Eli is 2

If ever I failed to realize how easy it is to travel without children, now I fully appreciate this. We are home at last. We arrived at 4AM Dublin time, 8PM Seattle time. All of us stretched to our limits. I actually told Jeremy not to speak to me and just to go to sleep.

But with the morning came sanity. It would seem we have developed some bad habits while abroad in trying to pacify our poor sleep deprived, schedule deprived child. Such as sleeping in our bed. Which would be fine if Eli wasn't a Kung Fu superstar in his sleep. I end up with just enough room to sleep on my side on the absolute edge of the bed whilst having a toddler crushing down on my neck or with swift repeated kicks to the head. Jeremy mercifully woke up with Eli at 5AM and took him to the out building. Mommy got a solid 3 1/2 hours more of sleep.

Eli has also grown accustomed to breastfeeding constantly, all the time, as often as he pleases. Ouch. Today is his birthday and for his birthday we explained he gets to eat big boy food! Woohoo.

He also has grown accustomed to watching "Ducks" or "Bowt" or "Feesh" whenever he's just too grouchy. Which for those who need a translator that is Cars, Bolt, and Finding Nemo. No more entertainment pacification. Poor boy.

After some sleep all of us are acting sweet to each other again. Last night I was literally holding Eli (he was screaming) and I was sobbing simultaneously. So much so that Eli stopped crying to check on me (such a sweet boy).

Miraculously and suddenly Eli's behavior has become sweet and obedient again (comparatively and for a 2 year old). He is clearly happy to be home and not to be stuffed into a car seat, forced to walk a certain direction, or put into a child carrier.

We truly had an amazing time but I don't think I can exaggerate how difficult it is to travel with a 2 year old internationally. If we punished terrorists by making them take several connecting flights through different time zones with a few kids it might be too harsh.

Peace out for now.

Beautiful Day

Today is gorgeous!  It was supposed to be miserable but the sun is shining brilliantly.  We decided to do a day trip today from Kinsale to Cobh (pronounced "cove").  Nearly half of the 6 million emigrants from Ireland departed from Cobh.  Cobh was also the last stop for the Titanic before her fateful encounter with an iceburg.  Not to mention (but I am) the Lusitania was sunk just off of Kinsale and in Cobh they have made a memorial of it.

We went through the Queenstown Story.  This is the Heritage museum that gives you a wealth of information regarding this town's history and the history of the Great Potato Famine and emigration.  Queenstown was the name of Cobh during the British occupation and the Irish decided to return it to it's proper name after independence from Britain.  Very informative, extremely sobering, definitely a worthwhile stop.  

Then Eli started rousing from his nap (he always seems to take one when we put the car into drive) and we headed 5 minutes north to Fota.  Fota is an incredible, made for kids and parents safari wildlife park.  I have never been to such a cool park.  You can pratically touch the giraffes, monkeys, and though there's certainly no touching the cheetahs, they get very close and it is SO cool.  Halfway through the park there's a fantastic play area and kid friendly cafeteria.  Huge lake with tons of cool ducks and duck food to buy for 50 cents so you and your little one can feed them.  Fota is a must for anyone traveling with children.  Eli had a blast!

My favorite scene was right after Eli watched the monkeys jumping from tree to tree directly over his head (oh yeah, it's that cool), he began climbing the tree and insisted he be allowed up with the monkeys.  Clearly they wanted to play with him!

Just another day in Ireland.  Tonight I am going to try to make it into the pubs to listen to some traditional Irish music.  Believe it or not this has turned out to be the last thing I really haven't done.  Traveling with a toddler is exhausting and I'm lucky to be awake at 10PM.  

Tomorrow we drive back to Dublin and then fly home on the 15th.  Sigh, maybe we'll do three weeks next time.  But a delightful 2 weeks it has been.  

The pic is Eli stopping to applaud his ascent to the top of the playground equipment.

More serious than not

It has been a few days since my last post.  A combination of fatigue and business has kept me.  However, as we know, if it does not go down now, it will not be recorded.  Sad but true.  Since An Daingean we have gone round the Ring of Kerry, stayed a night with a lovely couple in Kenmare and spent 2 nights and a day thus far in Kinsale.

We were supposed to leave Kinsale this morning and head for Kilkenny and the Rock of Cashel.  But I have learned the value of multiple night stays with a darling little boy.  And after dragging our poor boy on a drive from Dingle to Kenmare, Round the Ring of Kerry and then Killarney to Kinsale (a total of about 10 hours) he deserves to stay in one spot another night.

So many lessons learned my dear friends with toddlers, I think I'll write one entire blog just full of tips on traveling to Europe with little ones.

So this Easter was a fascinating one.  In Ireland it is illegal to sell alcohol on Good Friday.  Our host, Neil, in Kenmare informed us it was "Black Friday".  He guaranteed that there were a few hosteleries that looked completely shut down but were packed inside.  This country values it's social drinking.  Neil informed us there are 2 black days every year.  Good Friday and Christmas.  This country who sells hard alcohol in every convenient store and supermarket.  All those sections are strictly closed off before noon on Sundays and on Black days.

There's something very charming about the Irish Catholics.  This may only be my perception but to me it seems they are more honest with their humanity.  I know the grass is always greener and EVERYONE, every religion has issue but I find this truly refreshing.  It seems to me among american protestants we are obsessed with shoving our humanity aside if not completely denying it's existance.  I recognize this is primarily in pentecostal circles.

By the way, Jeremy and I went to a lovely dinner that night at Mulcahy's and I (along with everyone else in the restaurant) broke the law.  If you are ever in Kenmare certainly go there, lovely food.

Another item of note.  Ireland seems to be just where we are in regards to political and economic struggles.  Perhaps because this is my first visit to an English speaking European country I am able to take note of it more clearly.  But when we traveled in 2005 it seemed that Italy was more of an alternate vacation universe.  Where as Ireland feels much closer to home.  Not to mention Northwesterners would feel right at home with the weather, truly.  Ireland too is facing a huge budget crisis, higher taxes (still non compared to the taxes we pay) to pay for mortgage lenders mistakes.

Enough seriousness, I just find it fascinating how small the world is now.

Aside from that Kinsale is a wonderful town.  Entirely underrated if you ask me in Rick Steve's guidebook.  You find a lot more European tourists here as opposed to the American tourists who go straight to Killarney.  As Americans in this town we are hugely outnumbered, as it should be when traveling.

Yesterday Jeremy and I visited Charles Fort.  It is awesome!  If you are in Kinsale, this is a must see.  If you'll forgive me, I'm going to copy/paste a description from the tourism website.  I believe the IRA even used this old fort for a headquarters at one time.  By the way, perfect for kiddos to run all over!  Perfect for explorers of all ages.  I will post more pictures later on facebook.

Charles Fort is a classic example of a late 17th century star-shaped fort. William Robinson, architect of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, Dublin, and Superintendent of Fortifications, is credited with designing the fort. As one of the largest military installations in the country, Charles Fort has been associated with some of the most momentous events in Irish history. The most significant of these are the Williamite War 1689-91 and the Civil War 1922-23. Charles Fort was declared a National Monument in 1973. 

Rain

The rain has been ongoing since we arrived in An Daingean (pronounced "On DANG-un"). However, we did get one simply gorgeous day which we decided to make the most of and travel around the Dingle peninsula.

The views all along the drive are stunning. Mountains and ocean every way you turn. It really is amazing when you consider the amount of work people here put in to make this land usable. It's called "reclamation". They took seaweed and sand from the beach and picked out all the rocks (and made fences) just to make the land arable to grow potatoes. Without huge amounts of labor the land is worthless except for grazing.

We saw many "Beehive huts". Stone homes/churches built anywhere from 2000 BC to 1300AD. They are dry stacked, which means no mortar was used in construction but the structures are water proof to this day. Really wonderful.

Eli climbed all over a stone fort built in 500 BC and pet the donkeys on a stroll down to the fort. Afterwards we drove to a beach where several Irish families and tourists were taking a break to play in the sun and surf. Eli enjoyed climbing rocks with papa and chasing all of us with fistfuls of sand.

There's a dolphin who lives in Dingle bay and my mom decided his name was "Foken". Say that with an Irish accent. She said it several times until we explained to her that it was Fungui the dolphin, not "Foken". Hilarious!

Today since it rained we took Eli to the local Aquarium. Pretty awesome with a giant Manta ray, sharks, all kinds of Amazon fish, and salmon of all things. He seemed to enjoy it. Especially the coloring book in the cafeteria.

We took a little drive along the Connemara Pass which hardly had room for one car, let alone opposing traffic. But spectacular views once again. The sign on the way up actually said, "Turn back now!".

Eli slept excellent last night, the first time since we've been here. Thank you God! Hoping for another night of peaceful sleep before we drive to Kenmare in the morning. We may do the Ring of Kerry tomorrow if the weather is good.

I have seen many amusing signs since we've been in Ireland but have decided to use this blog to post my favorite (inside a outhouse near one of the beehive huts).

An Daingean

Late last night we arrived in An Daingean (Dingletown). The road trip down here was exciting to say the least. We should have paid an entrance fee to be on a roller coaster. The Irishman who decided 100km/hr on the narrow and windy roads of Ireland was reasonable clearly had been drinking. Jeremy had difficulty getting UP TO the speed limit on several stretches due to the frequent and extreme bends in the road. But not for lack of trying. My mom enjoyed that.

I planned for us to go on a cruise yesterday to view the Cliffs of Moher from the bottom up. Inevitably we took a wrong turn and arrived in a small town called Ennisyton. We got held up behind 30-40 horses scattered up and down Main Street. Clearly the whole town was out for an event. Eli proceeded to yell "Neigh! Neigh!" until the last horse disappeared from view. I love wrong turns!

We did visit the Cliffs from the top and they are stunning! Unfortunately, one too many people have offed themselves from these cliffs (purposely or not) and now they have an extremely effective barrier between you and the ledge. But it makes you feel quite safe if you're bringing children. And the gusts are not exaggerated. Eli fell over SEVERAL times.

Today we are in An Daingean and our B&B hostess is everything you could wish for in an Irish hostess (towerviewdingle.com). She really could not be more charming. Our B&B has a petting farm in the back and Eli already became the acting sheep dog. But he is equal opportunity, he chases the ducks and chickens all across the field as well. This is only our first day here and I already wish we had more time in the extremely charming town and countryside of An Daingean. Hoping the weather is better than fore casted.

Adventures on Inishmore

Today we ventured a day trip to the Aran Islands. Specifically Inishmore. In planning this trip I find I have been 'optimistic' regarding the tolerance of a 2 year old, to say the least. But I also am quick to change gears when something isn't working, and change gears I have.

First of all, thank God for the Babyhawk! Second of all, suck up your parental pride and give your kid whatever they want (within reason) if you are so audacious as to drag a 2 year old over to a different continent with an 8 hour time difference and no schedule.

My mom is still under the impression that she needs to 'catch up' on sleep to fully enjoy the vacation. I think this is hilarious since I have had a baby boy for the last 2 years...catch up? Wha? I am actually feeling quite good now that Eli is solidly sleeping until 4AM most mornings (this is an improvement). OH, and before I forget...Third of all, thank God for portable entertainment, yay CARS (and the PS2)! Eli watched this at least 10 times between the plane ride and the first few days in Dublin. It's 2AM, your toddler is wide awake, ready to face the day. You, not so much. This is where movies come in handy.

The Babyhawk (babyhawk.com) is incredible for napping on the go. No matter where we are or what we are doing OR how loudly he protests, I strap Eli into the Hawk, and 3 minutes later he's sound asleep. Beautiful.

So, day trip to Inishmore. I thought it would be lovely to explore this tiny island with 3,000 year old ruins on bicycle....hahaha! Eli fell asleep on the Ferry ride over, we woke him up by strapping him into a strange seat on the back of a windy bike. No snacks, no mama food, nothing (he can't really hang on to anything back there, too windy). My chain falls off twice (I fix it). The third time the chain gets stuck and I end up pushing the bike back to the dock. Bright side, I learned my lesson early in the trip, flagged a bus tour guide, got a bike refund and picked up my family in the bus. Picked up snacks and water to eat on the bus, voila, happy family, happy mama. Eli was screaming his head off when I pulled up in the bus. Then proceeded to immediately break into a huge smile and yell "Yipee!" when he realized he got to get off the bike and onto the bus.

I probably have as helpful a husband there is and that makes this trip so lovely, especially with a cute little boy. Grandma helps when she can but is still a bit overrun by the change in schedule. To be truthful, I'm having a blast and this country and it's people are stunning.

Note to parents traveling with toddlers: If you lack patience, don't go. If you must get 8 hours of sleep to enjoy your days, don't go. If you like rigidity in your schedule and are easily frustrated with sudden, frequent changes in plan, don't go. If none of the above applies to you, by all means, take your toddler (and a grandmum) and have a splendid vacation!

In all the cracks between the tantrums, Eli is charming locals and tourists alike. I have learned that sites in Ireland are always within "walking distance" according to the locals (usually with a time estimate attached). And somehow everyone knows where each and every street is, though I have yet to see a street sign in Galway.

Traveling with Eli

Well, here we are in Dublin, Ireland after a will breaking, life sucking trip over with a New York layover.

Turns out 2 year olds are as dependent upon sleep and food as you might imagine. Turns out they enjoy walking tours of New York as much as you think they would. Turns out losing your passport in a new city before traveling overseas is as much of a pain in the ass as it sounds, and yes...you do cry.

It has been a crazy 2 days. And I mean crazy! But then we landed in Dublin. The people of Ireland are as charming as you might imagine. The city as beautiful as you think. And the accent, well, it seems I have a wee one meself.

It is almost 9 o'clock here in Dublin and I am going to go listen to some traditional Irish folk music before the evening is over. Yes, I'm going to O'Donaghues and then to Foley's. The evening is young, and I had a nap.