STAY AWAKE!! Part 1

This was the mantra for our first day in Ireland.  I took it upon myself to try to keep a group of 10 on the move and awake to combat the evil forces of jet lag.  It was a challenge... let me tell you.

We left the airport and went to the Oakwood Arms hotel for a buffet breakfast.  It was a lovely place and the restaurant was really gorgeous.  My nephew, Cole, is a picky eater beyond belief.  We were all a bit worried about him and his eating, but he gave it the old college try and didn't starve to death on the trip!  We then headed out to our Bed and Breakfast, the Avarest, to just drop of our luggage.  Frank, the husband, was there to greet us and they had already cleaned our rooms!  They had given us a whole floor of rooms so we all settled in.  I tried to keep our stop there as brief as possible, but the next thing I knew, McKenzie was asleep on top of her bed.   Cole and Cristy were buried under covers/shades drawn asleep.  Joe told me they were all going to just "take a little nap".  I knew I needed to keep Jemma up so we went outside and we just kept moving.  I let them "nap" for about an hour and then I suggested that everyone start to get up.  I finally got them moving by saying that we were going to go on to Bunratty Folk Park and they could meet us there.  That got them going and we all loaded up and headed to Bunratty.

The Avarest B&B was wonderful!

Cole's little nap

Bunratty Folk Park is a wonderful village that has been set up so you can see what life was like in a 19th century Irish village.  There are homes and cottages that would belong to all different classes of people.  Peat fires burning and apple pies baking.  It truly gives you a an insight into Irish life in the 1800's.  Our first stop there was the castle.  The first settlement here was a Viking trading camp in 970 and through the years was built up, razed, and rebuilt.  The present structure was built in 1425 by the McNamara's and the castle changed hands many time.  In 1804, the castle and lands went to the Studdart family who allowed it to fall into disrepair while they moved into the more comfortable Bunratty House.  The move all happened due to family arguments of the son marrying a first cousin.  Oh my...   The house and the castle were open to the public at this time.  In the mid 1800's, the castle was used as a barrack for the Royal Irish Constablry.  In 1954 the castle was purchased and restored by the 7th Viscount Gort.  The history in this castle is amazing!  The castle is famous now for the medieval banquets that are held here every night.  We attended in 2001 when my MIL came to visit us.  We weren't able to get tickets that night so we made reservations to go to the Traditional Irish Nights banquet in the village.

Mom looks really awake here, but I caught her dozing just a few minutes later!!!

German chandelier

I have a picture of me, the BHW and his mom in front of this fireplace when we were all there before!  Now we have the Jemster with us!

The antlers are from the extinct Irish elk.  All the castles and big homes were decorated with antlers.  I thought of Kim from Savvy Southern Style every time I saw them!

Loved the detail on the legs of this table

View from the top one of the towers

Blurry pictures, but the fireplace was i the middle of the floor to keep the room warm

Look at those celings!

Right at home!

 We headed into the park to check out the village and main street.  So much to see!  We had a light lunch of parsnip soup and apple pie in the little cafe.  The parsnip soup was excellent!  Jemma took a small nap in my lap during lunch.  She is 5 so I figured she could get away with it!

Little photo shoot in the park

Cole had hit McKenzie with a stick.  She then chased him down and beat him into the ground as you can see here.

Jemma made them hug it out!

All the girls in front of the Rose Cottage

School's in session, but the BHW shouldn't be there.  This was the girls side!  The boys had a side and the girls had a side.  

This is O'Neills where Mom bought the cutest Staffordshire dogs on our last visit.  I love them and am always threatening to steal them.  We went in to get some for me and they didn't have any and didn't make them anymore!  After  we talked for a bit to Mrs. O'Neill, she called her brother to see if he would make some for me and he agreed to!  I should be getting them anytime now.  Mom got them for me for my birthday!  Thank you!!!!

Hanging out in front of the pub

We could shop until our hearts were content with green and shamrocks!

A bridal party was having photo shoot at the church as we went by

Then they all came down for  a pint

Jemma and I ran (I really do mean ran) through the park at closing time because she wanted to show me her castle!

This sweet gentleman was bringing peat into one of the houses to burn in the fireplace.  Sure made the homes smoky!

Gorgeous flowers everywhere!



As we left the village at closing time, we had some time to kill before the banquet.  We went across the street to the woolen mills, but they were closed so we drove back over to hang out in the parking lot for a bit.  Guess what people were doing... sleeping!!!!  I figured they were on their own by now so I gave up!

Stayed tuned for the evening adventures in STAY AWAKE Part 2!

Day One - Always spell names correctly

We began our trip to Ireland by meeting Mom, BIL (Joe), SIL (Cristy), nieces (McKenzie and Kirstin), and nephew (Cole) in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Everyone got there late and all hung out for a bit.  We got into our room, laid down and realized the air conditioning wasn't working.  The said we could move rooms, but as it was midnight and we had kids in bed, we decided to tough it out as a bit of air was coming out.  The next day everyone was excited to begin our journey to Ireland!  We took the shuttle to the airport and met my other SIL, Vickie there.  She had flown in from Nashville.   Our family plus mom went through ticketing and security with no problems at all.  We waited and waited and waited for the others to come through.

Glitch #1 - We finally got a call from Vickie saying that she had misspelled Cristy's name when she booked the tickets.  The name didn't match the passport so they wouldn't let anyone through since all their tickets were purchased together.  Holy mackerel!!!  It was a nightmare.  They finally let everyone through  with the condition that we would have to continue to work it out in Boston with Aer Lingus.  We all made it to Boston and then it began again.  The worst part was that 6 of them had booked together so they let no one go through!  Let's just say we did not have some happy campers to start the trip!  They got it worked out and Joe was luckily able to get us all in the Crown Room.  Now THAT is the way to wait for a plane!!!  We used to go all the time when the BHW traveled, but man... I had forgotten how nice it is!  Good food, champagne and wine... made everyone a bit happier!  The flight over was great and we landed in Shannon, Ireland at 6:20 a.m.

Little nap in Boston

Kirsten and Cole

Mom and Vickie

Waiting for the plane

Glitch #2 - Cristy's luggage was lost.  Of course, it had everything they needed and it didn't make it.  I felt so bad for her!

Glitch #3 - Our luggage didn't fit in the cars we had rented.  We booked a 5 door wagon that said it held 4 large suitcases and 2 small and one that fit 2 large and 3 small.  I guess they didn't realize the size of luggage that this family carries!  Joe, Cristy and the kids had body bags.  I swear you could have fit them in each bag!  Well, after much stuffing, unstuffing, and restuffing, the boys knew it wouldn't work.  Back to the counter to upgrade one car and get a matching different car.  We paid over $3,000 for stinking cars.  I think we were robbed blind by National, but I can't prove it...

It won't all fit!!!

With two stuffed to the gills cars, we were on our way!!!

Why is the steering wheel on this side?

The kids thought it was the funniest thing that the back windows had a hand crank!

So... what to learn from this post

ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO SPELL PEOPLE'S NAMES 

WHEN THEY MUST MATCH THEIR PASSPORT.

Learn it, love it, live it!!!  :-)

A Great Fourth

I just wanted to post about our Fourth of July celebration before I begin the Ireland trip posting!  My family is ready for me to start writing!  We spent our third Fourth with my brother in law, sister in law, nieces and nephew in Myrtle Beach!  We always have a great time and they especially love that I make everyone wear matching shirts every year!!  :-)  We do lots of swimming and eating with a few yummy pina coladas thrown in!  It is always a good time!  It was SUPER windy this year and two hotels down even had a fire in the sand dunes from the fireworks.  They were able to put it out, but it was a bit scary!  We are on the 12th floor so we can see the fireworks all up and down the beach and at each pier.  It is the BEST way to see the fireworks!  I also had a great time teaching my niece how to shoot in manual mode on her camera!  She is a great photographer and artist!  We were geeks and took tons of photos.  We loved every minute of it!  I hope you all had a great holiday!

My mini me!

My beautiful nieces and their mama

My nephew being a good sport and jumping for us while we worked on shutter speed!

Being silly!  This will be a total bribery picture one day!

There was an F-16 fly over on the 4th that was really cool

Ahhhh... the matching t-shirts!

Are these kids cute or what?!?  

The three figures on the right are the BHW, the BIL, and the nephew.  I thought it was cool I was able to get them in the shot with their fireworks!  As you can see, the wind was crazy!

This is seriously too much stuff for three people for three days!  

Thanks to all those past and future who fight for our country to give us the freedom that we have.  Happy Fourth of July!

A Special Birthday

On Wednesday morning, June 29th, Jemma came running down the hall and said, "Mom!  Do you know what today is?  Today is Fuzzy's birthday!" Well, who knew!!!  I asked her how she knew this and she replied, "Fuzzy told me!" Like DUH!!!  Fuzzy is THE beloved bear.  Flower was first, but was accidentally thrown out in a we- got- lice -at- my -BFFL's -house/ she went into a cleaning/burning/throwing away frenzy.  Jemma would be in the car or somewhere up to a year later and would start crying because she missed Flower!  Well, Fuzzy came to the rescue.  Fuzzy was a sweet bear given to us by Nana when Jemma was little.  She loved him, but  not like Flower.  When the BHW moved to Charleston (three months before us) Jemma gave him Fuzzy to take with him.  By the time we got to Charleston, Flower had been "done away with" and Fuzzy became the bear of choice.  He is a well traveled bear.  He has been to Germany, France and Ireland.  He goes anywhere we go overnight.  You know the kind of bear I am talking about.  So on his special day, we couldn't let it pass without a celebration!

Meet Fuzzy

He is well loved as you can see

Ready for the PARTY!

Somebody else is excited too!

No party is complete without a birthday cake and candles!

I  Fuzzy really enjoyed the cake!

I heart Publix

We love you, Fuzzy!  Happy Birthday!