A Little Irish Music

I took a little video in one of the taverns we visited in Belfast. You can hear the Irish music in the background. Four guys just sat over in a corner at a table and played. Kenny is also telling the history of this tavern in the video. Thought you may enjoy hearing more of that Irish accent.

Giant's Causeway Interview

While at Giant's Causeway, we asked Glenda to tell us a little about it. She told us the Legend of Finn McCool. Thought you would enjoy hearing her accent. We made fun of her all weekend, but we really envy her and want her cool accent too. Visit Holli's blog to see some Irish sayings.

Girls Weekend in Northern Ireland

This past weekend (Thursday evening through Sunday eve) I was blessed to get away with my girl friends - Glenda and Holli. We traveled to Northern Ireland and Glenda's hometown. Her parents were away on holiday and graciously let us stay at their home and use their car. Let me just say that it was a excellent, relaxing, fun, and craicing good time. It was so nice to be in Northern Ireland with a local. We tried the local food, the beer(Guinness) and the talk. I definitely came home refreshed.

On Friday, we traveled up to the Giants Causeway. It was my second time there, but it is ever so beautiful. We had God's favor all weekend with the weather. It seemed to be sunny everywhere we went or it just rained when we were in the car driving and then it would get nice when we wanted to get out. We heard from Glenda's friends that it rained all day where they were.

Dunluce Castle

On Saturday, we headed down to the south west side of Northern Ireland and drove through the Mourne Mountains. We stopped off to see some of Glenda's friends, who live in the most beautiful house and location viewing the sea and the mountains. We eventually made it to New Castle where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Percy French's, one of Glenda's favorite places to go.

My lunch: Chicken Curry, Basamiti rice and Naan bread. So yummy!

After our lunch, we headed into Belfast to take a Black Cab Tour. We took the tour that took us through the areas the Troubles took place not too many years ago. It was eye opening and sureel. Glenda was overwhelmed at times, because we went places she knew to never go to - because of the danger. It was neat to be with her and experience something we can never truly understand. We just have to hear stories about it to even grasp a tiny piece of all that she grew up with.

These two pictures are taken of the murals at the Shankle. This is the area where the Protestants live.

This is the peace wall between the area where the Catholics and the Protestants live. It was built to keep the peace between the two.

Holli and I stopped for a quick American snack - Auntie Anne's Pretzles. Yummy, pretzels, cheese and lemonade.

For dinner we headed to a Spanish restaurant for Tapas. I've never had them before and was a bit fearful I wouldn't like them because Steve doesn't. I had nothing to worry about. The food was so delicious. I will definitely be dragging Steve to a Tapas bar in the future.

As you can see, I am writing a lot about the food we ate. Food was priority for all of us this weekend. We could eat where we wanted, when we wanted and we didn't have to cut up anyone's food. We enjoyed every bite!

After our dinner, we met up with Kenny, Glenda's brother for a night on the town. We thought Kenny was taking us to a pub. What we didn't realize is that it turned into a pub crawl. It was so nice of Kenny to take three married moms all around Belfast into the wee hours of the morning. I am sure we must have looked funny as we drank our cokes and soda waters with lime.

This, the first pub we went to is the oldest pub in Belfast and it is across the street from the Europa Hotel, the most bombed hotel in Europe (or NI or something).

Since we were in Ireland, we had to try a Guinness, since it is made there. These are pictures of us and our beers. Actually, Kenny drank both mine and Glenda's since we don't like Guinness. We did have a couple sips though.

The Three of us and Kenny at the oldest tavern in Belfast. This one had a group of guys playing traditional Irish music.

This was taken at about 12:30 a.m. way after my bedtime. We left Belfast around 1:30 and drove back to Glenda's parent's. I fell asleep as soon as the car started moving. We were able to sleep in until 9:30 on Sunday morning, though, since we didn't have to leave for the airport until 11:00 a.m.

Holli and Glenda on the train on our way back to Peterborough. It was such a great weekend. Girls, I had a lovely time. Thanks for all of it! Love you both!

Happy Mothers Day

Since Marti is off enjoying some time away in Northern Ireland, I thought I'd post a quick blog to wish her a happy Mother's Day. Having been home for two full and 2 half days with the kids, I continue to marvel at what a great mother she is and wonder how she does this day in and day out. I know that Marti's dream since childhood has been to be a mother and I am so thankful that I can be part of this journey with her. I know that the kids don't always make it easy (okay, most of the time they don't make it easy) and that I don't recognize and appreciate all she does for us, but please know that I know what you give to us. But more than what she does for us and for the way she runs her household, I am thankful for her desire to see me and her children living out God's vision. Marti, I know you have sacrificed a great deal because of us, and I want you to know that I thank God for you and for the beautiful children you have brought into this world.

Now, I had intended to have the kids each give me something to blog about mom, but I wasn't able to get this done...but who knows, maybe they will think of someway to tell mom how much they love her.

Marti, you mean the world to all of us, so please know that we love you dearly and have missed you while you were gone.

Andrew Turns "9"

I have been little blog overwhelmed lately, with the Ireland trip and all. I completely forgot to blog Andrew's birthday. I am sorry, Andrew. I wanted to do it now so he didn't think I forgot him.

It is hard to believe that, last Saturday, May 2, my baby turned nine. I seriously don't know where the last nine years have gone. I don't even feel old enough to have a nine year old. I guess that is a good thing.


We had a very nice day on Saturday. We started the day with Cinnamon rolls, Andrew's pick. Then the guys headed off to church for a work morning. I got a few things done around the house with the little ones. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We spent the rest of the day working around the yard and such. For dinner, Andrew's choice we grilled hotdogs and steak. Yummy! After dinner, the Houston's, Glenda's family, came down for some cheese cake. The kids all had fun running around and wrestling (Glenda's boys are 14 and our boys love them). The girls had more sofisticated talks with Chloe (12) on the trampoline.

Andrew really like his birthday gifts - Legos, and built them all afternoon. Grandma F. also made him a picture with his name and how he is special written on it. He thought that was pretty neat.

I am pretty sure he had a great birthday. Just the other day, he said, "only four more years until I am a teenager." AAAHHHH! That is scary. The time is going too fast.

We love you, Andrew, and we couldn't imagine our family without you. You witty humour makes our days brighter. The fact that you adore your little brothers and sisters amazes us and how you are so willing to help with them and play with them, especially Nathanael, is a joy for us to watch. Andrew, you are a blessing and we love you. Happy nineth birthday!

Ring of Kerry - Ireland

This is the house we stayed in for the rest of the week. Through all of our travels, we have found that it is much easier for us to rent a cottage/house for our holiday than to stay at hotels. Hotels just aren't big enough for us, so we have to get two rooms. We, also, don't have things like a refrigerator. Having a kitchen enables us to have breakfast at home before going out for the day and to make picnic lunch to take with us. That it what we did everyday. It saved money too, as we only ate out dinner. Price wise, renting a house is cheaper for us than getting two hotel rooms for a week. In our opinion, the way to go!

This house was in Killarney, and it was perfect for our family. It was big, plus it had a huge fenced-in driveway and garden/yard for the kids to play in. It also had everything we needed for the week, for example a washer and dryer. This house was also well decorated, had comfy furniture and beds and it was super clean. It, by far, was the best cottage we have stayed in across Europe. If anyone is headed to Ireland and you would like the info, let me know. You won't be disappointed.

Ross Castle in Killarney
Tuesday - 1st full day in Killarney, we just did local things.

Cason and his lucky clover.

Picnic lunch at Ross Castle

This is at a viewing area just up the road from our house. It looks down to the lakes at the bottom of the mountain.

Wednesday - We drove the Ring of Kerry. It was a windy gloomy day, but when we wanted to get out of the car it was dry. We drove for a few hours and then followed some signs and found a beach. There were only two other people there, so we had the beach to ourselves. We climbed a few dunes and then the kids just enjoyed climbing on the rocks and playing in the sand. After we did the beach, we ate our lunch in the car and then continued on the Ring of Kerry. It is a beautiful drive through the mountains and on the coast.



Wednesday was also Steve's 33rd birthday. After our drive, we headed back into Killarney and had dinner at a traditional Irish pub. Steve's dinner is shown above. He, of course, had a Guinness. You can't go to Ireland with out having a Guinness. Everyone says they taste so much better in Ireland, much smoother. I did have a drink, but gagged. He also had Steak and Guinness pie. I tried that too and it was soooooo good. Funny, though, I don't remember what I had to eat.

Dinner at the pub

After we ate, we headed back to the house to have birthday cake. I had run into Marks and Spencer and got a Black Forrest Gateau earlier. Yummy!

On a side note, Happy Birthday, Babe! I hope you had a great one. We sure had a great time with you in Ireland.

Dublin, Ireland

We left home bright and early on the morning of Saturday, April 18. We drove to Holyhead, Wales to catch our boat into Dublin. During this drive, we were able to see the north coast of Wales and decided that we definitely should make a trip to Wales. It is so beautiful - mountainous and the sea. How lovely.

We caught a 1:50 p.m. ferry and the ferry ride was three hours. It was a long ride, but the kids did excellent. We just made our way around the boat, ate a few snacks, saw a magic show and played a few games. Nathanael and I weren't feeling well as we both had colds, but we made it. We finally arrived after a bit of our detour in Dublin to our hotel around 5:30 or 6:00. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and headed to bed.
On Sunday our first full day in Ireland, we headed to the Dublin Zoo, along with the rest of Dublin. The line to get in was crazy long, but once we were inside it didn't seem overly crowded. We spent the rest of the day viewing and admiring the animals. The kids just love going to zoos. We have tried to make it our goal to visit zoos everywhere we travel especially since we know it is something the kids enjoy.

Nathanael enjoyed getting out of the stroller and walking around a bit.

After we were done at the zoo, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for some yummy American food. The food was okay. It made me realize how I don't really miss much (food wise) from America anymore. Oh, how we have adapted. The food, also, came in such large portions, we weren't even able to eat it all.
At the Hard Rock Cafe, they sat us back in a hidden booth. It was great. It gave the kids boundaries and also gave us a bit of privacy from gauking eyes. Our waiter was quite chatty as well. We had a very nice dinner there.

Daddy's girl

After we finished dinner, we took a bit of a stroll around the streets of Dublin. It is a beautiful city with of course, a river as all cities have. We then headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep before driving to the West coast of Ireland the next morning.