Halloween and early November

We got back from our fall break trip to southwest Ireland and had gorgeous weather in Dublin. Sally and I did an afternoon hike at Killiney hill (we’d been there as a family in August) and also explored the old granite quarry, filled with people learning to rock climb.

The Irish are incredibly into Halloween, and in particular the kids enjoy their scary costumes (everyone was a “dead” version of something). Halloween day itself was very busy, and Sally dressed up as a peacock (she almost gave into changing to something “scary” to be like the other kids, but in the end went with her heart!). We started the day with a “Spooky Cycle” family-friendly costumed bike ride through our neighborhood of Sandymount. Thankfully we had nice weather for that because then the rest of the day it rained! We had an afternoon play date, in costume of course, followed by trick or treating with neighborhood friends. David’s costume was very well-received (see below). The kids had a great time and didn’t seem bothered by the rain and cold. We followed up with some wine and cheese for grownups while the kiddos reviewed their takings.

The next week I enjoyed the fall colors again with a hike up to The Hellfire Club. High on a hill above Dublin, this spot was trendy meeting place for exclusive society members back in the 18th century and there’s loads of stories about all the crazy stuff that went on up there. Now it’s an abandoned stone building with stunning views. The walls are fortress thick and, while it was cool to explore on a sunny day with friends, I would 100% be terrified to be there at night or on a misty day by myself…definitely had a very creepy vibe.

Sally has been really loving school. She comes sprinting out every day with a huge smile, filled with stories about her day. Her teacher seems wonderful and we are so happy to see her thriving. They use this system of “Dojo points” to encourage and reward good behavior and the Dojo champ (highest number of points) each week gets a prize and the table that has the highest number of points get special seat cushions the following week (which I think is sort of hysterical - both that the kids find this so exciting and that our school cannot afford seat cushions for all, the latter of which of course is actually more sad than funny). Sally has been Dojo champion twice and the first time she got to sit at the teacher’s desk with him and the second time she brought in a stuffed animal with her for the day. I find it so sweet that these are the things that are prizes they want and am cherishing this memory.

Last week both the men’s and women’s Irish rugby teams had home matches. On Friday Sally and I went to see the Irish women take on the U.S. women and it was really a great night. We are not the “sportiest” of families; or shall I say we don’t want any sports at all so this was Sally’s first sporting event of basically any type. Rugby is the only sport I love to watch (and David doesn’t get into any of them, either) so this will likely be her only chance until some day friends take her! ;) It was a great crowd, lots of young, enthusiastic women, and the energy was terrific. Having played during college/grad school, and playing tag again now, it was especially fun to be there.

The next day David went to Germany to see a friend so I took Sally to Malahide castle and gardens by train. The castle had a kid-friendly tour, during which we learned about the fairies who stole the butter, the secret doors in the dining room, and the portraits with the eyes that follow you. The gardens were gorgeous and of course contained an insane fairy trail. There was also a butterfly house and an incredible playground with a TWO-story super fast slide.

Sunday night we to Wild Lights at the Dublin zoo. It’s listed as one of the “top 10” holiday activities in Dublin but I admit I was a bit dubious that it would be all that cool. I was wrong, it was super cool and we all had a great time. Basically the zoo puts up these light displays of objects from around the world and you walk through the zoo admiring them and listening to music from each region. There were no animals to see (they were all sleeping and I have to think they must hate this time of year) but a really impressive display.

In proper Irish form, there have been so many rainbows and I cannot help but continuing to take photos of them! We also have a neighborhood cat who comes to visit almost daily and we are all quite enamored with him. He seems well cared for so we seem to be a second family. It's the perfect cat situation for me because I love cats and love having them around but have sworn off having one live in my home (topic for another time). We call him "Sean" though I'm sure he has a "real" name.