting things a bit close, but we had to do it. One last Hoorah!

The Titanic exhibit was really great.

 The beginning of the exhibit was set up with loads of huge screen shots of the old city streets with silhouettes of people walking.

 Felt like we were there!!

 

 

Look who we found!!

The exhibit took us in a cable car though the "shipyard" to see how everyting was built. It had replicas of what the first, second and third class cabins would have looked like, and of course the tri-screen of the grand staircase. Then after the sinking, there was cinema showing the ship under the sea zooming in on different pieces. It also followed some of the passengers stories from the beginning to the end. Overall, it was pretty sad of course, but a really amazing exhibit. Even Max liked it. It was so different...not just walking through and reading and looking. So great!

 

we made it.

We landed safely back in America! What a long day...or couple of days that was. We had a layover in New York and then a "stop over" in Minnesota. We were there for fourteen hours. Long enough to see Kevin's parents, our friend Annie and her sleeping little Lincoln, and my mom. She took Max back home with her. Max was telling everyone from friends to taxi drivers that he was going to grandma's house because mom and dad have to do boring things! Which is very true....we don't have a lot of time to play. Chores. Chores. Chores. Not to mention, most toys are in storage or en route in an air cargo crate! We made it to Seattle on Tuesday and have been busy getting life organized since. Our sleep is still WAY off...we have been up and ready to go between 3 and 4 AM....but force ourselves to sleep to at least 6:30. Our little personal alarm clock is halfway across the US and we are getting up earlier than he would!
I am still working on the remaining  final days in Dublin.

 Watching the tall ships sail off. WAAAAAAY out there.

 One last time in Howth.

Howth was exhausting.

These are a few of my favorite things

Here it is, our last day on the Emerald Isle. We fly back to the US tomorrow morning. In recent days/weeks we have been soaking up as much time as we could with our friends. We have gone through our list and done the things we said we wanted to do and have been indulging in our favorite Irish things. We have been gluttons for all things Irish. Some of the things I will miss the most, in no particular order...

 Obviously...a good creamy pint. I type this, as I enjoy what very well may be my last pint in Dublin for a while...

 DUH. These precious little cottony cuties will be missed.

 

Irish beef. I am typically not a  huge burger person...but every single burger I have tasted here is unbelievably GOOD.

 

A proper fry...or full Irish Breakfast. This one is missing tomato (and yes, it is pronounced tomAHto) and mushrooms.

Rashers. Irish bacon.

 This kitchen will be missed.

 Clown cars!!!! The Nissan Micra, on more than one occassion, was where it was at for us. Love the little minis.

 The doors of Dublin.

Mulligan's. Our local. Mulligan's in Sandymount was our go to pub to watch a match, have some good grub and a few pints, and the perfect place Sunday afternoon after a night out.

Traditional Irish Music.

 

Cadbury. Sorry Hershey's. Cadbury is way better. And did you know you can buy Cadbury Cream Eggs year round here? Even the minis. Sometimes after a good coffee there is nothing better than a mini Cadbury Cream Egg.

 

The people. All of our friends and people we have met along the way. We will miss the people so, so much. Friendships for life.

 

Whiskey chats.

 

The Natural Confectionery Co. The BEST jellies...gummy snakes, dinosaurs etc. Melt in your mouth good. And natural :)

 

The Irish accent. I still can't nail it...it's a tough one to do, but I will definitely miss hearing it on a daily basis. But I know it will be endearing when I do hear it from now on. It will take me back to this year.

 

Sayings like...

"Feck it"

"Eejit"

"Gas" or "You're a gas man"

"Knackered"

"Takin' the piss"

"Slag" and "Slaggin"

"What's the story"

"Your man" and "Your one"

"Do you know what I mean like?"

"Fair play"

"Aah, ya know yourself"

"Cheers"

 

 The countryside, our Irish adventures, and the names of places!!! Killybegs....Dingle....Killarney....Sligo....and the Ballys, Ballycastle, Ballymoney, Ballyjamesduff, Ballymena. I could go on. Love the names of towns here.

 

Last, but definitely not least, The CRAIC!

Well, these are the things I am reflecting on right now. I am sure there are more...today has been a teary day. Tomorrow we embark on the long journey back to the US. Microsoft has been great in making the move and the transition easy. We have had a great hotel, are all set with our temporary housing, and they allowed us to arrange a brief (15 hour) stop over in Minnesota. A stopover that allows us to leave Max in the helpful hands of Mom, Dad, and Amber. He will have loads more fun there than doing chores with Kevin and me....looking at homes, getting cell phones, re-figuring out life!

Slainte, Cheers, Dublin has treated us well.  A year that we will never, ever forget!

 

Tall Ships

 There was a Tall Ships Festival in Dublin a couple weeks ago. This was the last stop for the ships in a race they had been doing for a while. The ship that we went on and explored was from Ecuador! That's a long journey. Max, being so into pirates, thought it was way cool. He was a bit disappointed that we didn't actually get to leave the dock and sail on the ship.

 The crew was putting up lights along the sails.

 Cheesers.

 Reppin' the Sioux for JJ and Annie.

Watching the rescue boat.

Johnnie Fox's

Another day, another hotel. We checked into a different hotel today...where we will stay for our remaining days as Irish citizens. Max has been going to his school this week...spending good time with his friends and getting some closure as well. It has allowed Kevin and me to accomplish all the packing and organizing...and coffee dates and golf outings necessary to wrap up our time here. Despite the fact that we aren't living in our house and all of our belongings are packed into nine fat suitcases, life felt quite normal today. I collected Max from school and we went to Herbert park with the typical park crew from last school year. They played, we chatted and we all got ice cream cones before parting ways. Happy Days as they say.

So, that same weekend we went to the mountains we went to Johnnie Fox's Pub. It is famed as the highest pub in the country set up in the Dublin Mountains. We went for a Sunday afternoon session. The pub was huge...so many different rooms and nooks and the decor was fascinating. They had everything from antique dishes, old newspaper articles and animals skins to granny panties hanging on the wall. You can tell there's been a lot of craic in there for hundreds of years.

 The ceiling...covered in caserole dishes?

 The sign reads: "In the early years of travel- those that could afford FIVE STAR had the luxury of their own BABY TOILET- this is a premium example of one of the FIRST such baby toilets in the world." It was about a foot tall...but still, I smell BS.

 Soulja boy off in the oohh...crank that Max

Craic attack