We originally were going to spend a whole week in Dublin because Ben was going to host a class there...well after only 3 or 4 students enrolled for the class he moved them over to the London class and we shorten our stay to 3 or 4 days. I had found a really nice apartment with some help from my Irish friend living in the Dublin area. It was going to be perfect!
We ended up at a decent hotel, kid friendly with an excellent restaurant. The bus stop for transit into the city was right out front (more on this later:) and it was in a great area of Dublin! We flew on Ryan Air, for only 1 pound...Ally was 20pounds (go figure) then come the fees...5 pounds for a suitcase, 10 pounds for airport check in, 3 pounds for priority boarding...all in all it was about 75 pounds pretty cheap.
We took a cab to our hotel and "relaxed" realizing now that relaxing really isn't part of a vacation with two toddlers in tow. We found the bus stop just fine and made it into the heart of Dublin. I had arranged a Double Decker "hop on/hop off" bus tour of Dublin...perfect for the kids! We found it no problem and enjoyed it the whole day....
We saw the Dublin castle...sort of disappointing unless we missed something...
We toured the Guinness factory- YES WITH KIDS! It was actually one of the best things we did all day with them. Not that we wanted to promote beer to Natalie we left that part out...she enjoyed the barley display where she could touch and taste and play with the "raw" barley...also the huge water display where we got a great snapshot of the family...also all the "mini" movies here and there. She enjoyed the Guinness Chocolate muffin from the snack shop and the big elevator ride up t o the "glass castle" where we tried our complimentary Guinness beer...we took some great pictures up there and I nicknamed it "The only sunny spot in Dublin".
These are the glass walls which make up the building
The Gunniess Family picture:)
We also saw Trinity College, stopped at Temple Bar and all the cool shopping spots and touristy places...even though it looked cold in our pictures it wasn't too bad except for when it rained every hour for 10 minutes...then it would stop then wait another hour and rain some more...
I love this one with Ally's head in front of Trinity College...
Back to the convenient train stop just outside our hotel....so we were tired - let me elaborate...I was tired, and had Ally in the sling who was asleep...so I was carrying an extra 25 pounds or so...Natalie was tired but just enough so she was constantly whining and dragging her feet along the ground in her stroller...Ben was pushing and he wasn't happy, his feet hurt as usual, and he has a REALLY BAD sense of direction and WON'T ask anyone which way he should go. He doesn't even like me to ask...nor does he trust my sense of direction which is usually 97% accurate. He was choosing to walk in the direction he thought we should go..(sigh) I knew it wasn't the right way...(sigh)...but he seemed determined...I pointed out a few times where the bus stopped and we could wait...he didn't seem impressed by this information. He finally got frustrated enough to ask (I mean yell at me) to lead the way...as I was doing this (in the correct direction) he was criticizing my sense of direction and insisting we were going the wrong way...he was too tired to flat out disagree I think he was happy just whining...oh wait...I wonder where Natalie learned it...(I do my fair share of whining as well - but this making for a great story isn't it?)...So there we are a family of four...all pooped out and WALKING home...I keep pointing out landmarks to Ben to assure him I have a stellar memory...hiding my grin to myself. Finally I get us pretty far from the city and quite close to the hotel but I reached an intersection and I truly didn't know which way to go so I stopped and looked at my tired family and asked Ben if he wanted to take a cab? Of course he was still NOT convinced that I had gotten us any closer...we hopped in a cab WITHOUT car seats...praise the Lord we are all OK! and in 3 miles we were back to our hotel....for the record I had taken the correct route and was so happy because even at times I was not convinced hence my offering up a truce by asking for a cab ride.
Lesson learned...even if the bus is easy to catch FROM the hotel doesn't mean it is easy to catch the RIGHT bus back to the hotel.....
This was the pivotal evening....we had arranged a hotel babysitter, Karrie, from the front desk to babysit while we ate at the hotel restaurant...I did say how delicious it was right? Ben though I was a freak when I asked to see Karrie's picture ID...I wanted to know her last name...that was all...we went downstairs for dinner and enjoyed some salmon and steak....this was when we decided to make changes to our travel plans....first we thought sunny - where in Europe could we find sun...we looked at Italy and Spain and Greece...then thought Club Med...with kid programs and promises of "relaxation" we'd pay anything for that right about now...We found a few good deals and then none of the airfare matched up..either the locations weren't offered from Dublin, or we need too many changes...anyhow this is how we wound up choosing our next location...I found us tickets $$$$cheap to go from Dublin to ???? and Ben jumped on it! Done!
The next day Ben suggested we do something totally for the kids...so I found a children's museum not far from our hotel...it was the BEST children's center EVER! It was modeled like a mini city for kids...it had an auto garage, doctor's office, library, diner, grocery store, a butcher, post office, bank, televising studio, a news anchor desk, construction zone, a HUGE dollhouse, 3 story climbing/imaginarium play structure, a fantastic kid friendly cafe...I can't say enough check out those pictures! TOO much fun...they also had a spot for Ally so she could play safe too...Ally was just learning to walk at this point so she is "free" a lot of the time.
We packed our bags the next day and headed back to the airport---heading to the USA!
P.S. we were suppose to be heading to Scotland instead via a ferry and see a castle...but we took the "Choose Your Own Adventure" route and decided to do something different:) Next time Scotland...
So my friends husband is a police officer and she organized a day for all the kiddos to gather around and witness a police car come through the neighborhood with lights and sirens! Better for Natalie and Allison to experience this in the neighborhood then behind mommy's car! Natalie was VERY shy and did not want to get in the car or press any of the buttons. Most of the kids were crazy to do this! She did pose in front of the car when I told her we could send the picture to Grandpa in Indiana...that seems to be the closest I could get her. I hope it is the closest she EVER gets...as a result from our fabulous parenting of course!
Alligator Arms...getting ready to push off to Miss Dee. 
Here she is rolling over on to a back float. They teach this for safety...in case she was in trouble she can roll over to breath and call for help.
Going over the pool safety rules.
Jumping in...one of her favorite parts! This is the safety training again. As soon as they jump in they roll to aback float to catch their breath then they swim to the edge and climb out by themselves.
Just out the pool with goggle marks...so proud!
And one more for mom!
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