summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Monday, September 11, 2017

ireland: here we come!!!!

Yes!!! Mirielle and I are going to Ireland next month!!! She found some really reasonable plane tickets, and kept saying that we should really go...and I'm the only one who took her up on it, because Emily is in college as well as working full time, Abigail used all of her vacation already, Mali is taking college classes as well as working full time, and being a mommy to a two year old, ect. So Mirielle and I are going to Ireland!

I have been researching hotels and things to do, and apparently there's a section of the city to avoid, and there are pickpockets galore, so we need to make sure we don't look like tourists, and keep all of our gold and diamonds locked in the hotel safe, ha. We were planning to rent a car to drive to see cliffs and the sea, but driving and parking in the city seems difficult, plus there's the little detail of driving on the WRONG side of the road. I am one of those handed-ness challenged people, you know, who turn left when the directions say right. Let's hope Mirielle does better, oh I am a horrible navigator, but she'll be the better driver, so we'll be okay. Oh dear.

We don't have big huge plans of what we want to do and see, I told her I would be glad to sit in a pub and listen to people talk in that charming accent. And maybe I would have a Guinness. There's a famous ice cream place by the Irish sea, and there are the Cliffs Of Moher. I would like to see the countryside, and walk through Dublin, visit an old church...

Today, however, I am just staying home and teaching these kids. They are working on spelling list #2. When we are done with school we plan to get some things done outside. The north side of our house is the front of it, and with this damp rainy summer, the mossy green stuff grows and looks terrible on the white siding. So we will wash the house, rake up the yard, and maybe even vacuum the van.

Tomorrow, after school is done, we are going to an apple orchard with Mali and little Miss Lydia.

Wednesday, Mirielle and I will be planning our trip.

Friday is the beginning of a huge soccer weekend for lots of our kids: Emily, Benjamin, Joseph, Sam, Kathryn, Suzanne, Sonja, and Jonathan will be playing, and Abigail, Mirielle, and Evelyn will be watching. And Friday, I will be springing my dear mother-in-law, Eleanor, from the rehab center/nursing home! She gets to go home! She is doing really really well. It will be interesting because I will also have Lydia that day, but Charlotte Claire and Camille will help.

This week's agenda also includes making sure Eleanor's refrigerator and cupboards are properly stocked:)

Paul is in Boston for the week, yesterday I drove him to the airport where he left in his rental car, and Evelyn and I drove home in his truck...but first, the grocery store. I splurged and bought three beautiful pots of mums. I also bought nine store brand items, so I got a coupon for $2.25 off my next purchase. On the way out of the store, I saw that autumn Welcome mats were $4, so yeah, I grabbed one, got in the express line, and paid $1.75 for one.

I did walk this morning!

Do you like my Army shirt? Samuel scored SEVENTEEN of them when he joined the reserves, which sounds like a lot, but with two parents, we are short one already. Ben stopped in the other night, he had one on, Sam had one on, Joseph had one on, it's rather funny.

The sun shining on the morning mist...:)

As per usual when Paul is away, I stay up way too late, reveling in the the king sized bed all to myself, leaving the light on, finishing an entire novel, reading about Dublin online, catching up on news and who is doing what on facebook. I am not glad he's gone, but parts of it are good, like the way I miss him and look so forward to him coming home. And shh, having the bed to myself is not too shabby. If I weren't trying like heck to lose fifty pounds before Ireland, I would totally eat cookies in bed while I read.

Anyway. The kids need help with school, Suri wants to be pet, and Sunny is up to no good. We aren't letting her out without her leash because she was just spayed on Thursday, so she's got extra energy, which she's using to chew up slippers, a headband, and and a plastic cup. I had my pumpkin spice coffee, but I am not touching the cinnamon rolls that Camille baked all by herself, warming the house and making it smell heavenly. They are drinking fresh local apple cider, too. Autumn IS nice.

3 comments:

LK said...

Hey Della! Have a great time in Dublin. I really recommend going to the Guinness tour.. it's quite interesting to see all the history, etc. and you get a free Guinness in the bar way up high on the top of the brewery! My mom doesn't drink at all and she really enjoyed it. Dublin is great, you'll have such fun.

shellie said...

What a wonderful lifeπŸ˜€πŸ˜€πŸ˜€πŸ˜€

kk said...

We just were in Dublin in June. Check out Air B&B for places to stay. We were going to rent a car for the Cliffs but at the last minute switched to a bus tour. Its was $50/person and well worth it. Did not have to worry about driving on the other side of the road. The bus driver was very informative on the history of Ireland but did not bore you on the trip. Plus they made several other stops. The $50 included the entrance to the Cliffs.