Ireland Continued

While the purpose of our trip was to visit my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and Granny, we did manage to get in quite a bit of sight seeing. On Monday we went into town (Dublin) and went to Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral and Dublinia.



The Castle is on the site of the original Dublin fortress and where the black pool which gave the city it's name was located.



Dublinia is very cheesy, but does a great job of explaining Dublin's history. You walk through Viking history, life in Medieval times and lots of information about the Black Death. Nice.




Christ Church Cathedral is the resting place of Strongbow (in the picture Alex is showing how he apparently died) as well as home to some beautiful stained-glass windows. Alex was quick to point out the Holy Hand Grenade found in one such window. Perhaps Monty Python is not the best roll model.




Wednesday we visited Kilmainham Gaol during the day and that night saw Ireland beat Cyprus in a World Cup qualifier.




Thursday we visited Trim Castle (location of the majority of the filming of Braveheart) and Newgrange, a very cool stone age passage tomb.

The Boy is Home!!

Alex spent the past 3 days at an outward bound-style camp for a 7th grade class trip to foster unity, teamwork, whatever . . . it drove me nuts not having him home!!! Oh crap crap crap I don't think I can let him go to college. Maybe if I let him play video games instead of doing homework I can sabotage his academic efforts.

Off the Plane and On the Beach (Sunday, October 12)

Our flight from Atlanta was fab! I love it when they have upgraded the interior of a plane with the individual screens in the seatbacks so we can pick and choose films at our leisure. Plus we could pause, fast forward, rewind! How cool is that! Really could have used that kind of luxury on our trip to and from Beijing.

As an employee of the Irish airline Aer Lingus, Uncle Don was able to meet us at baggage claim and walk through customs with us to where Aunt Rita was waiting. It was a beautiful day in Ireland. Really. Blue sky and warm. Really. We walked out to the employee lot where Don had parked (he offered to go get the car and come get us, but after been cooped up like a sardine for 7 hours . . .) and I actually had to use my sunglasses. Almost didn't bring them. It is Ireland, after all.

First order of business when we got to their house was to turn on the electric kettle and have a cup of tea. Mmmm. Second, as our early arrival had thrown off their usual AM routine, was to get Dusty out for his morning romp. We loaded up in the car and headed off to the beach (Malahide), a five minute drive from their house.



We parked on the roadside and walked a bit on a laneway past a new golf course and up to the dunes.







Dusty was happy as a clam, racing along barking at the waves, chasing the tennis ball and fetching sticks. Alex was similarly affected by the sand and surf. He is like a child possessed when he gets around water (oddly the shower doesn't have the same effect) and has to get in it. Before we knew what had happened Alex as in up to his knees. Shoes and bottom half of jeans just soaked! I lambasted him and had him shed the shoes and roll up the jeans (yeah, yeah, barn door) before he went back in. Ah well, vacation.

Ireland

We've only one more day here in Dublin with Rita and Don. Our last minute trip to Ireland has been a whirlwind visit; the fact that I haven't had time to post anything while here should speak volumes!

We'll be home tomorrow (happy and sad) and will hopefully get some things posted on Sunday!

Tag Sale Saturday

Neighborhood sale. Was not planning on participating. Too much stuff to go through and not nearly organized or disciplined enough to get ready. Not that I didn't have advanced warning. There were weeks to prepare. I'm a bit of a procrastinator. And since I hadn't prepared I decided last night that we would not be participating. Like me, Alex is a procrastinator. Unlike me, he decided last night that he had stuff to sell and would be setting up shop in the morning. So we gathered up a few things in between our Friday ritual pizza and a movie, and at around 8 this morning set up our little table and waited for the dough to come rolling in. Although we didn't generate enough to bail out Wall Street (just enough to buy some milkshakes this afternoon) since we were so busy keeping shop, we had no time to shop at our neighbor's. Thus a win-win for the household account.

Love This

I saw this commercial tonight during the Colbert Report and I was so appreciative of technology that allows me to rewind and watch (and smile) over and over! Then I remembered the power of the ever generous YouTube . . . enjoy!

Seeing Pink

Just a quick post. Monday is generally laundry day for me. I like to start the week with this chore. Makes me feel like I've accomplished something big and worthwhile (I'm sure my parents had just this type of accomplishment in mind when they were sending those tuition checks to Virginia Tech).

And I like to sort. Really sort. I've got the basket for whites. Who doesn't? But I also have separate baskets for blues/blacks (dark), grey/tan, green, and finally, red/brights. The baskets are labeled. Even the dogs could sort out their dirties.

Pre-Kate, the blues and greens would tie for biggest load. The whites a close second. Many weeks the brights would get skipped; get an extra week to add to their numbers.

But no more. Not only do the brights now outnumber all others, they've now got a new majority color. Pink. Hmmm. Kate mentioned last night after she'd sorted all her laundry "I lots of laundry" and low and behold this morning I found lots of laundry. Lots of pink laundry.

New Projects

Trying to keep up with our scrapbooks has been both a joy and a curse. I love the process and the finished product, but it just takes me so dang long to finish albums. I've decided on trying a new approach to the instant gratification that scrapbooking normally doesn't offer me: mini-albums. I love the idea of something more accessible to the kids and a project that may actually get finished up in a day or a weekend.



My first project wasn't for me, but a baby gift for a neighbor who is due any minute now. A simple baby book that she can update with photos monthly and has pockets for stashing any little things she may want to keep. I think it's cute and I love that I was able to finish it so quickly. Now to get some started for us!

Hokies and Pirates

First game of the season for our team was held at the Panther stadium in Charlotte. We didn't win, but it was a great game! We got to be with college friends Melissa and Rex, John and Sharon, and Keith and Maya (who graciously hosted all of us and our kids for the weekend) which is always fun no matter where we are or what we're doing.

Sunday we went out to Lake Norman where Keith and Maya's boat lives. We swam, skied and tubed, a first for both Alex and Kate, and they loved it!

Strange Fruit and Snowcones

This weekend in Raleigh was the third of four Arts Alive on Lichtin Plaza events. Art on the Edge brought us unique performers and collaborations of disparate art forms that managed to meld beautifully, and the installation, Levity III, which was like a circus tent gothic cathedral smoothie with some Islamic architecture sprinkled on top.

Friday night we went to see El Gleno Grande. He was hysterical. Street performer style humor and skills. A little juggling, some mime, some magic. Pulled unwitting members of the audience into his little world on stage. But his crowning glory, was his equestrian spoof. Apparently he has some links on his web site, www.horseguy.com, where you can see him in action.

Then we visited? toured? experienced? Levity 3. It is impossible to put into words and I think it really wouldn't matter much my interpretation because I think everyone is going to experience it differently. I will say that we were very fortunate to have visited it last night because there were so few people there and we were able to wander at our own pace. And for us part of the experience was just finding a little spot where we all stretched out and enjoyed the kaleidoscope of colors and sounds.

After that we went back into the Fletcher Opera Theater where a local (Chapel Hill) band, The Old Ceremony, was performing in conjunction with members of an Argentine Dance school and an aerial dancer. The music was incredible. Kate loved it! Kept saying "I like this song"! The music was bit too loud for Alex, so we only stayed for a few songs. I'll need to remember ear plugs for his next time out.

Today we went back to see Strange Fruit perform "Swoon!" Similar to El Gleno in that they reminded me of street performers, but perched 12 feet off the ground on poles that the artists would bend and sway as they "told" their story of love, jealousy and anger.

After sitting out in the sun it was decided that snowcones were in order. We weren't the only ones ready for some cool, so while we waited in line we had some time to chat with a fellow Exploris family we ran into and make a run for some water.




As we were getting ready to leave we stopped to thank a mom who we had sat next to briefly during "Swoon". Robin and her (Asian) daughter, Lucy, had given Kate a lollipop right as the show started so we didn't really get a good chance to say thanks. We chatted for a while, interupted every once in a while by either Kate or Lucy. At one point Kate pointed to Robin's t-shirt which had asian characters on it and asked "Chinese?". Robin told her it said Fu. I told Robin, "Oh, that is where Kate is from. Fuzhou." And guess what?? Robin's Lucy is a Fu, too! Such a random meeting half a world away from where they both started.

All That Glitters . . .

is not old . . . enough!



How did I miss that little girls now wear makeup?? Maybe I've always been out of the glamorous loop. Perhaps the fact that I didn't start wearing makeup until Alex was 2 is tell-tale to my lack of beauty savoir-faire. But I had no idea that first graders were hip to maybelline, etc. And no idea that girl's clothing stores offered free makeovers on weekends. It was arranged that Kate would get to go with her friend Bailey to one such "event". Kate was thrilled. I was apprehensive? And a wee bit scared (for Bailey's Mom who was taking the two friends).

Fortunately the makeup and hair adornement was low key. Although, and you can't really tell in the photo, they only shadowed-up one of her eyes. Is this yet another trend that I have missed the boat on??

Playdate

Our first playdate for Kate at our house. Anada is one of Kate's friends from her last school year. Confusing, I know. She had a few weeks in Ms. B's first grade class at the end of the 2007-2008 school year (just to get her feet wet) and then started up (with Ms. B again) for the 2008-2009 school year. So Anada has moved on to second grade, but is still a good friend of Kate (and her sister Alice quite adores our little bug, too).

Let's Go Home?

Our first vacation as a family of four. Pine Knoll Shores, NC. Just two nights at the beach. And throughout the weekend Kate kept asking "let's go home?".

When we first got our match with Kate in January, we were sent a link to a yahoo group for families that have adopted children from Fuzhou City Social Welfare Institute. We found a group of families that had a wealth of knowledge about both Fuzhou and Nanchang; all those "been there, done that" families sharing their experiences.

We also found that they get together each summer. Hold a reunion of sorts for all these children that called Fuzhou City home. They pick a different location each summer for their reunion weekend, LaLaFuLooza. So cute!


For the 2008 Fu-Fete, Atlantic Beach, NC was the chosen location. Perfect! Friday night was a pizza party at a fabulous park in Morehead City. Loads of fun crafts, an amazing playground and fun music for dancing. Saturday morning Phil and Alex took surfing lessons while Kate and I boogie-boarded and splashed in the surf. Saturday night was a banquet at the North Carolina Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. What a perfect venue for a party! We had dinner next to the largest saltwater tank in NC, with all the fishys swimming past. We learned about the aquarium's logger head turtle relocation assistance program and met one of their baby turtles. There was more dancing.



Kate tugged on many heart strings with her excited cries of "Kate's house in China" when she saw pictures on video screens of Fuzhou City SWI. As we were leaving the aquarium that night she grabbed my hand, pointed to the screen and said "Kate's house in China because . . ." and then fell silent. We hugged for a while. Then as we were leaving the building she asked again, "let's go home?"

We're Soaring, Flying

Not just the lyrics to one of Kate's favorite songs, but a daily ritual with the two sibs. We feel a wee bit guilty that we didn't go ahead and build the swing set when we moved in two years ago. "Alex is too big. He'll never use it." Oops. He's out there several times daily, Kate or no Kate. Better late.

First Grade

Our area of NC has been growing incredibly fast. It is evident in the number of new housing communities, license plates from all over the US and the log-jam traffic on roads. The local schools have suffered from the crush, not being as prepared with enough schools/classrooms to accomodate all the kids that have infiltrated. Last year, in an effort to ease crowding and better use existing buildings, our county schools switched to a predominantly year-round calendar. Most kids in elementary school are on one of four tracks alternating in-school weeks with three week breaks throughout the calendar year.

So while it is summer vacation time in many parts of the country, and even for a lot of kids here in Wake county, for Kate it's first grade time! She's been in school now for several weeks and is loving it. She likes her teachers, enjoys the structure, happily takes her Hello Kitty thermos full of noodle for lunch, willingly does her homework with me in the afternoon and loves the school bus.



We are extremely lucky to have so many friends that want to help Kate so finding a couple of bus buddies was a slice of cake. Emersyn and Zoe, two lovely fifth graders, have been crucial to my retaining of sanity with Kate's daily bus riding. They sit with her on the bus, but, most importantly, meet her at her classroom each afternoon to make sure she gets on the correct bus and makes it home!

Friends

We had such a lovely time this past week with our very wonderful friends, Michelle and Emma, who came from St. Louis to visit with us. Thank you, Tom, for sharing them with us!


And thanks to Michelle for the fun iphone photos.

Learning

We're all good. We're all busy. We're learning so much this summer. And we're keeping busy.

Kate has started school. She's in the first grade at our local grade school. She rides the bus. She was taking Spanish. We felt it better that she wait on that one. She's been to two of her classmates' birthday parties. She loves her teacher. And she doesnt' like it when there is a substitute.

She's rapidly learning English. She can say Gabriella and Sharpay (I'm sure I just misspelled her name) and Troy and Chad, and she runs around outside with the basketball yelling "get your head in the game".

I'm learning not to let her temper flare-ups stress me out. Fortunately we're seeing fewer tantrums. There's a power plant we would drive past every so often near Blacksburg that had a huge banner proclaiming how many days they'd been accident-free. As the days accumulate that we've been tantrum-free, I think that maybe we should post it out there for all to see. Then on those days at the bus stop when I'm looking a little worse for wear, the big zero will provide fair warning to any and all. And what a fabulous head's up for Phil. No more shocking awful when he walks in the door. To be fair, they really are very infrequent and the duration with which she puts the house on lockdown has decreased substantially.

I've been working overtime trying to get caught up on our scrapbooks. I'm currently in France and the year is 2002. Although that isn't really how far behind I am. I typically will go from the most recent and work my way back. I'm also trying to figure out digital scraping and using Photoshop. Thank heavens for all those digital scrappers that have paved the way.