The beach -- Kilkee

The non-rainy days this week have been really nice and warm. Looking at the weekend's forecast, I decided to talk Jeff into taking us out to the beach on Saturday. Not that it takes much convincing to get Jeff to head to sand & salt water.  I knew it would be a little cooler on the coast then at our house, but figured we would still have a fun time. I had no earthly idea we would have this much fun or that it would be such an easy trip!

We had no strollers, the kids helped carry an item or two, and they followed directions and stayed close. They also were willing to be flexible so that we didn't have three kids asking for three different things at once.  There was one period of time where I was laying on the blanket, watching Gordon and Jeff play in the ocean while Adele and Walt dug in the sand next to me. It was 30 minutes of complete contentment.

I thought we'd sit on the beach awhile when we arrived, and maybe eat, but the kids headed straight for the water. 

My loves

They'd already gotten wet, so we had to take them back up to the blanket to throw on their swim trunks. Nobody minded in the least!

The biggest unknown was Walt. Previous beach trips involved many tears and me carrying him around for hours since he was afraid of the sand. You can tell this little boy is LOVING every minute of it.

My two boys, digging in.

Throwing dirt it always fun.

Adele loved digging and making castles. She was also happy to just rub sand all over herself.

After an hour, the kids were finally hungry. I plopped them into chars and handed them food. It was only about 60 degrees F outside, so they quickly got chilly. 

I moved the picnic to the blanket since the ground was much warmer and it didn't take long for the shivering to stop.

After lunch, Walt and Adele stayed by me and played in the sand. Gordon headed down to the water with his dad and he played non-stop, chasing waves for 30-45 minutes.

Gordon just loves the water

When he finished, he went up to the blanket, lay down, and was half asleep. He was so tired he could barely walk back to the car.

A wonderful day!

Getting out of the house

The kids were a bit stir-crazy and super whiny this morning, so I decided to take them out. It ended up being a gorgeous day, so we spent as much time away from home as possible.

First we headed to the Ballina playground and we stopped in a soccer/basketball cage to play. Here's Walt

Adele

The boys

You can see their laughter

I love this shot with all 3 kids climbing up and heading down

My Walter is getting braver!

Adele and Gordon were smart to refuel

Silly girl

I brought along some towels to wipe down the equipment. Adele took the towels and spent the next twenty minutes wiping down everything.

We headed to lunch at Simply Delicious cafe, then we walked down to Scoops for ice cream.

After ice cream, we got in the car to go across the river to the Killaloe playground. Adele went straight for the slide.

Gordon on the shaky bridge.

We just take over!

So brave, my Walt!

Spot the kids

Adele and Walt sharing a basket

A friend was there with her two kids and she was helping my kids do this zip line, which they've not done previously. At least, not without having Jeff or I to hold them the whole way. Here's Adele's ride.

Walter gives it a go.


About half the time, Gordon simply let go at the end. He wasn't hurt and thought it was hilarious, but I kept telling him to hold on because I knew it wouldn't be long before he did get hurt.

A little while later, I look up and see Walt's over there doing the whole bit by himself. Such a big boy!

After the Killaloe playground, we headed to Bake-A-Way for some snacks.

The kids hung out waiting for me to pay inside Bake-A-Way. From there, we finally headed home.

Warm weather weekend trip to Fota Wildlife Park

The weather was supposed to be warm and sunny, so we decided to take the kids down to the Fota Wildlife park. This was our first trip to this park without the strollers and the kids did just fine. I had to carry Gordon a bit as we left, but overall, they were happy to run and walk.

When we arrived the first stop is usually the meerkats. But this time the kids had no interest and instead when straight to the play set at the entrance. We let them play for about 20 minutes before rounding up to start into the park. 

Our trip ended up being a walk from one play set to another. The kids had little interest in the animals this go around. They climbed trees, found sticks, dug in the dirt, slid down slides, crossed shaky bridges, ran on paths, and ran off paths. And they ate almost constantly from the snacks I'd brought along. 

A very beautiful day! And my favorite part was listening to their descriptions of what we did at the park, as we drove home. It was neat to hear what they remembered and what they thought was worthy of remembering.

We went the opposite way around the park versus normal and so we visited the giraffes first thing.

Our next stop was this giraffe playground. 

The kids snacked and ate sandwiches as we made our way around the park, but when we stopped for the adults to eat (near another play area) there was also some construction getting ready to start and the kids all got a chance to sit on this tractor. I'm not sure I can describe how excited Walt was, but his expression kinda says it all.

Another stop for snacks! All the climbing, sliding, stick throwing, and dirt digging make for hungry kids.

These kids were just constantly climbing!

Group shot! Wish we could've gotten dad in there.

Adele and I had gone up the path, but Jeff stayed with the boys while they climbed this tree.

A giraffe watching Adele leave the park. We waved bye to the giraffes one last time before heading home.

The playground and maybe the start of summer?

The weather has been gorgeous the last two days. It feels like it might be the start of summer! At least, I hope that's the deal. Yesterday morning the kids were at the creche, but I walked to pick them up in the afternoon. Then we walked into town for ice cream and then home.

This morning I took them to the Ballina playground where we met up with Nellie and Aidan. We also spent some time down by the river.  We came home for a quick lunch before heading into Nenagh to run some errands.  Our second stop was at Dunnes (grocery store), and the parking lots was insane. I've never seen it so busy! On the way into the store, we saw a woman, her husband, and their four children. Three of the kids were in a triple stroller, so I, of course, had to ask if they were triplets. The boys were screaming and mom was looking very harried, but she stopped giving me the 'dear heaven, why are you talking to me NOW?' look once she got a hold of my triplets. I didn't keep her, just told her she'd survive, then headed into the store, thankful I was past that stage. Her triplet boys were 18 months old.

Oh, and I measured the kids the other day, just for fun.

Walter - 40"
Gordon - 41"
Adele - 39.25"

Anyway, here are some photos from our morning at the playground.

Adele being silly. I got her to wear an outfit I bought her off Zulily. She looks so grown up!

Gordon loves to slide

Walt coming down the big slide.

Gordon liked to climb up the this spot, then call me over to get him down.

Walt on the swings

Adele spinning her elephants around

They had to wait to play on this little equipment because some babies (i.e. toddlers) were there when we first arrived.

We walked down to the river to throw in some rocks. You can see Killaloe and St Flannan's cathedral across the water.

Adele and Gordon throwing rocks with a view of the historic bridge.

Adele and Walt didn't climb the tree on their own, but they had fun once they got up there.

The kids know I won't push them in the baby swings, but they managed to talk Nellie into pushing them.