Ireland, Day 7

I usually start each day's writeup with the first "activity" of that day, because that's how my mind works. Prior to that though, there's usually this familiar pattern:

Kate wakes up wailing and I go get her. With any luck it's actually morning, say after 7 a.m., as opposed to just technically morning. Then we try to sleep more, followed by Kate and I or Emily and Kate going downstairs. There, we're usually joined by Mikey, followed closely by Jack, at some point. Milk, juice, cheerios, and melon are had. Frequently humorous things are said or done, which escape me now. Often Kate walks around with her arms out asking to be picked up, saying "Mommy" or "Daddy," while we attempt to make coffee. Jack asks to go out on the trampoline. That kind of thing. It's a meandering type of morning, and I admit I can't fathom what it's like around here when Robin has to go to work and the kids have to go school. I imagine it's very, very different.

Bunratty Castle was the main order of the day, an epic trip which actually didn't turn out to be as far away as I expected. Abbey and Mikey went to their Dad's house so we could all fit in one car and I didn't have to struggle attempting to drive a standard. Kate gratefully fell asleep for her nap mere moments after the car started moving, and Jack soon followed.

We parked and stumbled out into the parking lot, got the kids up, debated whether to give Jack (who was sleepier, and heavier) the stroller over Kate. They ended up switching in and out over the course of the afternoon. The castle itself was pretty cool, a large castle keep surrounded by walls. Inside the walls were a line of cannons of different sizes, which we immediately posed with. Funny picture of Jack posing with his hands over his ears. Inside the castle itself, I was struck by how old and cool everything was, and also by how in the world residents carried small children up and down the ridiculously steep and narrow staircases. Then imagine navigating them in a suit of armor. A suit of armor carrying a baby in one arm and perhaps a bow and arrow in the other. Not possible. Anyway, it was pretty cool and we went all the way up to the roof and looked over the edge to see if any enemies were out there that we could pour boiling oil on. Nope. Jack and I went into the dungeon and looked down into the pit and I said, that's where bad guys went, and Jack said, how did they get there, and I said, well, they stood near the edge and somebody pushed them in. Maybe their pet dragon shoved them over the edge. That answer seemed to work for Jack. "Yeah," he said. "He PUSHED them!" This was exciting to Jack. Me too I guess.

Laura and Niamh spent a lot of time carrying Kate. Emily and I spent a lot of time pushing Jack in the stroller. After leaving the castle, we walked through the old folk village, which had represntative touristy type shops and buildings and was of zero interest to Jack and I admit minimal interest to me. It's true, I like seeing the buildings the kings lived in more than I liked seeing the tiny cottages the servants lived and shopped in. I also think people were much shorter then, as I kept nearly cracking my head on doorways.

After the castle and the folk village, we went to a pub next door for fish and chips and Guinness. We could still see Bunratty rising majestically overhead. It was perhaps the best fish and chips ever, even though it occurs to me now that I forgot to use vinegar, and it also might have been that I was starving. Kate ate a lot and we took a hilarious picture of her with a pint of Guinness. Jack also ate a lot: his first pub meal. He said something to Aunt Robin about being so happy when he was around her that he thought his heart would pop; that might have been earlier but she wanted to be sure I mentioned it. And he said funny things about something or other, as well as expressing great fondness for his new toy, a little metal Irish double-decker bus.

Driving home, Kate slept again, a look of total peaceful bliss on her slumbering face. Jack talked about the castle, or maybe his toy bus, one of the two.

Later, Emily and I decorated the bunny cake for Easter.