Ireland, Day 2

A whirlwind of activity yesterday. Let's get right to it....

- Jack and Mikey came downstairs as a duo, or perhaps Jack following behind. Got cereal and headed into the TV room to watch Scooby Doo. Kate, who had come down with me, ate a banana like a monkey.

- After breakfast and showers, which ended up being around noon, we decided to walk out to see Dungaire Castle. About a 15-minute walk. We put Kate in the stroller and Jack walked/was carried. Sadly, the castle itself wasn't open, so we could only see it from the exterior. Got some nice pictures and I pointed out the dungeon to Jack, which may very well have been the kitchen or some kind of medieval daycare. He was impressed anyway.

- Jack had complained about the cold and the wind on the walk to the castle, but as soon as we got home he wanted to go out on the trampoline. This ended up being one of the day's highlights: Jack was happy, we jumped up and down, Kate joined us. When she was in my arms and I jumped up and down, she laughed and said "wheeeeee!" When I set her down on the trampoline, she tended to flatten herself out like a pancake and natter away fretfully until I picked her up. After the trampoline, Jack and I kicked a soccer ball around and then played with a batty ball.

- After a late lunch, the weather had cleared up and we decided to go see the Cliffs of Moher. This was in many ways a mistake, given that Jack was tired and had pretty much had it with cold and wind. On the bright side, on the hour-long trip there he and Kate both slept the entire way, nodding off about 2 minutes into the drive. On rhe downside, it was so windy and cold that Jack was miserable at the cliffs, wailing his way into a meltdown with every step. It was quite a scene. The cliffs themselves were beautiful, but it's no place for a cold and tired 4-year-old. Robin ended up cheering up Jack by showing how to put a penny into a machine that mashed it into a cool oval with a Cliffs of Moher design on it. Jack carried that around with him possessively for the rest of the day. Our pictures excluded Jack, but I got a nice shot of Jack's toy pirate with the cliffs in the background.

- On the way home, we stopped so Emily could take pictures of a gutted out church and some old gravestones. I remained in the car wedged between my kids. Kate only wailed a little. Jack admired his penny. The pictures were very nice.

- At home, Jack, cold and tired at the Cliffs, immediately wanted to go out on the trampoline.

- Late dinner, kids got to bed OK, and then I went out for Guinness with one of Robin's neighbors. Had 2 pints in a little pub called Connolly's. Tasty. Got home in time for Kate to wake up and spend most of the night coughing, wailing, sneezing and crying. Not much sleep was had, but it was a good day anyway.

- This morning, I went downstairs early with Kate. While we were sleepily traipsing about the kitchen, Mikey and Jack came in. Jack was in great spirits, high-stepping and dancing, actually dancing, like he'd lived here with his big boy cousin his entire life. Happy.