Ireland Day Three, Kinsale

We're still recovering from the time change. We actually slept in until noon today. Since we had slept away half the day already, we decided to stay in Kinsale.

Charles Fort is a short walk away from where we were staying. It was used to defend Ireland against the Spanish and English. It's pretty much ruins now but we were able to walk around. It was very beautiful overlooking the water. We took tons of pictures; it was almost like a little photo shoot.

Afterwards, we took the Scilly Walk into downtown Kinsale to find a place to eat dinner. After checking out a few shops (where Bianca needed earrings since she'd lost one of hers) and seeing some pretty interesting stuff along the way, we decided to split up. The kids didn't want seafood so Eric and I ate at Fishy Fishy (no, I'm not kidding). And the girls went to this little cafe for sandwiches.

Scilly Walk

The view of Kinsale from the Scilly Walk

Lots of great color in Kinsale—and this big anchor

We saw some pretty interesting stuff in Kinsale, this man really was fiddling and all these little dolls were moving

Lemon Leaf Cafe, where Bianca and Portia had their dinner

Doors of Kinsale

Bianca was braiding wildflowers into Portia's hair

I love the vines on this door.

The door to nowhere?

I love those little red flowers to the right. They were red and purple and really quite unusual.

I find it so interesting how plants grow out of brick here.

More like a gate. . . 

Ireland Day Two, Cork

When we're on trips, we like to go to church. The nearest LDS church was in Cork, about a 40-minute drive from Kinsale. The little branch was very friendly, and it was a humble group of people, kind of reminded me of our little branch back in Waterloo. We stayed for primary since it was in English, but there was not one "young woman" in their branch. We weren't the only visitors and I happened to run into someone there from Toronto who knows a friend of mine from work. Small world, huh? There was a lesson on geneology and when I inquired about finding some of our ancestor's information (on the Quigley side that seemed to stop right in Ellis Island), one of the sister missionaries told me it's because Ireland may have destroyed or at least kept all the records of Irish who went off to America locked away. It may be a rather long while before we find out where in Ireland our ancestors were from.

After church, we went into Cork for lunch and some shopping. We ate at the Strasburg Goose, three courses for 12 euros. I had the roasted red pepper and potato soup, pesto chicken pasta and the chocolate fudge cake. Really, really good! Oh, and do you see that pitcher? They actually let us order tap water. We loved this little restaurant.

We walked around some shops and found a good pair of shoes for Portia (she'd left the pair I meant for her to wear the whole vacation at home and instead wore a pair of Crocs that wouldn't do for a lot of walking). Bianca found a lovely Audrey-Hepburn-looking dress in blue and white strips, to go along with her new short hairstyle.

That night, as it was cold and rainy, I decided to start a fire. They had left a whole bunch of Irish peat to use for the fireplace and thought it would be a good Irish experience to burn a peat fire. Portia and I played Kinds in the Corner, while Bianca practiced her viola. I didn't get to bed until the fire burned out.

I decided to continue on with my tradition of showing the places we travel through doors. Unfortunately, I only got one door today. But it's a nice interesting one, with a sun and some fishes and an all-seeing eye.

The Door of the Day

Starting our Adventure in Kinsale, Ireland

Kinsale, Ireland

It took over 24 hours to get to Kinsale, Ireland. First, we took the train to the Salt Lake airport, flew to Chicago, flew to London (it went so fast), then flew on to Dublin. We rented a car (steering wheel on the right side of the car, thank goodness Eric's driving) and drove three hours to Kinsale—a pretty coastal village near Cork.

Our lovely view from the living room

We stayed in an apartment with a lovely view of the bay right outside our living room window. We could watch the sailboats pass by.

 Bianca and Portia shared a room with twin beds. The bedrooms and bathroom are on the main floor. The living room, kitchen and laundry room (first time I've ever seen a dedicated laundry room in Europe) are on the top floor. We found some playing cards and the girls and I played lots of Kings in the Corner, sitting at the table and looking out at the water.

Our little living room

Portia and Bianca's room

We ate at the pub just a short walk from our house for dinner. It's called Bulman. They have different meals each night and everyone waits around until they displayed that night's dinner options on a chalk board. It stayed light out until well after 10pm. I wish I had gotten what Eric did, my Thai chicken wasn't nearly as interesting as Eric's lobster risotto. We got back and fell into our beds. We were so exhausted!

Bulman, a pub right near our apartment—that's Portia by the door

End of year performances

I've been a little too excited for the end of the year so that things would settle down a little. Kind of funny, now that I think about it. But one of the reasons is because Bianca gets a break for the summer from orchestra. She really loves her orchestra, but it's so much running (and she's gone so long on Saturdays). Their last concert was at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. It was a great concert, but unfortunately I wasn't allowed to record anything. Instead, here's a picture of Bianca with her orchestra from the last concert. (They'd had a whole bunch of last-minute rehearsals that week, I felt like we were driving to SLC every day. Actually, we were.)

The day after the concert was Bianca's viola recital. It was really so much in one weekend. She played three movements from the Telemann concerto:

Movement One



Movement Two



Movement Three



Bianca's taken lessons from Roberta now for three full years and this is the first time I've gotten a picture of them together. She really adores her teacher. Bianca knows how lucky she is to have such an amazing teacher.

It was funny, though. As we were driving home, we drove by the Recital Hall where the GMS meets and Bianca had left her music stand (really, Portia's) so she ran inside (it was a Sunday so we thought it was odd that people were parked outside). It just so happened to be the recital of the viola instructor at her orchestra. So Bianca was able to get pictures taken with the viola section of her orchestra this year. Only one of the violists wasn't there.

The viola section

GMS viola section with the viola instructor

Our lane is near Narnia

I've been reading The Chronicles on Narnia to Portia at bedtime every night for months now. We're on the Silver Chair and almost done with the whole series. She's loving it, just as Bianca did when I read it to her so long ago.

Tonight, Portia asked to go on a walk down our lane after dinner. Actually, she wanted to ride her bike while I walked behind.

Portia on her bike, waiting for me

She wanted to go to Lantern Waste, the lamp post where Lucy gets in to Narnia in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. See, we have a side of the street where there's this lamp post right in front of a wooded area. Here's Quail Creek Lane's Lantern Waste.

Our version of Lantern Waste

There's a pathway that leads through the woods to the creek on the other side of the street (not the same creek that's in our backyard). Some still call it Bull River, but it doesn't have water in it during the summer. She likes to go look at the water and pretend we're in Narnia.

I read this article a couple weeks ago that said we as parents need to stop trying so hard to make our kids' lives magical. That they need to be responsible for doing that themselves, like we all did when we were kids. I love our private, quiet street that I feel comfortable letting my kids explore on their own. I'm glad my kids can go creek walking and I don't worry. I feel like we live in a place where my kids can make their own childhoods magical.

My lilac bush with crab apple blossoms behind

And speaking of magical, my huge lilac bushes are in bloom now and smell so amazing (I have a vase full of branches next to my bed that I can smell as I sit here writing this). I love the blossoms on the crab apple tree too. Goodness, I've gotten obsessed with my garden and flowers and planting lately. I never thought I'd say this. I actually enjoy weeding because it's a calm, therapeutic time for me to be alone with my flowers after I get home from work. I love working to make something beautiful.

Portia's Seven

It kind of gives me a heart attack that my baby is actually not a baby. She turned seven on April 23. It was the year for a real birthday party so we did a gymnastics party at the gym where she takes lessons. It was super low maintenance (which is a must for me anymore). We just had pizza and DQ ice cream cake. Bianca invited a friend as well, to help out.

The best part of the party is when Portia did a back handspring by herself for the very first time. Here she is getting close. She's been close for a while, but we had this really great guy who took some time with her to give her the confidence to try it by herself. I love how excited she got!

Easter 2014

So Bianca refuses to wear matching dresses with Portia anymore, but she was in a good mood this Easter so agreed to wear the same color. I'll take what I can get.

We had a pretty low key Easter this year, just like I like it. The girls woke up to Easter baskets with some candy, a chocolate bunny and a small gift. Portia got a Littlest Pet Shop and well, Bianca got to have her iPhone fixed after she cracked the screen. And a protective case.

The girls hunted Easter eggs. I love our yard this time of year because the creek is full of mountain run-off and the sound is just delicious. The grass is green and soft and my flowers are just poking their heads above the ground.

In the afternoon, we headed over to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Joanie's for dinner.

Bianca in front of the carriage house (it's the garage with Eric's theater room we were working on last year).

Portia finding some Easter eggs on the stone pathway