Ireland

Kilcooley Abbey

Staircase in Kilcooley Abbey.  Amazing light.

View from the outside.

Cool green door.  Not sure where it leads to!

Inside the Rock of Cashel was this stone.  I thought it was really funky.

The doors inside the Rock of Cashel.

View of Rock of Cashel from outside.

Rock of Cashel, or St. Patrick's Rock.

Daffodils blooming in the town.

The doors were painted very bright colors-I loved, loved, loved this.

Us outside of Cahir castle. 

Cahir castle.

Kenmare.  My favorite town we visited in Ireland. 

Oh, for the love!  Cutest lambs everywhere!

First view of Carantouhill Mountain.

I have no idea what this bright yellow plant is-I just loved it.  It grew along the roads.

I would love to live in this cottage, yes, yes I would.

Evan climbing over a branch so he could fly fish. 

Fly fishing in Ireland!

This is me getting annoyed fly fishing.  I was right under some trees that made me have to cast sideways.  It was a pain, but I guess I practiced my side cast? Didn't get a bite, but it was still really cool to fish there.

Beautiful little church on our way to Gap of Dunloe.  This was out in the middle of nowhere.  I am just amazed at how many churches are in Ireland. 

Molls Gap.

Gap of Dunloe.   Look how tiny the road is on the left.  It's basically wide enough for 1 1/2 cars.  It was very interesting to pass cars on these roads!

Molls Gap.  We drove through this to fly fish.  A beautiful valley with some great streams.

Hike up to Carantouhill.

Evan with Carantouhill in the background. At least I will never loose him with his bright green coat!

So windy hiking up to Carantouhill! 

Pretty much every picture of us in Ireland is like this: hats, coats, gloves, scarves; all you see are our tiny faces! 

A breathtaking view on the hike up Carantouhill. 

A tombstone in Rock of Cashel.

Oh, Ireland!  

We had the most fantastic visit. 

 

We made it to Ireland at 5am Ireland time.  We rented out little black car which was half the size of our little accord and were off.  It was pretty funny trying to adjust driving on the left side of the road. 

We got out of Dublin and headed west. To the mountains, rivers and countryside.

We stopped at a little gas station that had the best chocolate croissants, and sold tiny jugs of milk. 

We toured Kilcooley Abbey which was in the middle of a huge field!  It was abandoned and so beautiful.  

We found an old abandoned mansion that resembled a home you might on Pride and Prejudice.  We tried to get in the house-no way.  Bummer.

We stopped at the Rock of Cashel-St. Patrick's Rock.  It was huge. 

Next was Cahir castle.  To me, it was cooler than Rock of Cashel.  I loved the inner courtyard, and all of the crazy small towers on it.  

We had the best hot chocolate and baguette of our visit to Ireland near the Cahir castle.  Oh, it was the best I've tasted.  We were so cold, and it hit the spot! 

Kenmare was where we stayed our first night.  If you go to Ireland-stay here!  It is the funkiest town.  Lots of beautiful shops, good food, and all cities in Ireland have good music at their pubs.  At No. 35 we had monk fish which is the ugliest fish ever seen, but tasted great.  And for dessert a malteaser suprise!  Malteasers are what our whoppers are here in America-but a million times better.  So tasty.  We consumed about 20 small bags of those in Ireland while we were there. 

That night we went to bed at 8:30 which is crazy early, but we hadn't slept all night.  And we didn't get up til 10:30 the next day!  We haven't slept that long in I don't know how long.  Way before kids!  It was fantastic.  

In Ireland the traditional breakfast is very big, and very salty! It has scrambled eggs, sausage, black pudding (a blood pudding), white pudding, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, hash brown, and beans.  Along with this you would have brown bread (I loved this!) which is similar to wheat bread with a really great flavor, and fruit.  We tried the Irish breakfast, which was really great, and it filled us up all morning.  For lunch we would stop and grab a baguette and some fruit, some malteasers, and be good to go til dinner.  

We drove from Kenmare down into a beautiful valley.  It had some amazing streams in them and we stopped at fished.  We drove through Molls Gap, Gap of Dunloe and could see Carantouhill (pronounced car-un-to-ee).  I really didn't expect Ireland to have large moutains, but it has some really big ones.  Carantouhill is notorious for having storms on top, and we didn't make it to the top, but enjoyed hiking up part of it.  It was gorgeous.  

We then drove out near the west coast.  We found a beach and did donuts in our little black car.  It was amazing to see the ocean! 

Ireland has five peninsulas on the west side.  We stayed on the northern most peninsula called Dingle.  Kind of a funny name.  It is surrounded by the ocean and has a cool little downtown.  We heard some of the best music while we were in Ireland in Dingle.  Pubs there are very family friendly.  Everyone eats, then turns their chairs and listens to music.  We heard traditional Irish music which was filled with guitar, flute, fiddle and accordion. Our favorite pubs were: John Benny Moriarty's and the Courthouse pub.  John Benny's wife is somewhat famous and her music is on youtube.  She has a gorgeous voice.  

The next day we toured famine cottages, drove the coast, bought a cool piece of pottery, saw an old oratory and went to our favorite place called Sauce creek.  We hiked to the top of this hill/small mountain and came to a horse shoe point.  The cliffs went straight down to the ocean.  We were the only people there besides a sheep herder!  It was my favorite place we saw in all of Ireland.  

On our last day we took the ferry across the bay, collected shells on the beach, and saw the Cliffs of Moher.  They are very popular, but are amazing.  The jut out of the ocean and it is incredible. We found a cool little town to have dinner called Loughrea (Loch rae) and had this goat cheese appetizer that we had to order two of because it was so delicious.  

Then we drove to Dublin and flew out the next morning.  

I dropped our camera on the second day!  Arghh!  So these pictures are all from the first two days.  I do have some from Evan's phone that I will share soon. 

This trip marked our 10th anniversary.  Loved taking an adventure with Evan.  He is my favorite.  

My darling sister, Carly and her husband Parker watched all of our peeps!  They were amazing and when I got home Izzy didn't want anything to do with me!  Sad, but made me happy knowing that Carly loves her like I do. 

Oh, Ireland-can't wait to see you again!

it's still winter here

 Izzy has had several viruses this winter, the last being just last week.  She had a fever of 103, and then three new teeth popped through.  Now she has six little teeth to bite her sisters with.

 The upstairs bathroom has been something Evan and I have wanted to update since we moved in.  It's like a deep dark cave.  Painted a nice flesh color. Ugh!  We wisely have some people doing the work for us.  We are replacing tile surrounding the tub as well as the floor, repainting, adding new lights, putting up bead board, and putting in a new vanity and sink.  I can't wait. 

 Bathroom demo.  Oh my. 

 My sister Amy sent me this purple shirt and she knows that she will probably never see it again.  I love this color.  My sister and I send clothes back and forth to each other.  It just makes my day to see a fun package in the mail from her.  It's her hand-me-downs and they are fabulous.  And I have this purple vest to wear it with.  Too much purple? Never!

 Tile for floor and funky accents that will be added to the tile surrounding the shower.

 One afternoon we watched Maya perform her new yoga moves at school.  She tried to not act so excited that we were there, but she was grinning like crazy.  And the other girls had the time of their lives seeing her locker, desk, and classmates.

 Zoe could stay outside all day, just like Maya.  Here she is in her all-purple glory, eating all the snow on our deck.

 Maya FINALLY one of her top teeth that has been a bit wiggly since September.  The root was the longest I have seen on a baby tooth-GIANT!  She pulled it out herself and was thrilled when the tooth fairy remembered to pick up her tooth before the next day began. Sometimes the tooth fairy forgets here in Minnesota.....darn that tooth fairy.

 Izzy showing off her comb-over and her little bottom teeth. 

 The tile so far on the bathroom.  Such a welcome change from the flesh colored tile previously. 

 Brynn is into barbies.  She follows after her Mama in that regard.  Oh barbies....such good times!

The buns and me. 

we still officially have snow here in minne. blech.  i am not-very-patiently awaiting spring and all it's glory. 

we started re-doing our bathroom.  it's has been a huge process and i am thankful to not be doing it myself.  i like projects that get done in a day or so.  and the decision making!  i am happy that this is the only project we are doing this year.  thank goodness.

izzy is nearly crawling.  she just pulled herself up to the couch today!  but she gets herself into trouble all the time.  i have to keep my eyes on her all the time, and she is not even crawling! 

zoe is my little helper.  she loves our one-on-one time when brynn is at school.  she loves to go places and hates it when we get home.  

brynn is going to a neighborhood pre-school and also one through the park district here in minne.  the park services here are amazing.  she learns all about nature, animals, and is outside doing something fun like snow shoeing every week.  

maya is busy reading to izzy every day after shool.  it has been fun to see the reaction that izzy gives her sisters, especially maya.  she loooooves her maya.  

and evan and i just celebrated 10 years!  oh my!  we are planning a trip to ireland in a few weeks and i can hardly wait.  we were thinking of going somewhere warm but then decided to go to ireland at the last minute.  can't wait to see the green hills, the cliffs of moor, and sheep! 

hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Izzy at 7 months

Izzy Buns is huge.
It freaks me out that she is already this old.
She loves me, Evan, her sisters and a guy named Larry at church.
She stopped being swaddled and sleeps with her arms raised above her head.
She has long wisps of hair near her ears, and the rest is pretty short, I am debating whether or not to trim them.
She has stopped nursing, except at night.  It makes me sad, but she loves to be fed a bottle by one of her very eager sisters.
She is insanely happy with solid food.  We have a baby food grinder-which all mama's should get-and she eats everything.  She has tried pizza, wonton soup, pasta, cous cous, and spaghetti to name a few.
She gets personally offended when people talk to her that she doesn't know.  Especially at stores when she is in her car seat.  She starts wailing.
Got her two bottom teeth this month.  Grins with her mouth open and shows us her teeth, she is so proud.
I love nibbling her chin.  
She hasn't started crawling, but is perfecting the lean.  She will lean completely over then roll to her back. 
She makes us all happy.
We love her.

Christmas Love

Brynn and her beloved horses moments after arriving at my parents.  She made a beeline for the playroom and we didn't see much of her for most of the stay.  She was just happy to be playing barbies.

Ahh, linkin logs.  These were out every day we were in Wellsville.

In our Christmas plaid!  I made the girls have plaid this year, and although Evan thought it would be a little crazy, I really liked how their outfits turned out.  Too bad this is the best picture we have in our Sunday best.

Lizzie + Maya.  These two were pretty much glued at the hips.

Brynn + Aunt Amy-her favorite person besides Grandpa.

Little goober face.

Little cousins in their new matching jammies.

Izzy + Grandma.

Val + Zoe + Chad.  This is moments before Chad and Val rubbed their hands on Zoe's head to see how long she could stand it whilst watching something on the iphone.

Izzy + Grandma Dean.  We had such a wonderful time seeing her!  So happy she could make the trip up to visit us.  Izzy has a sweet come over in this picture.

The piano received lots of attention.

Izzy + Aunt Carly.  Izzy loves Carly second to me. :)

Kyle, Sophie, Brynn and Maya playing Sorry!

My Dad turned 60 while we were in Utah.  For his birthday my Grandma gave him all sorts of funny gifts: depends, nose hair trimmer, pee bags, hair color.  It was hilarious.

Lovin' life in Grandma's cozy chair.

Ali + Aunt Carly.  Ali and Izzy are just two months apart.

Izzy + Emily.   Emily loves my kids and they love her.

Goobers.

Ali.  This picture was captured by Parker. Love it.

Ahh, the beautiful Wellsvilles.  Most beautiful mountains in the world.

Nerf gun party on New Years eve.

Little sledders.

Carrying the sled.

Parker + Ali.

Aunt Debbie + Grandma Dean.

Whose neck is bigger???

Maya and me.

New Years eve.

Oh, those cheeks!

My brother Chad and I are vest twinsies.

Yeah, I know it's Valentine's day.
Happy Love day everyone!  But I am posting some Christmas love today. 
We were homesick for family and mountains, so we road tripped it out to Utah. 
We saw bright skies and dry roads-which is kind of unheard of this time of year.
The girls were amazing-as in we stopped only three times in 13 hours the first day.
We had a fabulous time.
Saw lovely people, ate delicious food, and made wonderful memories.
The girls went sledding every day we were there.
We had a white Christmas! The snow was so so beautiful.
Izzy had her first sledding experience.
My sister and I went to a midnight organ concert on Christmas eve.
Nerf gun party for New Years.
Plowing snow with Grandpa on the four wheeler.
The whole family was together for three days.
It was the best.