Evening Laughter

The other night, Jeff pulled out the fancy camera and I stood behind him, dancing, laughing, making faces, and generally trying to get a reaction out of the kids. We captured some fantastic smiles and laughs.

A good one of all 3 kids

Smily Adele

You can tell how much Gordon was laughing

Love his smile

We were doing this thing with our hands ... well, it is hard to explain, but is a super-cute photo of Walt

Silly boys

A few moments to remember

I just realized I'd collected some photos on my phone from the past week and wanted to document the moments they captured so that I'd be able to look back and remember.

A neat puzzles photo. Adele had a meltdown moments after this photo was taken. 

The kids crowding around the spot I'd been sitting only moments before

Walt building a very tall tower

Walking back from visiting our friend in the neighborhood, Nellie. The kids did so well walking around on their own. 

Grocery shopping at SuperValu

The boys hanging in the cart after some arguing and some screaming. They were cool once we opened some cookies. 

Basically, this keeps them entertained for up to 20 minutes. So even though I'm not a fan of this game, sometimes I just let it go.


Adele loving on her elephant, made by our friend, Amy.

Chilly, inside kinda day

We took the kids with us grocery shopping in the morning. It was chilly and windy out so after they woke from their naps, we decided to keep them inside for the afternoon.

Oh, and they are napping again! Six out of the last six days, at least 2 (and usually all 3) of the kids have taken a nap. My friend, Amy, gave me a few new things to try and it seems to be helping. Yay for naps and less cranky/tired kids.

Today seemed like a good day to get down the play-doh.

Gordon is green, by request

Adele making shapes

Making shapes!!

Lots of mom interaction!

The kids ask me to make shapes and help them with the cutouts

Walt was a *little* upset when I took his playdoh away because he wouldn't stop trying to eat it.

Walt got to play more and was all smiles

After playdoh we watched a quick show. Kitty got some loving.

He didn't want to move, but eventually I got nervous that kitty might decide he was done before the kids did, so I moved him. At first he had his ears back, but he totally relaxed (mostly with Walt.)

And here we are at dinner where Adele demonstrates a new technique for eating blueberries

Dublin's Children's Museum

I wanted to see if any children's museums were nearby and found the only one in the country seems to be in Dublin. Since Dublin is a two hour drive, we decided going there and back in a day was the easiest thing to do for now.  We had to book a reservation and so I just waited until Jeff had a day off since weekends would be a mad house.  Today we finally went! The kids did fantastic on the drive and had a great time at the museum. Our time was from 11:30 until 1:30pm, so that would make lunch a little tricky.  We arrived early and they let us in, so we let the kids play for a while, then ate at the cafe. Rather, Jeff & I ate, the kids turned their noses up at the food.  That meal and then our walks to and from the car were the only stressful parts of the day. The kids did great on the ride home, too, with Walter and Adele both sleeping for half the trip while Gordon spent his time eating a bunch of the food I'd brought along.

It was a great time, but requires at least 2 people at this stage and is a bit of a distance to go regularly.  I think we'll try to check out the zoo (Dublin) and the wildlife park (Cork) and the beach (Lahinch?) before heading back to the Children's museum.

http://www.imaginosity.ie

The first room we hit at the museum -- all about cars.

Walt driving his first Audi

Taking the wheel!

Walt taking a very important call

Jeff said she never wanted just one of any item, she wanted them all. 

Adele needs to get the rest of her list

  

Walt knows how to shop!

Guess who found the books?

Reading heaven!

The boys playing with bones and Adele playing with a baby in the background

Soothing a disappointed Walter

Playing in the 'doctor' area

A photo to show a few of the rooms

Train time!

Adele played with the two baby dolls, calling them baby, and putting them to sleep on the bed for about 15 minutes. This is the first time I've witnessed any interest in dolls. The boys found it completely boring.

Adele admiring the lighted fountain below

How awesome is this train table? The boys were so excited to figure out they could crawl under and come up in the middle.

Giant blocks!

For almost half an hour, Walt wanted to do nothing but practice on the stairs.

Jeff says Walt went up and down this small set about 20 times.

Walt, goofing around with Dad.

Look! Dad was there! You can see his reflection in the mirror. 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Last year we'd only moved to Ireland a couple weeks prior to St Patrick's Day, but I was still bummed I didn't partake in any of the fun (or even take a cool photo of the kids.) So, today, I was determined to do it all.

The kids wearing the hats they made at the creche

Waiting for the parade to start

The parade started in Ballina, our side of the river, and then went over the bridge to Killaloe. We found a great spot just before the turn for the bridge and got the kids right in front.

First up, the firetrucks! Until this point, the kids didn't really understand that *something* was happening. They just wanted us to keep on rolling. But once the parade started, they were fascinated.

Just after the firetrucks, were the horses. The kids were pretty awestruck seeing horses close up. I think Gordon was amazed by how big they were.

Some traditional music

Part of the Irish coast guard marching by.  There were also a number of boats used as floats in the parade.

I spent most of the time pointing things out to the kids. It was so fun to see their reactions. 

A limerick radio station (the Top40 station I listen to) had their pink minis out in support of the pink ribbon walk that had a contingent marching in the parade

You can see how enthralled she is in everything going by. We had to put the cover back on because it did start raining on us.

Various sports and social groups of kids marched in the parade and we got so many of them pointing at us on the sidelines. Jeff kept saying we should've decorated the runabout and jumped into the mix.

Our friend Nellie, with her infant son, Aidan, had joined us on the sidelines of the parade. We all walked back towards home and stopped at the pub down the street, Donovans, for a pint and some snacks. The kids were great!