A Quick Trip Up the Coast

I love that my kiddos are finally getting to ages that don't require constant supervision.  I didn't think they'd ever get to the point where they could stay home alone for a few hours.  I really, truly didn't.  But hey, it happened (thank the good Lord!) and that means that I can be a person again (occasionally) instead of only always being mom.  I like being mom.  But sometimes it's nice to just be Melody.

This came in handy recently, when we were able to go on a brief outing up the coast without forcing everyone to come along with us.  You wouldn't think that you'd have to force kids to go on a plane ride, but there it is.  They don't like french fries either, for whatever that's worth.

We flew from Long Beach to Santa Barbara, had brunch, and flew back.  That's it, basically.  But it was so much fun.  I love seeing everything from the height of a small plane, and Chris is such a good pilot.  The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, the food was perfect.  Happy sigh.

Chris (pilot) and Mr. Cessna

Lovely friend Andrea and lovely daughter Audrey (co-passengers)

Is it just me, or does Los Angeles not look so intimidating from the
air?  A miniature Lego village only a hop away from Long Beach...

Santa Barbara.  Even from the air it's prettier than L.A.  Oh well, I
don't think L.A. ever tried to claim "Prettiest City" anyhow.

Peaceful.  Happy.  Pretty.

Ready for some good eats!

The food didn't disappoint--was incredible actually--but
Audrey couldn't bring herself to enjoy it.  She had a
sleepy-head-ache. :(

Mustache.  Tee-hee. (snort) (melody--->easily entertained)

AND...that's me looking all official and plane-y.  Andrea and Audrey chilling
on the flight back.

A Caribbean Family Vacation

At the beginning of November we took the kiddos to the Caribbean to celebrate Chris's brother's wedding.  Heat and bugs aside, it was a beautiful trip.  I don't have much to say, because it's been over a month and I'm deep in the middle of lists (gift-buying, party-preparing, trip-packing etc etc) but I thought (especially as today is a lovely rainy day) that a photo tour of our time at St. John would be just the ticket. Enjoy!

We flew into St. Thomas, and then Jon picked us up and we boated to St. John

Andrew in the water before the wedding.

Chris transported everyone from the villa to the boat to the beach (and back)
for the wedding.  

Michelle's mom, Pam, became one of Audrey's new favorite people.

Secluded beach wedding @ 11:11am on 11/11/11

Jon and Michelle, with his boat, Alcyone, in the background.

Andrew and Audrey were straight off-with-their-clothes-and-into-the-water
as soon as the ceremony was done.

Picture perfect couple--and a new sister-in-law! Yay!

The view from our villa--so lush!  It gets unbelievably loud at night, the
animals in the jungle are quite amazing.

Iguana in the tree top.

A Crazy Little Thing Called Camping

I always expect summer to be a time of slow days, relaxation, and a chance to get caught up on all those things that the school year doesn't allow.  In some ways summer is like that, but I've come to the conclusion that the warm months will likely never pass as slowly as they did back when I was nine.  The very fact that there is so much that I want to do is guarantee enough that time will pass all too quickly.

We did manage to go camping with my parents this summer, and it was a fabulous trip (apart from the stomach bug I had and the head wound Chris had).  We all relaxed, enjoyed nature and each other, cooked food over a campfire, etc.  Here are some highlights:

Hey Tim, Hug-a-Tree!

A duck's head? crocodile? very strange knot in a fallen tree?

Giants in the midst

Papa and Andrew walking into a Giant Sequoia.

We made it to the top of Moro Rock! Piece of cake.

Mmm...campfire food...

Summer is already coming to a close, I suppose, and our family may not get another chance to enjoy nature and each other for a few months, but these few days were great.  The kiddos seem to have been growing by leaps and bounds the last couple of years; sometimes it is these times out of the fury of life that we are able to make memories and connections that last.

The Dingle Peninsula

The last leg of our journey in Ireland was spent on the Dingle Peninsula.  While there were myriad sights to see in that region of Ireland, we found ourselves winding down and enjoying the town of Dingle.  The only driving and sightseeing we did, in fact, was Dingle Peninsula itself and a brief stop in Cork on the drive back to Dublin.

All over Ireland, scattered throughout the countryside, are sheep.  Scraggly sheep with character.  Sheep decorated in bright colors that, if you are as lucky as I was, just might pose for you, and reply with a weary "Baaa" when thanked for their cooperation.

I love how the houses are comfy cozy, smooshed up together.  It could be a problem, however, when it comes to searching for a business in a town you aren't familiar with.  Many times during our trip we experienced the frustration of not being able to find something that came with quite simple directions.  You see, we are used to finding things in California...where most cities are laid out in a grid and buildings have street addresses...not so in Ireland.  In Dingle we were to be staying at Murphy's B&B--no street number, only a street name.  When we arrived we found 2 Murphy's B&Bs Right Next to Each Other.  What???  We went into one, they acted like they had our reservation and showed us to our rooms.  An hour later, as we were eating dinner downstairs, we got a call from Murphy's B&B wondering when we were going to check in.  Apparently we were at the wrong one, but really had no way of knowing.  We moved our things over, and were much happier with the new place (which is not the one over the pub, just in case you ever go! Look for the smaller sign next door.)

2 Murphy's B&Bs next door to each other--novel idea!

Just a pleasant row of houses.  Smooosh!

Chris in Foxy John's--a very traditional pub, complete with
hardware store and bike rentals!

The bartender at Foxy John's was my favorite!

The drive around the peninsula was amazing.  We weren't expecting to encounter anything awe-inspiring, which made it even more incredible to find.  The two-way road way very narrow, which made it quite an adventure.

Beehive huts built 3,000-4,000 years ago, inhabited until
around 1200AD

A cross etched into stone at the beehive huts.

This is one of the scenes that took my breath away.

My favorite Ireland scene.  I just can't look at this enough.

What was the best part of Ireland?  Well, the natural wonders abound, constantly reminding you that there are bigger forces at work.  I love nature, so this was a huge thing to love about this country.  Also, there are a lot of rosy-cheeked people there, so for the first time in my life I didn't have people asking me why my cheeks were so red--I looked normal!  And the music was so much fun...  But mostly it was just the people.  I know that you hear all the time that the people are so friendly, but the people we encountered were more than friendly, they were interested.  They approached us to find out who we were, what we were doing, what we thought.  This is why you'll hear people talk about the pubs--the Irish pubs are great because they are a place for people to connect.

I procrastinated putting up this last post about Ireland because I don't want to say goodbye to it just yet.  This is the place I've longed to go since I was young, and it's the first place that I've so sorely missed upon returning home.  To think that some of the people and places now exist only in my mind is a sad thought, so I counter it with the promise of returning someday.  Anyone want to go? Let's plan a trip!

The Burren & The Cliffs of Moher

After our stay at Ashford Castle, we made our way down to the Dingle Peninsula (you can see it on the map in my previous post if you are interested).  There was sight-seeing to be done on the way, however.  How else to fit in half of the places we wanted to see?  We drove through Galway and then down through the Burren.  The Burren is quite an unusual place.  To say that this area has rocky soil would not be an understatement, it would just be plain incorrect.  The Burren is rocks, not just rocky soil.  For mountains of rock, however, an incredible amount of life and history is present.  These aren't just your typical rocks either.  Imagine the rock walls you could build with such a supply!  We were very happy to be able to get out of the car and climb around the mountains a bit.

Chris was wearing his "I Am Mr. Darcy" shirt made by our friends Justin and Brooke (get yours here!) when we stepped out of the car at a visitor's center...the girls who worked there were very entertained by his shirt.  Come to find out, one of the girls was named Liz Darcy. :)  Lots and smiles and laughs, I assure you. :)

Not far from The Burren are the Cliffs of Moher.  Or, the Cliffs of Insanity, for all you Princess Bride fans.  These cliffs are so impressive that it is difficult to take a picture of them that properly represents the awe one feels seeing them in person.  We were, however, frustrated to find that a huge amount of bugs were also visiting the cliffs (judging from the smell, they were there to visit a recently fertilized field) and that made the visit not quite as fun as it could have been.  You can't really tell in the photos, but there were also quite a few people there, even though it wasn't high tourist season.  The visitor's center is large and new, I can only imagine how crazy the crowds must be here during the summer.

See that blip on the top of the cliff? Castle remains. These are
some BIG cliffs!

And because we get a kick out of signs, here are a couple that were at the Cliffs of Moher.

You really should look at some of the professional photos of these places, they capture them far better than I did.  Google Images is a good place to start!

After seeing these two incredible sights, we raced to catch a ferry that would shorten our trip to the Dingle Peninsula.  We made it with no time to spare (the gate was already closed, and reopened just for us--they started moving just as we turned off our car!) and enjoyed the rest of our drive.  One thing Ireland is by no means lacking is beauty.  There is so much variety, so many extreme beauties, and the Dingle Peninsula is no exception.  I'll get pictures of that up soon!

Connaught: Ashford Castle and Beyond

After our brief time in Northern Ireland, we jumped back into the car and drove over to the west coast of Ireland--to the Connaught area.  The drive was lovely, even though Chris spent much of it being frustrated because he hadn't fully researched his route (I'm not actually sure if the route on the map below is the actual one we took, but if it isn't, it's pretty close.)  I'm so glad that we rented a car, and so glad that Chris is such a confident driver.  Driving from one location to another ended up being a great way to see some of the countryside.

The area of Connaught (Connacht) is varied in landscape and quite beautiful throughout.  It wasn't until we drove into this province that we began to see the rock walls that I assumed covered the entire country. (In the places we'd seen before, properties and fields were divided by hedgerows.  I could probably write a whole post on American misconceptions about Ireland...no green beer on St. Paddy's Day, no corned beef and cabbage, and much better food than I'd anticipated.) Roscommon and Galway counties (2 of the 5 counties in the Connaught province) are where my mother's maiden surname, Curley, seems to come from (Roscommon has a town called Ballymacurley, supporting that idea) although I don't have family records indicating a tie there.  Whether it is because of that predisposition, or simply because the area is magical, I felt drawn to this area.


View Ireland in a larger map

We stayed near the small village of Cong, on the shores of Lough Corrib, at Ashford Castle.  Not only were all 3 of these things (the village, the lake, the castle) drop-dead gorgeous, but we found plenty to do and tremendously enjoyed our stay.  The entrance to the castle grounds (which were extremely large grounds, by the way) was meandering and unfolded in a way you'd expect to happen only on film.  The castle was originally built in 1228 and eventually was purchased by the Guinness family in 1859 (they extended the estate to 26,000 acres, and added two Victorian wings to the castle) and stayed in the family until it was sold and re-purposed as a hotel in 1939.

Ashford Castle...view from the back by the lake

Inside the lobby.

I want a little tunnel pathway!!

Now that's a driveway.

A view of Lough Corrib.

Rosy cheeks and bagpipes!

While at the castle, we were able to bake scones with the pastry chef, (I loved being able to go into the service parts of the castle...it another of those weird dreams come true. I'm fascinated with what goes into making a huge estate work.) learn to be falconers at the school of falconry, ride horses, and watch The Quiet Man free of charge at any time (this is where the movie was filmed!)

The School of Falconry was one of the best experiences ever.  We learned so much about the birds and falconry in general.  We even got to meet Dingle the Owl...quite awesome when you're a foot away from him!  The birds we flew are Harris Hawks, which work well for hunting with multiple people because they naturally work as a team.

Wow, this is a long post.  Sorry about that!  There's just so much to talk about in this area and I couldn't conceive of how to split it up.  What follows are some pictures of Connemara, which we saw on our drive from the castle to Clifden (where we got a flat tire that was--amazingly--replaced in only a couple of hours).  Connemara is beautiful.  All the pictures I see of it look a little like Nevada, which is funny because it didn't look like that when seeing it through my eyeballs. :)

Remnants of potato farming still exist on the mountains.

Love this area...lot's of good memories, would love to go back and explore more!