Settling in

Sorry for the length of time between my last post and this one. It has been a busy couple of weeks.  I have been fully consumed with moving from temporary housing into the new house as well as getting the kids to and from their new schools and attempting some sort of routine amidst moving and IKEA assembling chaos.

Maya started at St. Matthews in Sandymount last week. She LOVES it, however all of last week I was second guessing my decision to send her there. We had some bad weather and the 1 mile walk back and forth, twice a day was making life harder than I thought. Earlier this week, I reached back out to St. Brigid's (2 minute walk from the house) to see if the spot was still available. I felt terrible about switching Maya from a school she was really loving, but I thought that the convenience was going to be more beneficial in the end. I even went to St. Brigid's and got a uniform with the intention of starting her on Tuesday Oct 21.  When I got back to the house with the uniform in hand I just couldn't do it.  Maya was not happy, and something about the school just didn't seem right for Maya, plus she LOVES St. Matthews and was already making friends. So, I flip flopped AGAIN and decided to keep her at St. Matthews and suck up the walk each day for Maya (there is nothing wrong with a little extra exercise, right?).  Plus, my new bike has been ordered, so the commute will take a lot less time each day.

Luke is also settling into his school routine really well. Luke's school is very convenient, since it is right on our lane just a minute walk down the street. He cried the first few days when I left him, but was fine shortly after according to his teacher. Now a week into the routine he was all smiles when I left. He is so excited to tell me about his day when I pick him up.  His Panda Bear, Buddy has also become a part of his class and has to go to school with him everyday! They sing the good morning song to each kid and they now even sing it to Buddy.  One of Luke's little friends at school, Milo lives just two doors down from our house, so everyone was very excited when we realized this!

Photos of the kids on their first days of school in Ireland (we were still in our temporary housing when they started school)
                


We were all very excited to see all our stuff arrive from the US, just having our own things has started to make this new house feel like home. The kids were very excited to see the toys they parted with over 2 months ago.  It is also very exciting for me to have all my kitchen stuff, even though things like my roasting pan, and cookie sheets are too big for these tiny European ovens. They have now become kitchen decor taking up precious space!

Our trip to IKEA last weekend was utter chaos with the two kids. They of course wanted everything they saw. We were able to get all the big items that we needed for extra storage, but I will have to make another trip back sans kids to get all the other bits and pieces.

Brendan is in his third week of work, still trying to get his feet under him, but tells me that everyone has been really nice and helpful so far.  Six guys, four of them that sit in the same area of the office as Brendan, pooled money for a lottery ticket last week and WON!! They each spent 3 euro and each walked away with about 80,000 euro. Brendan was pretty bitter that he hadn't started work a few weeks early, made friends with those guys and got in on the pool. But, he has opened a Paddy Power account since it seems to be a large part of Irish culture.  Here is to wishful thinking that the luck of the Irish will come through in some of these bets.

The weekend before last we did a small excursion each day on the DART (Irish Rail system that runs up and down the coast). I'm not sure if the kids were more excited about the transport or the excursion.

Kids looking out the window riding the DART

 On Saturday we went up north to a town called Howth, the train ride took about 30 minutes.  Howth was really beautiful and we chose a beautiful sunny late afternoon to head up there after spending the morning at GNIB (Garda National Immigration Bureau) registering with the immigration office.  Needless to say, after that long task we were ready for some fresh air and sunshine. The seafood up in Howth is fresh and delicious so we picked a restaurant on the pier and enjoyed a nice meal.  Below are some photos from Howth.

 Monkey Faces! 

 

Being silly!

Luke admiring the boats which made him think of his Poppy! 

                                         The next day we took the DART in the opposite direction and went to a town called Dun Laoghaire, which is another seaside town.  It is actually more of a little city, especially when compared to the quaintness of Howth.  The harbor in Dun Laoghaire is one of the largest in the country and now a base for a car ferry to Britain. We didn't explore too much, but did go to a play ground for the kids and then an outdoor food market that takes place every Sunday. I am looking forward to going back and exploring more of the town. Here are some photos from Dun Laoghaire:

Maya was the photographer, she got us and the sky!