Eire, Adventure Holiday, Day 1

"In Dublin city, where the girls are so pretty..."

After a long, yet seamless flight over the ocean, we were allowed to rest in the spa area of our hotel while our room was being prepared. No complaints from us. It was quite heavenly, until the children of the hotel woke up and began to rumpus.

This bathroom en suite and breakfast were worth the wait

My love of chocolate pastries, coffee, and decadent yogurt sent us on a walking tour of Dublin the rest of the day. We found our way to the train station and took the DART into the city by way of the sea.

Taking a bracing walk along the Irish Sea. Beautiful rocky beaches.

Historical mosaics along the DART plats help one remember the rich history everywhere

Gorgeous artful details everywhere in Dublin, so commonplace that this pub sidewalk was covered with the day's garbage.

This stained glass was in a cafe. This was the view from our cafe table when ordering ham and cheese toasties (grilled cheese without the butter) and crisps for lunch.

Celtic patterns everywhere

Buskers and street performers on Grafton Street...we heard guitars and bagpipes and rock bands just strolling city streets

Trinity College Bell Tower...love the sounds of bells throughout the city

Completely lost in the wonder of the old library. The smell of ancient books. An ancient harp. Seeing the Book of Kells (illuminated Celtic manuscript of the Gospels on vellum from the 800s). Fascinating display on how books were made by hand starting from scraping hairs off leather and meticulously calligraphied and illustrated with symbolism, then hand-stitched, glued, and bound.

Celebrating one thousand years 1014-2014... Putting history into perspective

On the same block you might see

A bank, a pub, a sweet shoppe, a chocolatier...and oh look! Dublin Castle

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Beautiful spring is in the air (achoo!)

My love of ironwork

Rounded doors

...and my fun husband!

 

One Sunny Saturday in April

My daughter was happy to find that we had completed both her cultural event and sevice learning requirements for school in one afternoon in the course of things we had planned anyway. Serendipity.

Sorting donations at Harvest Hope Food bank with friends

Church families stood at area grocery stores and asked people to consider donating to the food bank. Harvest Hope said this drive was the biggest day they had all year, so we are thankful for the community's generous response.

Tartan Days Celtic Festival

I thought it was mildly funny that I will probably have seen more Irish culture in my own city this spring than we will when we actually travel to Ireland. Irish dancing explanations, Highland games, sheep herding, bagpipes, tartan and crest explanations, claddagh rings, fiddles, and celtic rock bands

My childhood BFF gave me this heart-in-hands claddagh ring. I've kept it all these years and handed it down to my daughter. It gave me joy to buy a similar ring for my newest daughter.

 

This is a picture of my mom with a feisty Celtic barbarian. She is generously staying with our kids while we are in Ireland.

 

Young Love

Spring is a-bloomin'

Today I volunteered at my children's school's field day. I did not run any races. I cheered and set up a few cones...and I am exhausted. The yellow-green pollen has entered my head and no amount of Zyrtec can seem to touch it. I need a bath and a nap...from standing on the sidelines. Allergy days like these in spring make me feel old.

 

There are other things in life that make me feel young. Watching this precious couple attend our contemporary worship service makes me smile. He wheels her in each Sunday. No one complains that the music is too loud or not the right style. They stay seated while others stand, and week after week he holds her hand and she bobs her head to the praise songs. I glance over at my husband who is seated a few children of ours over on the pew. We love each other too, but don't often hold hands. Our hands are usually full, carting in a bag of groceries or helping with algebra homework. We look forward to a week of just the two of us to have "young love" again.

 

March Gratitude

 

Gratitude helps me. On a day to day basis my mind can flicker with "my life is boring, ordinary, unremarkable" as I shuffle through hours of carpool, laundry, homework, and dinner prep. But when I take a moment to record moments, and the gifts that are present in each day, I am warmed to the realization that I am richly blessed and have much to be thankful for. Ordinary or extraordinary.

In March, I am thankful for:

 

March 1:

The ability to run the Color Run and feel happy to be moving

March 2:

Being able to go to Celtic Woman with Mom. Hearing transcendent songs of beauty. Seeing feet fly and feeling drumbeats bounce off our chests. Joy in seeing another performer radiantly delight in her craft

March3:

Living in a country free from the terrors of war- not being overtaken by an aggressive military power

March 4:

Safe travels for my husband away on business. Cozy warm cuddle duds. NOT having to freeze my booty off on a cold metal bleacher when the boys' baseball game was called off due to especially low temperatures

March 5:

Phone service. The ability to talk with my man each day he is away traveling for business; meeting with another believer whom I didn't know very well and instantly being able to share community over coffee; the surprise gift of someone picking up my coffee tab

March 6:

The Hope we cling to that Jesus will be with us in parenting and give us His wisdom, and calm us when we must discipline and redirect

March 7:

A warm, dry house on days of cold, wet rain; the sound of rain plinking against our roof

Watching Frozen together on the couch with my kids - the girls singing all the words to the musical numbers

March 8:

Having family gather together to celebrate a birthday cowboy style

March 9:

Enjoying a springtime walk together with my girls in the neighborhood, hoping they will value family walks and fitness endeavors in the future if not especially now

March 10:

Feeling joy leading my zumba and Pilates classes- happy to be able to move and help others stay healthy- enjoying learning new exercises, and appreciating when class members express appreciation and find exercising helpful

March 11:

Beautiful spring day in which I could eat lunch on a girlfriend's back porch

March 12:

Date to the Cheesecake Factory with my man

March 13:

Having my man be there when my kid got hit in the eye with a baseball bat

March 14:

A day off from cooking healthy meals- trying yummy rosemary fries at a new restaurant; snipping rosemary from my garden (okay, flower bed) the next time I cooked a chicken

March 15:

Appreciating a friend's creative Pinterest-inspired touches at a bridal shower- being able to catch a friend and see her new home on the spur of the moment- being able to walk 5 miles while watching a movie (cardio theater)

March 16:

Rainy Sunday afternoon in which my man can recline in his chair while planning our family vacation and sorting through the financials

March 17:

The swelling in B's eye going down- his vision unharmed

March 18:

A chance to have lunch with my mom and sit at her kitchen table to talk over coffee

March 19:

A chance to take MJ to get a sandwich at a new little cafe and a few minutes spent antiquing together

March 20:

Having another mom take the lead on chaperoning details after I had taken the lead on coordinating race registrations - sharing the load

March 21:

The excitement of having a new person come try one of my Pilates classes (and especially when a friend comes)

March 22:

New spring growth on our weeping willow; the entire family at a baseball game together; blankets, under armour, and cocoa, huddled together trying not to freeze during the early spring games

March 23:

My children having friends that they want to see, text, FaceTime, see a movie with on opening weekend, have sleepovers with, share life with

March 24:

Watching my son play catcher as his best bud since birth pitches. Imagining them as young men one day and understanding the gift of lifelong friendships

March 25:

My son enjoying the mountain view from Pretty Place on a school field trip

March 26:

Discovering that I had earned a free coffee drink from Strabucks on my app that I never check

March 27:

Half day of school resulting in neighborhood kids playing in the yard and closets getting cleaned

March 28:

S'mores and bonfires

March 29:

Time spent on the porch with good friends in rocking chairs

March 30:

4th grade boys settling down to listen to the Sunday School lesson. Praying that they lessons they hear will become part of the fabric of their lives

The privilege of hearing how God is moving in young women's lives over frozen banana smoothies

March 31:

Grilling out (bunless) burgers, throwing the baseball in the backyard, a family walk through the neighborhood in beautiful spring temperatures, our kids watching a Canada goose on her nest - a lovely evening at home with no outside requirements

 

Family Retreat

This weekend was our family's second annual family retreat. We joined other families from our church at a nearby retreat center and heard speakers teach on building strong families and prayed about how God might have us serve together in the future.

I loved one statement that the relationships that are being built now, go on much longer than the years that we spend under the same roof. We pray that we will share the same vision and goals and work alongside one another for years to come, long after the carpool and baseball days have passed. It helped to lift my eyes up from the dust of preteen squabbles to realize that relationships truly are being forged even if it takes a little fire to do it.

I loved the causal mentoring conversations that can happen while waiting in the cafeteria line or in between running relay races at the family "olympics". "Porching" is a lost art and I am thankful for time to sit in rocking chairs in the company of good friends and talk about life and the dreams and hopes we have for the future.

My Davis girls rocked the New Testament cup-stacking race. Record time earned them this prestigious construction paper star (and bragging rights).

I even learned that my husband is especially skilled at catching marshmallow chicks on his head. Fifteen years, and I never knew. Wonders still abound.