Connor's First Movie

Alan and I wanted to give Connor a special day out, just by ourselves. David and Grainne were gracious enough to watch Ronan for us, and we headed out.

Connor didn't know where we were going. We just told him it was going to be a fun adventure. But then we showed up to the movie theater, and he started getting excited. He still didn't really know what we were all about, but his smiles got bigger. Then, when we said "Yes" to the popcorn and 7-up (!!!), he was even more excited.

We arrived to our designated theater, and had him read the title, "Kung Fu Panda 2." Then he really lit up.
As it turns out, we had the ENTIRE theater to ourselves. So I'd say that the next time we go to the theater, it'll be another new experience to have other people in the theater with us!

Afterwards, we took him to Eddie Rockets, an American-style diner. Alan ordered a Knickerbocker Glory, the dessert he ordered when he was a child. Connor ordered a strawberry shake, and I got a vanilla malt (reminiscing my Bostonian childhood). It was a fun afternoon.

Pics of Ambrose's House

I've finally done this oft-requested post! Please excuse me, though, because all these photos are out of date. Some of them were taken before we arrived, and the rest were taken the first few weeks we were here. Hopefully, things are a little more neat nowadays. ;)

The view from across the street.

143 Ardlea Rd

Connor's Room

Our bedroom

The "back" bedroom. Ambrose's room is the only one not here. I forgot to include it because we're no one has slept there yet.

The "front" room downstairs. This is one of two adjoining receiving rooms. It's actually a bit cleaner nowadays. (Thank goodness!)

The "back" room, or TV room, also downstairs.

The kitchen. It has two comfy chairs and a circular table you can't see in the photos.

Connor and I had a picnic one day after school. I included this photo to show you the large backyard and rear view of the house.

Well, that's it. Please come visit us! We'd love to have you. And even though Connor's school schedule and having Ronan around might prevent us from taking you all over, we have good maps. :))

Ronan's First Laugh

After a few hours of trying to imbed a video here to no avail, I've decided to upload our home videos to You Tube. And of course, I need to learn a lot more about You Tube. But for now, I think this link will bring you to some footage of Ronan's first laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCR_o4N-Lq0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lk7QKgRmGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_lw9TRVtyU

Enjoy!

More Shopping In Ireland

One section of the department stores here that I love to look at is the hats and accessories section. The hat-wearing tradition here is similar to what I imagine is the tradition in the South. Gorgeous hats, in all colors to match your beautiful outfits for weddings, graduations, 21st birthdays, Holy Communions, or any other special event.

Nowadays it seems that hats have given way to fanciful headbands.

My dad and I went shopping downtown. He needed to find a good pair of dress shoes for his hard-to-fit feet. Once I heard what he needed, I knew we should go to Arnotts. It's the Irish version of Nordstrom. Totally beautiful fashion. Great service. And the best place to buy lingerie. There is one big difference, however, with department stores here vs. at home: the labels lease out their sections within the store. So, whereas Nordstrom as sections based on styles (conservative clothes for older ladies, business-like styles in Studio 121, juniors in Brass Plum...), Arnotts has leased out one area to Calvin Klein, another to GAP, etc. It's an interesting business difference.

Anyhow, we were walking by the accessories section, and like being hit by a tractor beam, I was helpless against its power. I had to go over and look closer. And then of course I had to try on a few headbands. And when my dad offered to take some photos, I new my second Shopping In Ireland post was born. ;) That's good, too. It saved me at least €200.

Shopping In Ireland

In my last posting, I promised to show you closeups of the craziest cake I'd ever seen. Connor and I found it in the grocery store. But unlike in the States, our local grocery store has shelves dedicated to Celebration Cakes. Now, mind you, these are not in the bakery section. These are on shelves, next to the decadent bars of chocolate they sell here. I'm told that this is a relatively new invention in Ireland.

With the introduction of the supermarkets, all your little neighborhood bakers started closing. (And butchers, fish mongers, etc.) So while you used to be able to run down the street to your family bakery and get a celebration cake, now they are packaged and shelved in the supermarkets.

Of course there are still bakery sections in the supermarkets and they might have some refrigerated cakes (one Irish chain called Superquinn has a gorgeous selection of breads, cream cakes and desserts), but not as many as the choices on the shelf in our now-owned-by-an English-company supermarket.

When Connor spotted this cake, I couldn't believe my eyes. I was partly scared to feed it to him. The preservatives that it must have had, the crazy amounts of sugary toppings, and the way-too-big size of it were all good reasons I could have said "No." But I knew that it was such a spectacular sight, that I had to buy it. And take pictures of it. And turn it into this blog posting. What a life! ;)

Papa's "Welcome To Ireland" Party

I can't believe how fast time has travelled by! My dad, "Papa", came for a two week visit, and he's been and gone already. We had a fabulous time while he was here. God bless him, he took all the nighttime feedings, too!

After Papa adjusted to the time zone, we threw him a "Welcome To Ireland" party, complete with the craziest cake I've ever seen. (More photos of that in my upcoming "Shopping in Ireland" post.)

For me, the highlight of the party was playing Uno. Connor has all the rules memorized, and does a great job with all the teasing- or "slagging", as they say here- we give each other while we play.

For Alan, I'd say his highlight was receiving a special bottle of Bushmills whiskey for Ronan's Christening.

Surprise, it's Papa!

My dad, Papa, arrived on June 10th just minutes before I had to pick up Connor from school. It was perfect timing!

So Papa walked with me to St. David's to surprise Connor. While we were waiting for Connor to come out, I introduced Dad to some of the wonderful parents I've gotten to know these last months. When Connor came out, he almost didn't see Papa. When he did, though, his smile was absolutely huge! And he launched right into talking about what happened at school. :)

One of the parents I often see is Noel, whose son Luke is in the same class as Connor. After school, Connor and Luke like to run to the corner together since we both start walking home in the same direction.

As Dad, Noel and I were walking Connor and Luke home, Noel stopped to chat with a lady on the street. Her garden was absolutely lovely, full of color and not a weed to be seen. Anyhow, Noel greeted her by name and she was shocked. That's when Noel reminded her that he walked by her house everyday when he was a schoolboy at St. David's, and he used to play with her boys. He even remember their names. "Now I'm back and doing the same thing with my own, can you believe it?" Oh, the smile on the lady's face was absolutely radiant!

After we said goodbye to Noel and Luke, we were on our way home and what was the first thing Connor told Papa? "We saw President Obama!" It was so interesting to me that of all the things to talk about, that's what he chose. Maybe it's because he knew that Nana and Papa were big Obama supporters.


Other fun things from Papa's visit included playing Uno, going to a beautiful park in South Dublin, and for me--the hours of sleep and babysitting he gave me! That was soooo luxurious. Thank you, Papa!!!