St. Paddy's in Ireland

Top o' the mornin' to ya!  This is a phrase we use every year on St. Patrick's Day in efforts to start off the day a little more authentic.  The holiday is actually Justin's favorite holiday of the year, and he constantly seeks out ways to make the day authentic to Ireland.  That is why we decided to fulfil one of his dreams this year by travelling to Ireland over St. Patrick's Day. We were also fortunate to have our good buddy, Dave, join us from the States with his fiancé, Helen.

We began our trip in Dublin where we had a couple of days to tour around and then celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  First, we went to the Old Library at Trinity College where we saw the ancient Book of Kells among many other very old books and sheet music.  The library was beautiful and had a nice "old book" smell to it.  Next, we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral where we saw several tombs among the gorgeous arched ceilings and stained-glass windows.  I especially liked the tribute and tomb of Jonathan Swift - a famous Irish writer that I teach in my high school English classes.

Our own Guinness Advertisement

While in Dublin, we also visited the Guinness Brewery which had entertainment for all ages.  Kaelia loved the dancers outside the building, both girls enjoyed the face painting, the adults learned a lot from the museum, and of course, the adults liked the beer!

Viking vs. Irish battle in the parade

To partake in the St. Patrick's Day festivities, Justin and I ran a 5K on Sunday, and then we watched the parade on Monday.  We had to wait for about two hours along the parade route in attempt to get a good view.  In the end, we still had a hard time seeing the parade, everyone was cold, and the girls felt a little sick from passing the time with a Shamrock Shake.  Needless to say, we only lasted about 20 minutes once the parade started, but the parts that we saw were really neat - especially the ancient looking battle between the Vikings and the Irish.

After St. Patrick's Day, we headed down to Cork, stopping by the Rock of Cashel along the way.  It is a very old castle in a small town that is in a bit disarray, but still very neat to see.  Taelyn loved running around, pretending that she was Queen Elsa from Frozen and that this was her ice castle.  Kaelia did not like the cold weather but was fascinated by the old cemetery that surrounded the castle.  When I asked what her favorite part was, she said all the dead people.

Jameson Experts

From Cork, we travelled to Galway with a few stops in between.  First, we went to the Jameson factory and took a tour about the history of Jameson whiskey and how it is made.  Justin and Dave even took a little connoisseur taste testing and received a certificate.  From there, we went to Blarney Castle.  Taelyn and I especially liked this.  She ran through each room of the castle, pretending that is was her own.  Kaelia liked it too, but the weather was a little cold, and she has a hard time getting excited about anything when she is cold.  Both girls enjoyed the ladies' bedroom, however, as they pretended it was their own room.

Next, we stayed a night in a small town called Bunratty where we experienced a medieval banquet in Bunratty Castle.  This was soemthing that I have been looking forward to for a long time - to relive castle life.  We were greeted and served by a butler and entertainment ensamble, all dressed in medieval clothing.  Then we were seated in the dining hall of the castle and were served a four course meal, and our only utensil was a "dagger"!  About halfway through the evening, a guest was taken to the dungeon for curious behaviors.

The next day, we drove to the Cliffs of Moher as our final stop before Galway.  It was incredibly windy and foggy, but the cliffs were nonetheless impressive.  We even crawled over to the edge of the cliffs for a picture.  That was a bit terrifying, considering the winds were incredibly strong, but we were careful.

Once we got to Galway, we did a lot of relaxing before making the trip back home.  We stayed in a really nice hotel with a great pub to watch the Michigan State basketball games, and the girls took advantage of the massive pool.  It was a nice way to end the trip, and it was great to hang out with our family and friends!

Make your own scrapbook design

Kaelia's School Photos

We just got Kaelia's school photos today, and they are pretty cute.  Here is a class photo and a head shot photo of our little doll.

To-may-to, To-muh-to, Pa-jam-ma, Pa-juhm, ma

Our school celebrates Spirit Week this week, and the kick off was Pajama Day on Monday.  Taelyn, Justin, and I all had to prep our best jammies on Sunday night which brought on an interesting and funny conversation.  Taelyn insisted that Justin and I were saying the word "pajama" wrong, claiming that the word is pronounced "pa-juhm-ma," sounding a little like a British accent.  She then went on to make fun of our American accent, telling us that the word isn't "pa-jaaaam-ma" (stressing the middle "a" sound just like our overseas friends do when they make fun of our accent!), but that it's "pa-juhm-ma."  I simply told her that we say the word like people do in the US, and that she is saying the word like South Africans.  So then I posed the question, "What are you?  US or South African?"  With a great deal of pride in her voice, she shouted out, "I'm South African!"  Conversations like this could get pretty interesting when we move to another country next year.  We'll see what she picks up in Qatar and what she identifies with most as time goes on.

Broken Nose

Kaelia had a little incident at school last week.  She was running on the playground at full speed and collided head first in to another little boy who was also running at full speed.  Instantly, her nose started bleeding every where, and it was very swollen.  Apparently, she turned pale and also wouldn't eat.  By time I saw her at home, Kaelia's nose and eyes were also black a blue.  It wasn't a pretty sight, and I decided to take her to the emergency room to see if it was broken.

Kaelia was a champ at the emergency room.  She loved getting her vitals done, and said that she loved the doctor's office.  When it was time for x-rays, she had to sit inside a big machine and pose in some weird formations, but she was such a good little girl and did exactly what she was asked to do.  In the end, the doctor said her nose was too swollen that he couldn't tell if there was a fracture yet.  So we went home and were told to come back in a week.

Now we finally went back to the ER for the next x-rays, and I am happy to announce that Kaelia's nose is okay!  Even a week later, she still has a little black and blue around her eyes and nose, and we thought for sure that it was broken.  But we are so pleased that her cute little nose is as good as new.

Meeka's Unbirthday

Since Meeka was born on Leap Day, she technically doesn't have a birthday this year, but she did turn two years old.  The girls made sure to sing to her and give her a present.  They bought her a pack of bones, and Taelyn insisted on spreading peanut butter on them.  Their friend, Arianna, even came over to celebrate with them.  Of course Meeka does not realize that today is different from any other day, but the girls had a nice time celebrating with her!