Grammy's 60th!

Grammy turned 60 on June 12th this year and we decided we should celebrate with a small gathering. :) As you will see our small gathering turned into a rather large gathering of family and friends! It was a great party with lots of great food and socializing. We would have liked to had a little better weather but at least it the heavens didn't open up on us. The party started out with a bang and boy would Rickey have been happy. What are Rusty, Chuck and David (co-worker of moms) all looking at? A HUGE fish that Julio caught on his first cast! The kids were all screaming and yelling. We've got Isabelle in the yellow life jacket, Quinn standing right behind her, Matty in the orange life vest, Julio holding the fish, Keenan in the black shirt and Keenan's friend next to him and Reid in the blue life jacket.
Wells, Ralph and Marco. An odd bunch who seem to be enjoying themselves.
Tinker, Uncle Reno and Rod solving the world's problems. Not sure what Tinker is talking about here?

The spread.
The ladies relaxing in their rocking chairs and having a good time. Sally, Lydia, Mom and Myrna from left to right.
I was finally able to get a smile out of Tristan.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Grammy, Happy Birthday to you! I think we can all agree the kids were psyched the see the cakes and candles. Matty gets the prize for working the hardest to get those darn trick candles blown out.
David, Wells and Todd getting a chance to catch up.

Matt with cranky Ben, which made for a cranky Matt are trying to relax on the couch with David.

Reid and Isabelle had a great time running around trying to keep up with the boys. I think we might have our hands full with these girls Meg! I got you Isabelle!
Julio and Sally deep in conversation about the fish maybe?

Joy of Learning end of year Picnic

The Joy of Learning had an end of the year cookout for everyone. The weather was rainy and cold all day except for the 2 hours we had the picnic. We all got sun burns on our arms and faces from the picnic. One of the mothers is trying to get the kids to play duck duck goose below, the kids didn't really understand the game yet. Benny-man doing what he likes to do best.....drink!

Amelie's dad is chasing the kids or the kids are chasing him, it's hard to tell!
Ms. Joy!
Reid and Molly, Gavin's sister, are enjoying Smart food popcorn.

Ben and Amelie playing under the swing set.
We were trying for a group picture but the kids were not cooperating. Reid wouldn't even get in the picture.

Father's Night

Matt and Sean, Amelie's dad, went to Father's night at the Joy of Learning while I was in Ireland. Matt remembered to bring a camera!!!! The Joy of Learning is the Preschool/Daycare Reid and Ben and Amelie go to. Ben just went to daycare this past year as he wasn't old enough for preschool. Next year Ms. Joy is offering 2-3 year old preschool on Tuesdays and Thursday and Ben will be attending. The kids made books for their Dad's and Ms. Joy helped them present the books.

Below is Amelie's Dad wrestling with the Reid and Amelie. They clearly love to wrestle!

Ireland Trip

I went on vacation! Matt stayed home with the kids and I went to Ireland to visit Darcy. I landed in Dublin at 5am and Darcy was there to meet me and we headed back to the hotel to sleep. We explored Dublin for a day, below is a picture of me in front of the tour bus we went on and a picture of Darcy and I on the tour bus.

We listened to some traditional music at the pub in the picture below. We also ended up eating dinner here too. It is in the Temple Bar part of Dublin which is very popular with tourists.

This time of year is wonderful in Ireland for lots of reasons but the one I liked most was that there is plenty of daylight. The sun was up at 4am or so and set around 10pm. I think it is about 10pm when the picture below was taken of Darcy and I in front of the Ha'penny bridge. It is called the Ha'penny bridge because there use to be a toll charge of a half-penny to cross. This bridge crosses over the Liffey in Dublin.

We headed back to Darcy's pad from Dublin for a quick stay before we left for a road trip to Galway bay. On our way to Galway we had several sightseeing stops. Below are pictures of us in front of Kylemore Abbey. It was gorgeous. It is still an Abbey and a daycare, can you imagine you kids going here for daycare??

We stayed at a bed and breakfast in an area of Galway called Salt Hill. The owner of the Bed and Breakfast recommended an Italian restaurant for dinner. We loved the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant. Of course we ordered way too much food so we took leftovers home for dinner the next night.

Our rental car! It was a Toyota Micra and it was perfect for Ireland. Yes it is very small but you want a small car on these roads. It worked out great for us as it was just the two of us and we didn't have much baggage. We went exploring to..........

The Cliffs of Moher! I enjoyed this so much more than I was expecting. The drive to the cliffs was amazing. We took the scenic route along the coast and the weather was perfect. The cliffs were beautiful and we ate lunch overlooking them.

Rock walls are everywhere in Ireland. This is an example of one. Everyone has rock walls around their property and all through them too.

Darcy's pad is right on the river Shannon. Here we are on the "Moon River" for a trip up the Shannon. We went during the day which was very nice but they do have night time cruises that apparently involves lots of drinking!

Traditional Tea. The picture above is taken at Lough Rynn, a rebuilt castle not far from where Darcy lives. The castle was amazing and we had a wonderful afternoon tea.

Darcy took me to her local hangout, The Oarsman, for dinner and drinks a couple nights before I came home. Two of Darcy's co-workers were there for dinner with their SO's and we met up with them after dinner for beers and socializing. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was just as good. Thank you Darcy for a fantastic trip to Ireland!