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 11, 2014

Day 19 - Superheroes on the Farm

July 11, 2014/ Hoda Memar

Another rainy day. This time with lots and lots of dark clouds over the ocean that promised an entire day of windy and wet weather. With no real plans in mind, the kids asked if they could dress up in their costumes.

cue in....Na na na na na na...BAAATMAAAN and BAAATGIRRRRRL.

Kids don't care about rain and getting wet, so Hannah ran out to show her costume to the sheepdog, Sam.

It was a really gloomy day which brought on lots of laziness. The kids did plenty of running around the house and saving the day, but I mainly lounged around and read my book, "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared".

We did manage to go to Westport in the afternoon and do a bit of grocery shopping as we were almost out of everything. We had frozen pizza for dinner (hey I said I was feeling lazy!) and then Batgirl made us brownies :)

While brownies baked in the oven, Batman went outside to say good night to Sam as they both watched the rain sweep across the farm.

Good night rain. Good night wet Sam. Good night wet sheep. And good night wet chickens.

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 09, 2014

Day 17 - Relaxing At Home

July 09, 2014/ Hoda Memar

After our road trip to Leenane and Killary Fjord, we planned to take it easy and just play at home and around the farm. The decision was party impacted by the weather, as it was quite chilly and rainy.

Nevertheless we put on our jackets, walked around the farm, visited the sheep and the chickens, and chatted with our host. They really are great and so very hospitable. He explained a few farm details about the sheep and then he gave us some of the brown Irish Soda Bread that he bakes along with a jar of homemade rhubarb and apple jam.

Brown Irish Soda Bread & Rhubarb and Apple Jam

We also visited Mayflower, a Connemara pony horse, who is now about 7 years old. She is very beautiful. Mayflower and her mom, Jessie, live here on the farm.

Afterwards we came back inside for some playtime. We have brought enough of the kids' favorite toys and gadgets to keep them busy :)

Hannah playing with her princesses and Kian's super villains

Kian playing Lego Star Wars on the iPad while daddy gives him helpful hints

Kian ran around and played with Sam, the sheep dog, in the afternoon and would get bummed out when he would go looking for him and could not find him.

Kian returning back to the cottage after not being able to find Sam

After dinner we had our weekly family movie night and watched Sleeping Beauty. Both kids enjoyed the movie and I was quite nostalgic. It was a great way to end a lazy day at home.

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

Blog

Day 22 - Little Swimmers & Delicious Desserts

Day 21 - Louisburgh Horse Race

Day 20 - What's in Castlebar Anyways?

Day 19 - Superheroes on the Farm

Day 18 - Carrownisky Strand

Day 17 - Relaxing At Home

Day 16 - Leenane & Killary Fjord

We Chase Summer