irish invasion, part 1

Thanks to PL for posting pictures to Iowa (what I call the "Fatherland", at least for the girls)!  We are embarassed that we didn't take any photos during this portion.  Fortunately, as you can see, PL did a great job.

The girls had a great time visiting family.  There were so many activities to choose from.  First, there was wild animal kingdom (i.e. PL's 4 dogs and 2 cats):

FABJ and her dog posse

Can you see the smile on FABJ's face?

In addition, there were lots of princess stories:

ORBJ, Nana, and Sammy cat focusing on an important story

Hmm...they seem a bit distracted here, don't they?

But perhaps the most important part of the trip was the start of a power agri-business:

LBJ and Papa and their agribusiness app

LBJ was trying to find a free app that the kids could enjoy.  As we were in Iowa (Cedar Rapids area), she thought a farming game would be enjoyable.  It was a bit too slow for them, but it was huge hit for LBJ and my dad.  LBJ is still addicted to the game (she's nearly at level 30 now), and the kids are well on their way as well.  Papa, however, was greatly frustrated by the lack of an instruction manual.  This produced flashbacks of Christmas for PL and me, when we had to wait hours (ok, probably minutes, but when you're a kid ...) to play with our toys because our father had to read the instructions manual and do everything in proper order.

Our kids are lucky in that LBJ puts together the toys, often the night before.  I help when needed, such as fetching appropriate beverages for LBJ to improve her assembly skills.

Anyway, I got my fix of American sports - college football bowl games such as the Rose Bowl, NFL playoffs, and a couple of college basketball games.  I even was able to attend a college basketball game, thanks to PL.  PL wanted to take FABJ to a game, as I was allowed to accompany them.  However, it almost wasn't to be, as FABJ decided she didn't want to do.  But LBJ saved the day (once again) by identifying the problem and assuring FABJ that we would leave if she didn't have fun.  She, of course, had a great time (as did I):

Purple panther fans at the game

More on the trip in the next posting ...
 

quotable children

A couple of quotes from the kids:

At a basketball game, sitting on PL's lap...
PL: Are you doing ok?
FABJ: I would be fine if you'd stop yelling in my ear

FABJ and the UNI mascot at the basketball game

In the car on the way to the NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids:
FABJ: Why do Mama and Dada always get places before we do?
PL: Because we park in the garage and they park in driveway, so they leave first.
FABJ: And because of Wild Kingdom*
* Wild Kingdom refers to PL's 4 dogs (labs of different colors) and 2 cats

ORBJ: *burp*  Huh, huh.  I burped so I'm the joker.

We had a rare bit of snowfall yesterday - big fluffy flakes that are pretty but melt soon after hitting the ground.  FABJ complained how during storytime at school people stopped listening and were distracting her teacher from the story.  She concluded with something like "C'mon people, it's just snow."  Ah, the world traveler who is unimpressed with snow, which occurs once a year or less in Dublin.

Alas, there are probably other gems from the kids, but I can't remember them at the moment.




 

Back in America. Part 1

We returned to the U.S. after Christmas to visit my family, with a stopover in Chicago to visit friends.

The trip to Chicago went pretty well.  The kids were well behaved aside from FABJ not napping.

Outside Chicago O'Hare Airport

Best part was getting picked up at the airport by one of our hosts, TK (to protect her identity).  Even better was that it was our other host's (JK, to protect her identity) birthday.  So we arrived to a house with a small party going on.  It was great for the jet lag, as there were a lot of people around and a lot of good food to eat.  The kids survived dinner and were off to bed.  We lasted a couple more hours.

I was awakened at 2am by the kids playing in their room.  Turned out it was just FABJ; ORBJ was in bed looking tired.  I explained to FABJ that it was 2am and pointed to the clock.  Surprisingly, she went back to bed, and the kids slept until 6.  Too bad that it took me until 4 to get back to sleep.

The kids slept until 5am the next morning, and after 7 the following morning.  So the jet lag was minimal.

We had a good time in Chicago even though the weather was very cold - too cold to make any snowmen despite the snow on the ground.

Playing outside in the front yard

A rare outdoor adventure at Morton Arboretum

We did a lot of fun stuff - the Aquarium, Morton Arboretum, and Al's Beef (not a highlight for LBJ, who's not a beef eater).  And we celebrated LBJ's birthday.  In fact, we got JK's sister to watch the kids (2 of which were in bed and the other 2 were on their way) so the four of us could go out for dinner and a drink.

Here are a few photos:

The kids at the Aquarium

At a train exhibit at the arboretum

Enjoying Chicago's fine cuisine (or a quick meal for hungry kids and me)

ORBJ and LBJ enjoying LBJ's birthday

LBJ with some help to blow out her birthday cake

ORBJ's a genius?

FABJ has dramatically improved her reading.  Now ORBJ is eagerly awaiting her chance to start readhing.  Yesterday, after dinner, FABJ was doing her reading for school.  She was stuck on a sentence that read something like this: "I want you to help me ... c ... c ...," and pauses.  ORBJ chimes in "clean", which is exactly right.

However, her amazing feats were short lived, as I asked her "what's 2 plus 1?" and she replied "1".

More generally, she has become quite the comedian.  She loves to wind her sister up.  And she likes to flash the "evil grin" as we call it.

Here's an example:

The kids and LBJ baked chocolate chip cookies over the weekend.  The girls knew that they could have a cookie for dessert if they finished their dinner.  FABJ asks for her cookie.  ORBJ pipes up "but you haven't finished your dinner," and she flashed the evil grin.  FABJ had the tiniest of scraps left on her plate, so her face was stricken with fear that she might not get her cookie.

We told her not to worry, that her sister was just winding her up.  She whined in response, "Why does ORBJ wind me up?"

"How can you tell?"

"When she has that evil grin, you know that she's winding you up."

FABJ looks at ORBJ's evil grin and puts on a big pout, looking like she's about to cry.

Ah, we are not looking forward to the teenage years with the drama queen and the mischevious one.
 

Christmas in Dublin

It was quite nice not to travel for Christmas (the last time was when ORBJ was 1 month old). 

We almost had a Christmas eve disaster.  After setting up Santa's presents, FABJs godmother stopped by for a chat and to deliver the girls' present.  As we were showing her out, we heard the door open to the kitchen (in the basement).  FABJ entered the basement, confused - and, more importantly, awake.  Fortunately, she had not gone into the living room (one floor up) to see what Santa had already left.

The first Christmas present was the girls sleeping in until 8am.  So it was no problem to get up then and open their stockings:

Happy girls

Yes, she's actually happy about getting fruit in her stocking

After enjoying Santa's (and the family's) gifts, followed by we hosted LBJs family for the traditional Christmas fry-up around 10am - an important meal since Christmas dinner was at 5pm.

The next LBJ Christmas tradition is a noontime (roughly) drinks and snacks with family.  FABJ was a little fussy because she was bored, but she warmed up once LBJ produced a couple of games.

FABJ and I spent the afternoon with her grandparents and LBJ's brother and sister-in-law, while ORBJ didn't nap (nor did LBJ, who was a bit under the weather).

FABJ decided that LBJs sister-in-law needed to entertain her, on her iPad in particular.  So CB tried in vain, with many games, but with little success.  Finally, she asked if FABJ wanted to try yoga.  She did, and it was very funny.  Only topped by when ORBJ tried to join her.  The two of them trying downward facing dog, etc. was hilarious.

Dinner was great - the usual holiday dinner: turkey, ham, potatoes, etc.  And Christmas pudding, of course.

Getting ready to light the Christmas puddin'

It rained a lot during dinner.  Sadly, we forgot to put the rain cover back on the stroller, so we had to borrow some towels for the stroll home, but everyone survived.
 

ORBJ's 3rd birthday

ORBJ turned 3 last month.  Birthday parties are big events here, even in the current economy.

We decided to host a party for her at our house.  LBJ and ORBJ attended a birthday party of ORBJ's friend, and they were quite impressed with the entertainment - a woman who does face painting, balloons, and various games.  So we (i.e. LBJ) hired her.

We invited all her classmates from daycare.  We expected a 50-75% acceptance rate.  Instead, the rate was closer to 90%, so we had a bigger party than expected - nearly 20 kids.  And 20+ parents - only 1 or 2 parents didn't stay, too.

So it was a busy few days of baking, etc.  But it ws a successful party - everyone seemed to have a good time.  And Orla made out like a bandit - even one kid who didn't come sent a gift.  Nearly 25 gifts from friends and family!

Then, after nap, she got to open presents from Grandma and Grandad - another advantage of moving to Dublin to be close to family.

The best photo of the party, I'm afraid

Did somebody say presents?

Nice hat FABJ!

 

Thanksgiving in Ireland

Originally, our plan was to celebrate a late Thanksgiving over the weekend (with LBJ cooking).  But as the date approached, I was longing for a proper meal on the day.  I was inspired by a trip to Superquinn, where I spotted a sign: "Order your Thanksigiving turkey here."  I then found out that a fair number of people who spent time in the U.S. (including Americans in Ireland like me) like to celebrate the holiday.  Not surprising - who doesn't like a holiday centered around eating?!

With the turkey ordered, we decided to invite LBJs cousin and family for a more festive meal (especially since they live in the neighborhood and have 2 kids near in age to ours).

Of course, the biggest challenge is that Thanksgiving is just like any other Thursday here.  I had a lecture at noon, and LBJ wasn't about to use a vacation day to cook dinner for me.  So I got the meal started and LBJ took over upon arriving home from work (as she often does). 

She did have a couple of challenges, though, as Superquinn did not have any turkey bags (despite advertising for them).  But the butcher told me how to use foil instead, which worked fine.  Also, we could not find fresh cranberries or pumpkin in Superquinn or Lidl.  The pumpkin didn't really matter - LBJ is not a fan of pumpkin pie, so we had apple tart and plum tart instead.

It was a resounding success for all involved, as the pictures below hopefully illustrate.

Thanksgiving in Dublin

Note FABJ's school uniform

 

PL's visit

Sorry for the delay in response.  I had visions of catching up on my posts over the holidays, but - as you can see - I failed.

Our second house guest (PL to protect her identity) visited back in October.  The girls were thrilled to have their aunt visit, and we enjoyed being able to host my family in Ireland.

One great benefit of having visitors is the excuse to visit the touristy places you never seem to have time to visit otherwise.  We took full advantage and took PL to Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, and a day trip to Glendalough.

The weather was good - very little rain.  PL did very well with the jet lag and the girls were well behaved.  After visiting PL (and other family members) over the holidays, we are pleased to learn that PL aims to visit us in Europe (either in Dublin or meeting up elsewhere, such as Amsterdam) once a year.  The girls are very happy to hear that.

Unfortunately, with the delay in posting, I have since forgotten the most amusing events of her visit, other than the following exchange about sharing:

Me: FABJ, please share with your sister.
FABJ: Sharing pleases God.
ORBJ: And sharing is caring.

Clearly the kids can remember what they are told about sharing, even if remembering to share is a touch more difficult for them.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from her visit (from PL's camera - thanks!).

PL and the girls along the Liffey 

Taking PL out for pizza in Dublin

FABJ and ORBJ at Glendalough

ORBJ and her dad at the National Gallery