Happy Halloween

The kids had a great time Trick-or-Treating

around our neighborhood tonight.

It was so much fun watching them

run from house to house and they brought

back quite a haul.

My boy learned to ride his bike without his training wheels yesterday.

He didn't ask for any help

or call any attention to the fact

that he was trying to do it on his own.

 In fact, he didn't say a single word until he had already figured it out.

My boy learned to ride his bike in Ireland all on his own,

and thinking about it puts a huge smile on my face

and leaves me feeling so incredibly proud.

The Cliffs of Moher

We woke up to sunny skies this past Sunday and decided to take full advantage if it by heading to the Cliffs of Moher.

We were not disappointed.

The first thing you see after crossing the road from parking lot is these little gift shops.

Everything is built into the hills so that it doesn't take away from the natural landscape.  Even the visitor center is built into the hills.  It's awesome.

 And then we got to see this:

The cliffs were breathtaking! 

And these pictures don't come close to doing them justice.

I was REALLY hoping to get a good family photo that day,

but I kind of underestimated the wind. 

Not a good family photo day, but a great memory.

 The other end of the cliffs.

After walking along the paved pathway with a wall along the edge to keep us safe, the kids and I decided to head to the visitors center.  It had started raining and the wind had picked up even more, so there was no way I was attempting to take the kids along the side with no railing or wall to them from falling over the edge.  I knew I had made the right choice when Nate came back with this picture:

 But he also came back with these, which I love.

The Cliffs of Moher will most definitely be on our

permanent list of places to take future visitors.

Can't begin to tell you how happy this makes my heart:

 

My house feels a little too quiet and empty these days,

and only seems "normal" when I have all of these boys

running in and out of my house. 

I am so beyond thankful for the wonderful

friends that Grayson has made in Ireland already.

Rainy Day Fun

The kids have really been missing their blocks and legos.

Not wanting to go out and drop a bunch of money on a new set,

Nate and the kids opted for some PVC pipe and connectors.

 Nate used this as a lesson in measuring and maybe safety

(I'll be honest, I wasn't listening too closely),

and I love the way the kids are paying attention to

whatever he's telling them in this picture.

And then I distracted them and made Grayson try out some fun angles for me.

But then they got back to work and started the process

of cutting the pipe down into shorter sections.

I love this one of Scarlett helping Nate sand the ends of the pipe after cutting.

Sadly, I can't get the video of the "after" to upload.

All I'll say is that my boys are awfully dangerous with a hairdryer

and an ear of corn from Scarlett's play food.  ;)

I'm not going to lie, the weather here has been pretty crappy. 

The temperatures aren't horrible, but the rain just may do me in. 

We try to take advantage of every last bit of sunshine we get.

One of the kids favorite things to do when we actually see the sun

is jump on our neighbor's trampoline. 

I love it, too, 'cause it means very little work on my part

and Scarlett actually sleeps all. night. long.  ;)

Self portrait