It was one of those weeks - everyone had an upset of some sort. Nothing big - just little things that are tough to deal with when you're five or seven or nine years of age. Or twenty-one-and-a-good-bit and all your kids are upset. On Friday morning, after a particularly fraught start to the day, my husband ...
Queuing's not much craic really, is it? I was trying to think of times when it's fun - maybe lining up to go into a night club? Something I can just about remember from a very long time ago. Or waiting to go into a concert? Maybe. But your average queue isn't fun, and certainly ...
"What exactly is Clara Lara?" asked a friend who hasn't been before. Good question. It's called a "Fun Park" but beyond that, it's difficult to define. But we've been every year for the last three years, and the kids love it more than any other day-trip we've done. So if you're thinking of a day out, ...
This post could also have been called "What we did this summer so far", or "Places I lost my youngest child this summer and needed help from strangers to find him" or simply "Brambles cafés we've been too, because they are EVERYWHERE now." We were away for the heatwave and since we've come home from holidays, the ...
Bank holiday Monday morning. I checked the weather on my phone. Cloudy, rainy, and real-feel 5 degrees. I checked the weather through my window. Bright, sunny, and the illusion of warmth. Window trumps phone. Day-trip weather. I suggested Glendalough, everyone agreed. We'd need to be quick though. The last time we tried to go there, traffic ...
I made a list. I had to. Otherwise the summer would slip by in a blur of rain and groceries and the occasional overcast barbecue, and suddenly it would be September 1st. If we were going to do some day trips, I'd need a list. So I wrote down some of last year's most successful ...
My head was a little bit tender when I woke up this morning and my brain was a little bit fuzzy - a Prosecco-type fuzziness, after an incredibly fun 40th last night. What I really didn't want to do was get five of us up and dressed and into the car by 10.15am, but I'd promised the kids ...
We were going to go to Howth today, for fish and chips. Or maybe Ardgillan Castle. Or possibly Glendalough, for a picnic. But like everyone else, we woke to that same mixed sky weather we've been seeing all week - rain, sun, rain, sun, except with more grey than blue. Howth and Ardgillan and Glendalough ...
We go off-road before we even start. Clara rushes across the grass, shrieking at the others to follow. They're going to climb a tree they say. We follow, a little behind. Watching three small figures running down the hill - I hear the opening bars of Little House on the Prairie in my head. I resist ...
We're getting braver. This summer we took five day-trips. Not too adventurous and not too far from home, but a step-up from last year. Baby-steps - or toddler-steps as the case may be. So here's a quick review of five destinations - all within an hour of Dublin: 1. Clara Lara This was possibly our favourite day ...