July 14, 2014

Day 22 - Little Swimmers & Delicious Desserts

July 14, 2014/ Hoda Memar

Unless you have a wet suit, swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, around Mayo, is not really feasible unless you plan on freezing.

Fortunately the family we are staying with are incredibly sweet and gave us a few vouchers for a swimming pool for rainy days.

Since we woke up to a rainy and windy day, we decided to head out to the pool. The kids were extremely excited. In Ireland, it is a requirement for everyone who goes into the swimming pool to wear a swim cap, even children. Hannah totally enjoyed this.

After swimming, we went to the Westport Harbour for some food. We looked at a couple of restaurants and decided to eat at the Creel, mainly because of the airy and family oriented atmosphere.

We all enjoyed our food, the delicious desserts, and the fast Wi-Fi :)

The Creel

Panini with a side of red cabbage salad and rhubarb chutney

The Creel

Lemon Meringue Pie

The Creel

Chocolate Cake

The Creel

Happy Customer #1

The Creel

Happy Customer #2

It was still very windy and rainy, but Hannah really really wanted to go to the playground. Kian was too tired so he stayed home with Daddy. Hannah lasted about 5 minutes on the playground before she asked to go home. She had a great time for those 5 minutes.

After playing at home for a while, we made a quick dinner of carrot sticks, marinated sweet chili chicken wings (purchased marinated, baked in the oven at home), and home-made cheesy bread.

Chicken wings, cheesy bread, carrot sticks

We sent the kids to bed fairly early, since tomorrow we are going on a 3 day road trip down the west coast. We are very excited to see some castles, caves, cliffs, and more. A good portion of our drive will be on the Wild Atlantic Way, so I am excited about the views!

July 13, 2014

Day 21 - Louisburgh Horse Race

July 13, 2014/ Hoda Memar

On Sunday morning, we woke up to rays of sunshine creeping through the windows. I decided to take advantage of this and go for a nice run. The pet lambs came to see me off, and I was on my way. I was able to go towards the the ruins of a stone church that I had seen from a distance before. It was a very uphill road, but it was totally worth it.

Once I got back home, Kian, I mean Batman and I decided to visit the pet lambs.

If you ever get a chance to pet a lamb/sheep, do it and don't hesitate for a second. They are so so soft and wooly :) After our visit, Batman, "glided" down the hill.

Then it was time to say good morning to Sam. I don't believe I mentioned this before, but Sam has two different colored eyes, one brown and one blue!

We also went to visit Blackberry, the hen that is sitting on eggs now, but her bucket was covered and we did not want to bother her.

After all our visits, we headed back inside as daddy also seized the opportunity to go for a run. While lunch, was being prepared, the superheroes and super villain had a battle around the house.

Lunch was served...chicken noodle soup with bread and lots of fruits.

Chicken noodle soup with bread and fruit

After lunch, we all got ready and headed down to Carrownisky Strand for the Louisburgh Horse Race. Yay for sunshine and blue skies!

What a wonderful family event. There were bouncy slides, a face painter, balloon animal makers, food, ice cream, and more. There was also an area for people who bet on the racing horses. We found out later that the horses come from all over Ireland for this race.

There was a small admission fee for adults, but a good number of the children's activities were free.

It seemed that the races were on every 15-30 minutes. It was really neat to see horses race on the beach.

Kian was also able to test out his driving skills on the go-karts. He only crashed a few times and had a blast :)

Back home, we continued enjoying the beautiful day and grilled some burgers for dinner, while trying to get some internet access. The chickens were extremely interested in the laptop and hung about for a bit. This picture would make for a great meme...caption suggestions anyone?

The cheese burgers were served with a side of home-made fries, or chips as they say here.

After dinner, Kian and Daddy played some soccer in honor of the final world cup game, as Mayflower continued her munching on grass.

Kian catching Daddy's attempt at the goal

Then we all watched the final game and cheered for Argentina :( We were bummed out that they lost, but I was glad Kian stayed up and watched the whole game with us, even though Hannah didn't quite make it to the end before asking to go to bed.

Thank you sunshine! We had a lovely Sunday being outside.

July 12, 2014

Day 20 - What's in Castlebar Anyways?

July 12, 2014/ Hoda Memar

Oh yes! More rain!!

We did not want to stay inside all day again so once we got ready, which was after lunch (we just much rather eat our meals at home unless it's something special), we headed to a town about 40 Km from Louisburgh, called Castlebar.

We had heard Castlebar is good for shopping, and although we have no desire to shop for anything we thought the shops would be indoor and we could just window shop. Yes we are from Jersey so we were thinking of our good old malls.

That thinking clearly ended up being incorrect. There are definitely shops in Castlebar here and there but they are all off the streets.

We parked the car and headed towards a home-made ice cream shop.

The kids enjoyed their ice cream with marshmallow toppings. They shared a little bit with us and mmm mmm the ice cream was delicious, both the chocolate and the strawberry.

After ice cream we walked around a bit. It was drizzling but we had our raincoats so we didn't mind much.

We found a cute book store and went inside to look around. I read a few books to Hannah and then we joined Kian and Daddy who were reading the Irish version of Where's Waldo? called, Where's Larry?

The kids had fun looking for Larry on a few pages. It was a cute book that had Larry hiding in various Irish landmarks, including some we had been to.

Overall we were not very impressed by Castlebar as a town. We love Westport much more and we are grateful we live closer to Westport. It is also probably worth mentioning that despite the name of the town we did not see any castles, just a church.

Kian and Hannah posed with the "Bronze and Stainless Steel artwork, evoking the 1798 rebellion and in particular the episode known as the  "The Races of Castlebar". The cloud of doves signifies the reconciliation after conflict." — Kian and Hannah posed with the "Bronze and Stainless Steel artwork, evoking the 1798 rebellion and in particular the episode known as the "The Races of Castlebar". The cloud of doves signifies the reconciliation after conflict."

Once we got home, I started making dinner. Marinated chicken legs baked in the oven with rice and veggies made in coconut milk.

Mmm Mmm. The kids loved the chicken legs and they also liked the coconut rice. We are really hoping for some sunshine tomorrow since it is the day of the Louisburgh Horse Race.

July 10, 2014

Day 18 - Carrownisky Strand

July 10, 2014/ Hoda Memar

You remember that brown irish soda bread? Well apparently the chickens can eat it too. Except it needs to be soaked for 30 minutes in water. We had a bit of left over from an older batch so we decided to soak it up and feed it to our awesome chickens that give us eggs every day.

Kian happily took on the task.

Kian about to feed the soaked up bread to the chickens

Then we visited the hen that is now sitting on some eggs. This chicken was getting "broody", as they say here. She kept trying to sit on the egg(s) in the egg bucket (the chickens have a bucket in their shed where they go to lay their eggs, if there is already a chicken in the bucket they lay the eggs around the shed). So now this chicken has her own bucket with a few eggs that she is sitting on. She started on July 7th and we are hoping to see some baby chicks hatch on the 28th! I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Mommy to be? We'll find out on July 28th.

It was a nice enough day by Irish standards. About 20 C and partly cloudy. Time to go to the beach. This time we headed to Carrownisky Strand. There is a surfing school on this beach and you can rent a wet suit and surf boards. No, we did not go surfing, but we did see many more people than on Silver Strand.

Since Hannah has been watching "Dora saves the mermaids" over and over and over again, we felt like it was our duty to build a mermaid kingdom :)

Carrownisky Strand

Hannah and Daddy building the foundation of the "Mermaid Kingdom"

Carrownisky Strand

Kian building the towers

Carrownisky Strand

Mommy posing with the hard working crew

Carrownisky Strand

The finished Mermaid Kingdom

Then it was time to soak our feet a little bit.

Kian running away from said wave that got his pants almost all wet

Hannah also got brave enough to chase the waves, or was it vice versa?

We had a great time just running around and then of course collecting more seashells. Once we got back home, the kids were allowed some screen time on their iPads, as we cooked dinner. They decided to play together (the same game at the same time on each iPad) and were all sorts of silly.

We had charcoal grilled steak with fried onions and potatoes and a little bit of mushrooms.

Charcoal fried steak with fried potatoes and onions

One of my favorite things about cooking all this homemade food and eating all meals as a family is that the kids have been trying all kinds of different foods that they would usually say no to or make a face at back home. Kian tried fried onions and Hannah tried and LOVED mushrooms.

Hurray for being adventurous :)

July 08, 2014

Day 16 - Leenane & Killary Fjord

July 08, 2014/ Hoda Memar

The day started with some breakfast and seashell painting.

Hannah showing off her painted seashells

The sun was shining beautifully so we decided it was great day to head to Leenaun (also spelled as Leenane) and see the Killary Fjord. We practically live on a part of the Wild Atlantic Way. The Wild Atlantic Way is about 1500 miles around the north and west coast of Ireland with magnificent views and lots of small villages full of Irish culture and history.

As we drove down the typical very narrow roads, we were rewarded by incredible scenery.

Panorama view on the route to Killary Fjord (Doolough Lake)

We also saw a monument dedicated to those who died during the famine. The event is now known as the Doolough Tragedy.

Monument site marked with, "To commemorate the hungry poor who walked here in 1849 and walk the third world today." followed by a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, "How can men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?"

We arrived in Leenane around lunch time and decided to eat at The Village Grill.

We had a simple and quick lunch.

After lunch we were able to enjoy incredible views of the Killary Fjord.

As an added bonus to our day trip we checked out the Sheep & Wool Centre. We arrived at a good time and were able to go on a tour and check out the demonstrations of how the sheep are sheared and how the wool is turned into yarn (known here as thread). Since there were only 4 other people on the tour the kids had the chance to help with some of the demonstrations and had a great time. We all learned a lot!

Sheep and Wool Center

Leenaun, Ireland

Sheep and Wool Center

Kian was given the task of cleaning the sheep's wool of any dirt or dust

Sheep and Wool Center

Kian worked hard to "comb" the wool and make a "Lamb's tail"

Sheep & Wool Center

Hannah wanted to try and help Kian

Sheep and Wool Center

Antique spindles

Sheep and Wool Center

Kian and Hannah with the only big wheel spindle in this area. Only 2 people are known to be able to operate this near the Leenaun area.

Sheep and Wool Center

Dyed Wool

The Killary Fjord stretches out for 16 Km. We drove a bit further to see what other landscapes waited ahead. We are so glad we did since we came across the Kylemore Abbey. Kylemore Abbey was built by Henry Mitchell as a present to his wife. We did not go inside the abbey but were able to check out the structure and learn about the history. It is even more magnificent to see in person.

We drove just a bit longer, continuing on the Wild Atlantic Way and saw some really gorgeous beaches. It was much too late to get out an play and we had a long drive home, so we just took in the views and started our journey home.

One of the beaches we saw on the Wild Atlantic Way on the Killary Fjord route

We made and enjoyed some charcoal grilled cheese burgers when we arrived home. Mmmm Mmmm.

We will leave you with an Irishman's Philosophy :)

A Post card at the Sheep and Wool Center

July 06, 2014

Day 14 - Clare Island

July 06, 2014/ Hoda Memar

We woke up to a gorgeous day with lots of sunshine and best of all dry sneakers! Hurray! Time to go to Clare Island. We can actually see Clare Island, in the Atlantic Ocean, from the windows of our little cottage.

The drive to the Roonagh Pier was a little less than 15 minutes. Yes, very narrow roads again in case you were wondering. We took the 10.45am "True Light" ferry which is the fastest ferry to Clare Island. The ride took about 10 minutes and we were able to enjoy some beautiful scenery.

View of Clare Island Harbour from the ferry

Once we arrived we stopped at an unmanned information center to pick up a map and figure out our hiking route(s). I really wanted to see the lighthouse and hoped the weather would stay nice so that we could hike all the way there.

The first historical site on our way was the Clare Island Tower House. What is really neat about it is that after reading the information on the sign you can actually push the small metal gate open and go inside. There isn't much left inside but you can see that it was 3 floors, and as soon as you enter, if you walk down a narrow hallway to the left you will see the stone steps in front of you which at some point in time lead to the 2nd and 3rd floors. You cannot climb these stairs. According the to sign it is believed that a few wooden steps connected the stone stairs to the ground floor.

Tower House

History of the Tower House

Tower House

Kian outside the Tower House

Tower House

Mommy and Hannah investigating the metal gate

Tower House

Inside the Tower House

Tower House

Stone stairs leading up

Tower House

Clare Island gave Hannah, our little rock lover, a heart-shaped rock

Tower House

Old sign

After browsing the tower house, we decided to walk the "Green Route" loop before taking a break for lunch and then heading to the light house. This is an easy terrain with good views of the ocean as well as the mainland and Croagh Patrick.

Our little photographers had a great time walking and photographing various sites and things they found interesting.

Hannah taking a picture of daddy while daddy takes a picture of Hannah

On our walk, aside from gorgeous scenery we saw lots of sheep (of course), cows, and a friendly donkey. He came right up to us and did not mind being petted. Donkey's have the sweetest eyes.

As we were getting ready to find a place for our mini picnic lunch, the sky was getting covered in dark clouds and it started to rain. We picked up the pace and tried to find a sanctuary from the downpour! Thankfully, we came upon an adorable and cosy coffee shop in just minutes. If you go to Clare Island one day, you must visit Anna's coffee shop. The atmosphere is very relaxed and Michelle and Anna (sister-in-laws) are remarkably friendly and welcoming. They have a book case full of books, from travel books to children books and everything in between. They even have a few jigsaw puzzles that kept our kids entertained before the food arrived.

The food and bread are also very delicious. I am actually sad we did not have the time to try the pastries as they looked very good on other people's plates, but the skies were turning blue and we didn't want to push our luck.

Anna's Coffee Shop

A series of colorful signs at various intersections help guide travelers to the coffee shop

Anna's Coffee Shop

Cute jigsaw puzzle kept the kids busy while they waited for lunch

Anna's Coffee Shop

A little tea to warm up the wet hikers

Anna's Coffee Shop

Vegetable soup and home-made bread

After lunch, the rain passed and sunshine returned. Lots of sunshine, enough to make us sweat on our hike up to the light house!

We barely saw anyone on the road up to the light house

The walk from the coffee shop to the light house is about 1.5 miles and there are some steep hills but nothing too difficult. The kids both walked the entire way up and were carried down most of the way back down.

Kian and Hannah at the 1 km mark. Although I think this sign is not very accurate. The walk felt much longer than 1 km.

Kian and Daddy. If you look closely behind them you can see the top of the light house. We were getting close!

We saw lots and lots and lots of sheep on our way up. They were completely unfazed by us going by.

A sheep posed for our picture without being disturbed

We arrived at the light house and I was a bit disappointed that we could not go inside. Apparently the light house is now a bed and breakfast and it costs quite a few pretty pennies to be able to stay there. Bummer. I would have love to go in the light house and check out the views!

I did not pout for too long though because the views right outside of the light house are incredibly stunning.

Kian and Hannah on the hills/cliffs by the Clare Island light house

View of the cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean

The kids had lots of fun being silly and we were able to sneak a few quick snaps.

The weather remained incredibly cooperative on our hike back down. We planned to take the 4.45pm ferry back to Roonagh Pier. We saw the skies starting to turn gray again, so we kept a quick pace, and as soon as we arrived at the unmanned information center it started to pour! A few very soaked people rolled in after us to wait for the ferry's departure time.

By the time we had to get back on the ferry (within 15-20 mins) the rain was gone and sun was shining on the ocean.

After arriving home I made a quick dinner, marinated sautéed chicken breasts on top of spinach with a side of sautéed mushrooms and bell peppers. The kids had a little bit of pasta with their chicken and ate most of their veggies raw. Once again the little hikers cleared off their plates.

Sautéed Chicken atop Sautéed Spinach with a side of mushrooms and bell peppers

July 05, 2014

Day 13 - Walking around the city of Westport

July 05, 2014/ Hoda Memar

We woke up to the sound of rain and remembered we forgot to bring our sneakers inside! Yiikes! We had left them out in the sun to dry the day before and completely forgot to bring them in before going to bed :( The rain passed quickly and we had blue skies and plenty of sunshine. The original plan was to go to Clare Island and do lots of hiking but with what? flip flops?

Change of plans. We decided to head into Westport and just spend the day checking out the stores and restaurants, because walking around a town in flip flops is doable :) Westport has been voted as the best place to live in Ireland.

Hannah and Kian in an Irish Telefon kiosk

The kids had fun with a metal bicycle. It is very interesting to walk around with kids. The things they notice can easily go unseen by the adults.

Hannah enjoying her "ride" on the metal bicycle

This I believe is the town square with a statue of Saint Patrick. The writing on the stone says, "I am Patrick. A Sinner. Most Unlearned. The Least of All. The Faithful, And Utterly Despised by Many."

The streets of Westport are very quaint with many unique shops and restaurants.

A street sign in Westport. All signs are in Gaelic as well as English.

After some exploring around town we decided to get some coffee and a snack. We came across a lovely chocolate shop called Marlene's House of Chocolate Delights.

The shop smells delicious and there is a great variety of chocolates to choose from. We selected 3 different kinds and they were all delicious.

Variety of chocolates available on the day of our visit

We headed back home in the early evening as I had planned to make dinner at home. The kids had a great time playing puppets with daddy while I prepared our food.

We all had spaghetti and meatballs with salad and fruits :)

After dinner the kids played some more by themselves as we cleaned up. They were each allowed 1 Oreo cookie as dessert. As they ate dessert I read them "The Princess and the Frog" and "Cinderella". We put these children's books on the iPad (using the Kindle app) before leaving the US. Much better than lugging actual books around the world.

We wrapped up the night with teeth brushing and some tickle time :) all in all it was a great relaxing day.

Blog

Day 22 - Little Swimmers & Delicious Desserts

Day 21 - Louisburgh Horse Race

Day 20 - What's in Castlebar Anyways?

Day 18 - Carrownisky Strand

Day 16 - Leenane & Killary Fjord

Day 14 - Clare Island

Day 13 - Walking around the city of Westport

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