Ireland 2012 - Days 4 & 5

The day after the wedding would be a day for recovering in the United States, but not in Ireland.  My Auntie Hannah hosted a party at her home for about 40 people complete with a DJ.  Although many were up for the party, we just didn't last very long and called it an early night.  Jordan and I walked back around to my cousins house but stopped at the chippie on the way back.  A chippie is a fast food restaurant.  We had a curry chip, sausages and battered sausages between us!  Everyone else stayed on at my Auntie Hannah and Uncle Trevor's home and apparently had a fantastic time! 

Day 4 we headed over the mountain to Belfast.  My hometown is only 12 miles from Belfast, but it always seems like a much longer trip!  We headed there on Monday.  First we hit the Titanic museum/exhibit.  It was new, but we were lucky to not have to wait in lines.  The museum is build next to the Harland and Wolfe shipyard where the Titanic was built and focuses on stories of those on board and also history around the building of the Titantic and its sister ship, the Britannica.  It was an awesome exhibit. 

After Titanic we headed to a few shops!  Only a few, businesses tend to close very early in Europe and we only had about an hour before all of High Street basically closed down.  I still managed to do a little damage to my wallet :)

We then made our way to a pub and of course somewhere for dinner!  Shopping can make a family hungry.  We had a great dinner a Villa Italia.  After that we walked a few short blocks to Queens University.  The grounds and buildings are breathtaking!  We all boarded up (we traveled in a 16-passenger van) and received a guided tour (thank Uncle Trevor and Grainne!) through neighborhoods in Belfast; the history was so interesting.  Since the weather was phenomenal and the sun was still up at 9:00pm we made our way to Belfast Castle.  It was spectacular!  Belfast Castle is set into one of the mountains surrounding Belfast.  We ran around the grounds like kids.  It was so much fun! 

We really had so much fun on this trip; the views, the company, the food, it was all amazing.  Ten days can seem like a long time, but each day flew by, we were already half way through our trip.

Lisa is obsessed with all things Titanic!  This picture is so fitting!

Little Liam was such a trooper, the sun really started to shine this day!

Nana and her two oldest grandbabies!

Liam and mama

Eoin waiting in line for the 'Titanic ride'

Sampson and Goliath, the two Harland and Wolfe gigantic cranes!  This is the shipyard where the Titantic was built.  The 'H' and the 'W' on the cranes are larger than a bus!

Liam got his own seat on the ride!

Our driver, Uncle Trevor, and his co-pilot, Eoin Dean

High Street in Belfast, the courthouse is at the end; the Olympic rings were displayed for the XXX Olympiad in London; Northern Ireland is part of Team GB

What's Ireland without a few pubs?

Eoin and McKaylah; children are not allowed inside pubs (I'm surprised women even are!) so we stayed outside!

Eoin trying to lick everyone! 

He is such a lover!

Liam in a no parking zone

He was such a happy, good boy!!!

Ireland 2012 - Day 3

If William and Kate's wedding was the wedding of the year for 2011, then certainly Paul and Grainne's wedding was the wedding for 2012! 

It was absolutely beautiful! From the Rolls Royce picking Paul up at my Aunt and Uncle's house to the stunning chapel (their wedding was also on television!) to the amazing venue of the Galgorm Manor for the reception, every detail was nailed. We were so incredibly happy to witness their love and be apart of their day! 

Uncle Trevor set us up like royalty; we had a 4 bedroom cabin on a river on the property of Galgorm Manor and even had our own 'butler.'  We called and a LandRover would come and get us and take us to the main house; they brought us milk for Liam, basically whatever we needed.  It was amazing.  The day of the wedding the sun started peeking out from behind the clouds, but overall it was rather chilly, very Ireland.  Little did we know this would be one of the last times we would complain about being cold. 

The boys enjoyed the reception; besides dinner, we barely saw Eoin.  He was off having tons of fun!  Jordan's parents took the boys back to the cabin around 11:00pm (late night, but it was still light out!) and we were then able to enjoy the company of all my cousins I rarely see, it was GREAT! 

Little Liam all dressed up in his 3 piece suit!

Two of the most handsome men I know (besides Liam and Eoin of course).  My cousin Paul is like a little brother to me!  Cannot believe he is married! 

Uncle Trevor, Paul and Auntie Hannah!  The best hosts!

Lisa and her favorite daughter in law ;)

Handsome little devil

My gorgeous mama feeding 'baby' Liam.



Sisters!



Uncle Kieran (my godfather and namesake!) and Theresa

Uncle Paul and Bernie

Groomsman and Page boy

Bride and Groom, Paul and Grainne

Liam enjoying some icecream!  The food at the reception was amazing and the boys had an extremely child friendly menu!

Eoin and Grandma and Papa!  So happy we were able to make memories with both sides of our family

A little worse for the wear . . . the Page boy and Flower girl after some play time!



My cousin Rachael and I . . . we grew up very close as we are only 3 months apart!  Isn't she gorgeous! 



Ireland 2012 - Days One and Two

On our first day, we arrived and had a trek from the airport to the town I grew up in, Crumlin.  We had a few errands to run (Eoin needed to be fitted for his tuxedo) but more or less went to a great dinner at O'Connors and then called it a night! 

After a full day of traveling on Day 1, Day 2 was spent relaxing for the most part! We explored a little bit of my hometown. While many things have changed, there is so much that has remained the same - I love it. Everyone is a little bit older, there are new buildings and some are gone; but there are old buildings and businesses still standing, many people remember me and I still know my way around town.

We stayed with my cousin Paul and his wife (or soon to be) Grainne, while my mom stayed with my Auntie Hannah and Jordan's parents stayed at a little b&b right on the outskirts of town. We met Jordan's parents for a late breakfast at the bakery in town (Bush's). I ate everything in sight which is no surprise; it is my comfort food! Jordan loves the Irish breakfasts too!

Everyone is Ireland is much more laid back and relaxed. While errands were ran this day, there was a wedding the next day afterall,

In order to burn some energy and start seeing 'the sights,' we decided to take a short walk to Crumlin Glen.  This is literally inside the town I grew up in.  It is amazing how you take beauty for granted while you are surrounded by it!  The Glen reminds me of Fern Gully . . . waterfalls, green everywhere!  I was so excited to show Jordan, the boys and Dean and Lisa just how gorgeous Ireland is, but the thing is, this was just the beginning!  

Eoin and Papa hiking through the Glen



McKaylah, Kennedy, Eoin and Liam . . . Irish cousins!  Liam is sitting on the "wishing stone" outside of the Cockle House that is buried deep within the Glen.



The Kohns

Eoin had a blast throwing rocks into the water!  Everytime he would throw one, he threw his arms up in victory.

My cheeky little monkey!

The Glen is literally just down the street from my Auntie Hannah's house, she lives on Mill Road and the Glen is right next to an Old Mill.

Just outside of the Glen, we are in a spot where 5 modes of transportation combine.  We are standing on a path next to a roadway (vehicle and foot), a river runs beneath the road, a railway is above the road and it is also a flight path for the nearby airport . . . the more you know :)

everyone gathering at Auntie Hannah's house . . . (l to r) Angeline (my cousin Michael's girlfriend) and my fav cousin, Paul (the groom) and Helena, excuse my super cheesy smile!

Ireland 2012 - The Flight

On May 16th, we arrived at the airport nice and early for a 6:45pm flight to Ireland!  Although I was completely anxiety ridden over how the boys would be on the 7.5 hour flight.  My concerns were more for Liam than Eoin - Liam was teething and is basically on a kick where he will scream loudly for no apparent reason if he isn't getting his way.  But my plan for the worst and hope for the best attitude prevailed, the flight was amazing!  Eoin played he leap pad, watched some shows and ate some snacks, Liam slept the entire way!  Jordan and I had a seat with a fold down bassinet for Liam, Grandma Lisa was directly behind Jordan and Eoin and Papa were right next to each other next to Grandma.

We had been planning this trip for almost a year and couldn't wait to get there, the 6:45pm flight with a 6 hour time change meant we would arrive there the morning of the 17th; in order to adjust to the time change in enough time to enjoy ourselves, the plan is to sleep as much as possible on the plane and then stay up until we would normally go to bed that night.

Thie kids were amazing!  I was even told by a flight attendant that we had the most well-behaved children she had ever witness - proud mommy/daddy moment right there :) 

The boys had a blast watching the planes; the Aer Lingus plane was ours, Eoin especially was very excited!

When we got on the plane, we took the time to get Liam in his jammies; he played for a little while before we took off.  He sat on my lap with an extender for the take off, then we could lay him in his bassinet.

Grandma and Grandpa Kohn were a big help!  Grandma sat right behind Jordan, Liam and I and next to Eoin and Papa; Papa and Eoin sat together. 

Liam was OUT the minute he could lie down.  He slept the entire way, stirring only a couple of times.

Eoin did sleep a little, but he had plenty of entertainment and snacks!