Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Castle Ross

Once we finally got our clothes back (Maddie and Jack were in their travel pajamas), we set out to explore Dublin. And by "exploring Dublin", I actually mean "stalk U2". Our first stop was U2's recording studio. We didn't get to see any of them, but at least we tried.



One of Jack's middle names is "Bonovox". (It's actually Jack Bonovox Thomas Harris.) So, Josh wanted to show him where that name originated from. Bonovox is the name that Bono (from U2) was called from his band mates, and they got it from this hearing aid store in Dublin. It eventually was shortened to Bono. It is Latin for "good voice". Josh loves music, particularly U2, so this name is very meaningful for him in that way. I agreed for it (and advocated for it) not because of Bono's good voice as a singer, but because of his good voice as a human rights advocate. He has done so much good for the international human rights movement. And as you can tell by my attending human rights law seminars in Ireland, that is a very big deal to me. Therefore, Jack's middle name is doubly important to both Josh and I. That is the very long and complicated explanation of Jack's super weird middle name.


Once we checked those items off our to do list, we headed west to our new home in Galway.



We pulled up to our temporary home, an adorable cottage attached to an old castle. I believe it all dates back to the 1500s. The hostess was welcoming and warm. But the house was not. It was a very cold two days. Luckily, we were only scheduled to be there for two days until our city house was available. It was just enough time to explore the grounds and adjust our sleep schedules. It was a very magical, sleepy, cold few days.




















The Emerald Isle for June

As my graduation present to myself and from Josh, I wanted to attend some Human Rights Law classes. I found some that interested me in Ireland. Since Las Vegas is currently in the 100+ degree range, Ireland sounded like a nice place to be during the month of June.

The only negative about this idea was traveling on an international flight with my dear, sweet, adorable little one year old son: Jack. As you can see from these two pictures that were taken within minutes of each other, traveling with a toddler who doesn't get their regular sleep schedule is....unpredictable (to say the least). 

Luckily, he did sleep a LITTLE bit, although not very much. 


After delayed flights, missed connections, multiple passport security checkpoints, airport employees refusing to work, etc., we finally made it to Dublin. But our luggage did not.



Luckily, we were staying in a nice and friendly hotel that made us feel right at home. We all wore our bathrobes (Jack preferred nudity instead) while the hotel washed all of our clothes in an express laundry. We decided to live it up and order room service. It made wearing the same clothes (and underwear) for three days straight a little more bearable.


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Daddy Daughter Dream Trip

Yes, I know my kids are lucky. Maddie has been studying the states in school, and each kid chose a state to study and write a report on. Maddie chose Pennsylvania because that is where Josh served his mission. Josh gets so excited about Pennsylvania and geography, so they decided to plan a trip there to learn more about it. Of course, they scheduled the trip around the Killers concert there. What a lucky, lucky daughter.


Ben Franklin's gravesite.


Independence Hall



Liberty Bell


Lots of driving




They stayed at a working farm's bed and breakfast and visited an Amish farm. Maddie loved it and is now begging for a pet calf.





Maddie's Amish doll


Josh has dreams about certain food places in Penn State, so he was excited to share them with Maddie. Sheetz


Waffle House


Rita's shaved ice


Crayola Factory


Hershey Chocolate Factory


Killer's Concert