Dad's Visit

We had a great visit with my Dad while he was here. Luckily he brought us some very sunny and warm weather so he didn't have to see Dublin while peeking out from under an umbrella. Just after the taxi dropped him off he parked his substantial suit case in the living room and proceeded to empty it of 2/3rds of its contents all of which were toys and books for William. Will must have thought that Christmas had come early. Within 15 minutes Dad had doubled the amount of toys in the house. He and Grandma Karen must have had a blast shopping. Thank you again :)

Craig was working for the first few days of Dad's visit so he and I wandered around downtown and took the hop-on, hop-off bus to all the important spots. William ate more ice cream than was probably good for him but I couldn't resist spoiling him as he obviously enjoys it so much. He's fun to watch while scarfing ice cream. It's truly amazing how much he gets on himself. My friend Darci's old tip for matching the ice cream color to the color of shirt the kid is wearing is pure and utter genius.

Lots of good food was had during Dad's visit since we've sussed out a few good spots through trial and error. Only one truly terrible meal at Slane Castle on our little road trip so we got off easy. Had a pint of oyster stout at the Porterhouse in Grafton and got Dad to have a Guiness at the Temple bar (along with the gorgeous Irish cheese platter, yum). He tried Guiness gelato as well (which sort of tasted like the head off a pint) just to keep Will company while he munched his 3rd ice cream in as many days.

Our visit culminated with a road trip organized by Celtic tours (http://www.celtictours.ie/) and our wonderful driver Ross. Great guy with a great sense of humor. When he started off the tour asking us where we were all from I responded "It's complicated" and started to explain that we live here now but we are Canadian and Dad is too but he lives in Singapore. In fact the bus almost drove right by our house (which ticked me off a bit since we'd just caught a cab into town, haha) and Russ gave me a funny look when I cheered as he mentioned Castleknock Village. I love these little day trips as they serve to remind me that I am actually in Ireland: home of the Hill of Tara and Loughcrew and other ancient history and not just living the suburban dream. I loved Loughcrew, which is older than the Egyptian pyramids, and which I've been wanting to see since my first art history class at Camosun College where the structure and designs were discussed. I could have stayed in that cairn all day. 

Anyways here are the photos...some of them aren't too bad if I do say so myself.

Statue of St. Patrick at Tara.

Indoor day

We had an indoor art day today since the weather is soooo crappy. Rain storms all day. Kind of like that one scene in Forest Gump when he is trying to describe all the different kind of rains he experienced while in Viet Nam.


 

Or maybe that scene in the Truman show...

 Today we had straight down rain, staggered rain (raining in our yard but not our neighbours yard or not our yard but still pouring in the field across from our house) and my personal favourite that I've decided to call "Irish Snow": misty rain that wafts its way down side to side like snowflakes.

Anyways, here are some great pics of Will using his cars to paint with.  

 And one of him being a pirate with two swords from the other day.

Isn't it friday yet?

You have no idea how good my kitchen smells right now. http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/chicken-mushroom-pasta-bake-spaghett Yum. With wine. Super yum. And I made bread this week. I might be using baking and cooking to deal with the all to common onslaught of vulnerability brought on by living as an expat. Craig is happy with all the delicious, neurotic baking I've been doing. It's just been one of those days where expat life isn't as glamorous as I dreamed it would be. The daily grind is different when you don't have the same social network/job/grocery store/neighbors etc. Thank God for FB and Skype. This feeling of vulnerability and aloneness is actually a "good problem to have" as my Dad would say. We live in Ireland. That's pretty neat at the end of the day. But my grass-is-always-greener-on-the-other-side eyes are already looking ahead to see if there are better opportunities somewhere else...or at least better weather. I think that part of my restlessness derives from the fact that I am home with a near two year old all day every day. But at the same time I am so grateful for the opportunity to be at home with him and watch him grow and progess everyday. Maybe I will plan a short bus trip for this weekend to get some travel time in. Newgrange anyone?


PS I apolygize fur ne spellllling mist akes as the spell cheque juts whent dwn
PPS I miss BC and traveling in the summer. And family. Our family is the best. Nobody had more fun than we do. 

Grandma's Rock

View from SW end of the best place in the world. Those who know, know...those who don't: keep out.

Kitten of Doooooom

So we've had some stray kittens show up in the back yard and one of them has become stuck in my neighbours back yard. She's been away for 3 weeks and the SPCA can't go onto her property w/o her consent. (Don't worry we've been chucking the kitty some food and it's mom visits every once in a while). Today our neighbour came home so Craig goes over to explain the kitten in her back yard and to tell her that the SPCA will come to pick it up if she calls them. She then informed Craig that she is petrified of cats and also that the reason she was away for 3 weeks is because she was setting her husband up in Vienna as he's just moved there for work for a year. So basically we waited until she was alone in the house and let her know that the creature she fears most is hiding under her shed. Nicely done.

William and I found a snail in a rose

At the playground in Stephen's green

Today's crazy weather

 

At the zoo in Pheonix park

amazing chips: I like the shamrock and onion flavour too

Sorry I haven't posted any news in a while. All calm on the home front. We've been busy with lots of summer activities and guests from London in the last little while. We are expecting a VIP from Singapore in the next few weeks as well. Here are some pictures from our adventures in suburbia over the last few weeks. The weather has been fairly rainy but it can't seem to make up it's mind. One minute we are roasting in the sun and the next has dark clouds rolling in. We end up bringing sunscreen and an umbrella everywhere with us.

We had a great lunch yesterday at The Porterhouse (not steaks, beer) and I had a shandy with lunch in honour of our British guests. Craig bravely ordered the Oyster Stout (made with real oysters) which had such a thick, creamy head on it the closest comparison we could make was hair mousse. Today we lunch in Castleknock after visiting the zoo (Poor William fell asleep before he could see the tigers!). Brasserie 15 does a great burger and it's just around the corner from our house. Yay! Plus William is in love with the waitress. He was making eyes and smiling at her the whole time. At least when he wasn't playing with his cars or pretending to eat. No big plans for this week. Same old, same old. Looking forward to the VIP's visit (His name might rhyme with Pappy...but I'll never tell) and doing some shopping for a wedding present and a baby present...not for the same couple ;)