The North

We headed up to Northern Ireland this weekend with Rob's dad and his wife Nancy to see the sites. We saw Giant's Causeway, which is a series of basalt columns that look really cool (that is the technical definition), and Dunluce Castle, a creepy-like castle ruin literally on the edge of a cliff. Here are the pics:

Rob and Owen on the walk to the causeway:


Richard and Nancy on the basalt columns...they look like wood or cork or something but it's rock...cool huh?


Dunluce Castle:


Me; in castle, cliff and angry sea; down below.


More castle:


We are off to Spain in a few days...pics of sun and all things Andaluz to come...

St. Patricks Day

We decided that this year we had to go into the city center for the parade. We knew it would be a madhouse but chalked it up to our Ireland experience. A madhouse it was. So mad in fact, that I didn't even get pictures of all the madness. Here are a few shots of the group though:

Owen and Grandpa...hooray for my dad visiting this week...even though he wore no green...not that it mattered here...I think pinching for no green is an American thing.


Easton with Michael, Annabelle, and Josh


Most of our crew on the parade route.


Now that we have recovered from St. Paddy's day we are just having fun with Grandpa. Riding on trains:



And throwing rocks into the ocean.


Can it get any better?

Stuff

Just thought I'd post a few pictures.

We bought some sand for our sand table and have been spending a lot of time searching for dinosaur bones and hidden treasure out there. Easton is practically rich with all of the pennies, sea shells, old key chains, and small golf pencils he is finding.


A few ladies from church and I headed out for a night of bowling this week. It was actually really fun even though one of us fell (I swear it wasn't me), and several of us lost the ball (backwards) mid-roll. Needless to say we are not professionals but it was a good time.

Me, Ruby, Beth, Tami, Anne, Stacey

And just a little reminder to all those moms out there...nobody has it together all the time (not like I have it together ANY time)...take a look at our house- toys sprawled all over, Easton in his sweater from church and his undies, t.v. on. Pure chaos. But even though it was a mess in here we did a lot of good things...went to Church, had family prayer and scripture study, played in the backyard together. And I'm happy with that for today.

Grandma's Visit

I totally missed blogging about my mom's visit out to Dublin in February. She came to help me out while Rob was gone on his two week work trip. It was great to have her here. The boys both got sick (which happened last time she was here...boo) so that was a bummer but it was also a blessing because it would have been a lot crazier if I were alone!
We did do some fun things before we were holed up in the sick house.

We went to the children's museum here in Dublin:


We ate ice-cream:

Mom and I ate lots and lots of these:


Easton helped Grandma with whatever task was at hand:


It was so nice not to be by myself for that time. And for the boys to see their Grandma who is wrapped around their tiny fingers.


And here is Owen shopping at the children's museum...doesn't he look like a miniature man walking with his shopping basket like that?



We are looking forward to visit's from more Grandparents when my dad comes next week and then Rob's dad and his wife the week after that!

Barcelona

We just got back from a lovely trip to Barcelona. We had never been there and it was my first time back to Spain since my mission. We were hoping for some warmer weather than we had but it was a fun trip nonetheless.
We started off with a trip to the Boqueria...the big food market in the city. When in Spain, must have picture taken with jamon:


We saw a lot of Gaudi architecture, including the Sagrada Familia, which is massive. They have been building this church since 1909 and it is still under construction. They have scaled down Gaudi's original plans somewhat but are mostly following his design. Rob kept saying that Gaudi must have been on acid with such a unique style especially for the early 1900's. His stuff is crazy but it is really cool and vibrant which I think fits Barcelona perfectly.




We also saw the aquarium which was really great actually. There was a huge interactive part that Easton could have lived in.


Outside of the aquarium:


And the food. It wouldn't be Spain without some favorites. We had paella for dinner:

Wow.
And I ate my weight in sugar with a whole box of polvorones and a squirt bottle of Nocilla...that's right, squitable chocolate goodness:


We spent time in some Spanish plazas:


And on the beach, even though it was not exactly beach weather:


We also had a run in with some real Barcelona street crime when our backpack was nearly stolen in McDonald's. Long story short, I noticed sketchy loiterer by the restrooms but soon got distracted with crazy kids. Man takes backpack, Rob walks up stairs just in time to see man take backpack. Rob yells, I snatch bag back, Rob gives out some minor insults in spanish, and I am totally paranoid for the rest of the night. Crime scene:


There is an entire park that Gaudi designed and it is full of his art, buildings, sculptures, etc. It is on the top of a serious hill...I mean serious. There are escalators on the side of the road to get up to this park. Here is Rob pushing the stroller up...this pic totally does not do justice to the incline but oh well:

Gaudi tunnel:

Gaudi building:


We had a great trip and can't wait to go back to Spain in May when we visit my mission...yay!

And...who doesn't love a nice toothy grin?

Sydney - The Last Leg

From Hong Kong I ventured down to Sydney for a couple of days. We are excited to go there. It is such a pretty place. I didn't get to do much tourist stuff, but I did get to go for a run along the coast. This is a picture I took at the end of one of the bays, it is looking back on Coogee beach.

Last time I was in Sydney I snapped this photo running around the top of the "downtown" region known as the CBD - Central Business District

And lastly this is a view standing at the top of the famous Bondi Beach.

We look forward to welcoming all who want to come and visit us in Sydney.

The last leg of the trip was the 27 hour flight back to Dublin from Sydney. I can tell you no matter how nice the seat is on the plane, 27 hours is too long.

-Rob

Rob's Trip so far

So I am sitting in the airport in Hong Kong and wanted to give an update of my travels so far. It has been a whirlwind trip. I started out leaving Dublin last Saturday and flew to Tokyo via London Heathrow. Once in Tokyo I was able to do a lot of cool things, one of which was seeing the final day of the Sumo tournament. This is a picture from our seats. This is the SuperBowl to the Japanese. It was an earth-shattering event.

As you can see we were sitting pretty far back, but we could see the athletes just fine. The best part is when one of the Sumos falls off of the platform for whatever reason. He literally falls on top of the spectators. Some folks were really up close and personal with the action.

From Tokyo I went over to Shanghai for a conference. I stayed in the Grand Hyatt. It is one of the tallest buildings in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Mao_Tower

This is the view from INSIDE the building from the door of my room. If you have a fear of heights DO NOT stay in this hotel.

You really do get dizzy as you walk from your room to the elevator. It is an experience.

This next picture is from the window of my room. They continue to build and build in China. It was an interesting feeling.

Once you spend some time in Shanghai you really can sense why the prices for oil and metal are going up. There is a lot going on there. I thought I was in a tall building until we went to the top and looked out the window and saw this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_World_Financial_Center

This is a tall building. It really dwarfs anything I have seen, pretty impressive. The cool part though is in China they shut all the lights off at 11:00pm. It is an energy saving policy. So if you don't catch a look at the skyline before 11 you are out of luck.

From Shanghai we flew to Hong Kong. It is a cool city. I ate some strange stuff like frog, pigeon, snake, shark fin soup, and many other. I took this picture as we crossed over the water to Kowloon. Hong Kong is such an interesting mix of cultures and time. It was a great time.

From here I am headed to Sydney for a couple of days. I have some work to do and then back home to the family. I will update more later.

-Rob