Guys Weekend in Northern Ireland

I'm finally posting some pictures and a few comments about our trip to Northern Ireland. The picture above is of us having lunch at a small cafe in Ballycastle. All of us except Cason had an Ulster Fry. It's basically a bunch of breakfast foods fried. It consisted of fried potato bread, fried soda bread, pancake, fried eggs, bacon, sausage and beans. It was great and we all really enjoyed it (Cason had a chicken curry). This was the point when I commented to Ted that when I married Marti I would have never thought that I'd be touring around Ireland with him and my boys.

This is a picture at the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge (on our way out to it).
As you can probably tell from the pictures, it was quite windy and chilly.
We did get a bit of sun and could just barely make out Scotland (not in the above picture). The boys and I have been here before, but it was amazing how easily we could get around with just the five of us.
The two eldest at Giant's Causeway (along the North Antrim Coast). Still very windy and wavy (which the kids really enjoyed).
More pics at the Giant's Causeway. We were very close to the water but because it is such a shallow approach to the beach, the waves weren't too bad right on the edge (although I suspect mom wouldn't have let the kids get quite as close, but we won't tell her.)
Cason and dad at the top of some columns of basalt enjoying the view.
Ted in front of Dunluce Castle. The kids stayed in the car (pretty tired-out from a very early morning and lots of driving and walking) so we didn't explore it too much, but it really a very pretty setting. I can only imagine what it would be like to live in a castle in this location (cold, wet and drafty I suspect).
On the second day we did more driving and spent some times in the Sperrin mountains. Towards the end of the day we stopped at a museum called the Ulster American Folk Park. It is a park that explores Irish immigration to American in the 1800's. We learned that the poor in Ireland at around 14 pounds of boiled potatoes (at least a man did) a day. I think the kids enjoyed it and Cason even got to feed the chicken (above).
On the last day we drove all the way from Coleraine (near the 'top' of NI) to Newcastle (near the 'bottom' of NI). The above picture is of Ted trying on some hats (not sure what they are called).

This is a quick summary, but all in all we had a good time and I really enjoyed spending time with my father-in-law and the boys.

Last Few Days With Grandpa

My dad left bright and early, 4:30 a.m., yesterday morning. We all had such an enjoyable time with him. The kids were sad to say good-bye to him on Monday night. Leah said, "I want papa to stay here all the time...because he is friendly." I also overheard Cason saying he wanted papa to stay for a year. We will all miss him. I will definitely miss the extra set of hands. We wanted to get a last minute picture of him with the kids and as you can see, not all the kids wanted to cooperate. Such is life with six kids. It is next to impossible to get a decent picture of all of them.

Sunday, we went to church, grabbed a quick lunch and headed down to Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridge. Around 3,812 American soldiers are buried there. Most of them are from World War II. It was an incredible and memorable place to visit. It also meant a lot to visit the cemetery with my dad since he is a vetran of the Vitenam War.







To keep the kids busy while we were there. We had them play a game while walking through the cemetary. We would call out a state and they had to find the grave of a soldier from that state. Afterall, they are kids and they don't understand the significance of the cemetary. Someday they will though and it is good to give them this experience while we live here.

Steve, my dad and the older boys went to Northen Ireland the end of last week as well. I will let Steve blog about that trip.

Our Week in Review

Last Sunday, my dad arrived in town. Steve picked him up at the airport bright and early at 7 a.m. I took the kids to church since I was on duty for nursery. Steve and dad arrived home just about a half an hour before us. We had a nice lunch together and just rested the afternoon. After naps, we headed to Burghley House for a walk. The kids had fun riding their scooters and chasing the deer and sheep. After our walk, we hit Linfords for fish and chips for dinner.

On Monday, we headed in to town to a big park with lakes and playgrounds - Ferry Meadows. We brought a picnic lunch and ate it in the car since it was a bit cool and breezy outside. We enjoyed a nice walk around the lake, feeding the geese and ducks and playing at the playground.

Tuesday, we stayed close to home so I could catch up on laundry. Although, Steve did take dad out for a pint at a local pub that night. On Wednesday, we ventured into the city centre and walked through Peterborough Cathedral. The kids were so good. We even learned a few things. For example, the tomb of Katherine of Aragon is there. She was Henry VIII's first wife. How do I know this? Steve and I have watched The Other Boylen Girl and Elizabeth recently. We learned so much about British history through these movies. It helped piece together some of the various pieces of information we have learned since we have been here. The weather was beautiful as it has been this whole week, so we lunched on McDonald's hamburgers out in the square.
On Thursday, I took the girls to their friend Gwen's princess birthday party. The girls had a great time with all their little princess friends. They boys hung out with Grandpa did a few projects for me and went for a walk to the park. Thursday night, we met Steve in town at a pub and had dinner together.

Friday morning, we went into Stamford to the market. We got some nice fruit, scones and a couple of pies.

Here are the kids and grandpa enjoying the scones with clotted cream and strawberries for a snack on Friday afternoon.

Yesterday, we decided to take the train to York. We've never been there and it was on our list of places to go. We thought it would be nice to take grandpa there since he could experience the train and see some other part of England.
We visited the Jorvik Viking Centre, walked around the York Cathedral and the boys, Steve and grandpa went up the tower to the old castle.

Don't forget the icecream for a treat.

On the wall to York.

After a long day, when we arrived home this is what I found in Nathanael's bedroom.

We've had a very busy, yet enjoyable week with grandpa. We look forward to more adventures this week.