Ireland (finally!) {day 1}

We've been home from our trip for more than a month now, and I'm finally getting to putting some pictures on the blog! Well, it's been a busy month, and I was also waiting until we'd given my in-laws their photo book from the trip, part of their anniversary gift for their 40th anniversary. Note to self for future flights with children: Check bags. We didn't to avoid baggage costs and managed to pack quite light, but two bags per person (+ two car seats and an umbrella stroller) can add up very quickly when you've got seven people in your family. We kind of held up the works and made scenes getting through security and on the plane (I even got a "That's why we don't travel with children," after I spilled a container of food before getting on!). But I'd do it all again. Getting off the plane and obtaining our rental cars as the sun was coming up in Dublin (around midnight Central Time) was a bit surreal. No one had slept much on the plane (some of us didn't sleep a wink... ahem), and we were all very ready to get past that first drive on the left side of the road and land at our bnb in Baldoyle, west of Dublin, for the next couple of days. (Mike and his brother were great European chauffeurs, by the way) Our first bnb was above a nice restaurant called The White House, and it was right by a really neat inlet that went up and down with the tide. A couple of discoveries on our first morning's walk: peacock feathers just lying around, palm trees (I had no idea! They were all over during our travels), cool little shells, with living creatures in the them, all over the stone walls, and speed signs actually thanking drivers if they slowed down. Morning (nighttime?) naps for everyone! We also discovered that the Irish don't care for a top sheet, or a blanket. Fitted sheet, duvet, bed made. We did eat pretty well the while time we were there (though I think this was the only typical Irish meal I had (other than some seafood soup on the west coast). After napping and a late lunch, we walked to the DART train station and took the train into downtown Dublin. The double-decker buses... the cobblestone streets... the ivy-covered buildings... all of the pubs with their flowered window boxes... Jack was set on visiting the Temple Bar, as his karate coach had showed him this 24/7 live cam feed before we left. His dream: if we'd had a way to contact family or friends back home at this moment, we could have told them to tune in and wave to Jack in Ireland! We had hoped to visit Dublinia, a Medieval Times Museum, but it was unfortunately closed by the time we had walked the mile there. But we got to see some neat things, and Christ's Church Cathedral, which was right across the street. A lot of walking and going on very little sleep for our first day in Dublin... not bad. I stayed back at our bnb with these two while everyone else grabbed a very late dinner, in hopes that I might be able to catch a little extra sleep. Do you think they allowed that to happen? Not a chance.

Tomorrow: Dublin- Day two.

We are blessed!