School Search.. is there a TV show about this?

So, now that we know the location of our house it was time to finally visit all the schools I have been emailing with for months, then marry that with being able to live without a car and find a suitable school for Luke.  I use google maps ALOT!

The first school we visited was St. Brigid's, which location wise would be the ideal choice. It is literally a 5 minute walk from the house. When we arrived the children were all playing in the school yard, which is so different than American schools.  It is basically a gated parking lot (maybe more inner city American schools are more like this?) The principal was very nice and the children were adorable in their uniforms. There were two classrooms for Maya's age group, each had 30 kids in it.  They were connected and there was an assistant teacher that floated between the two and each classroom also had a student teacher in it as well. The building was beautiful from the outside as was the street it was on. The inside of the building was a bit dingy and old, which made sense when the principal showed me plans for the new school they were building down the road that would hopefully be open in 2016.  I left this school feeling ok, Maya would be fine here, but I wasn't ecstatic.

The second school we visited was St. Matthews School in Sandymount. This school is about 1.5km (just less than a mile) from the house which would translate into a 20 minute walk or about 8 minute bike ride.  I have been looking into the cargo bikes from Denmark where the kids basically sit in a big bucket in the front - might also be useful for picking up large amounts of groceries etc.  Anyway, my initial impression of this school was that the play yard was soo much larger than St. Brigid's, which I really liked and the building was much newer.  It felt more like a small suburban school in the States opposed to St. Brigid's which had more of a city feel. When we were buzzed in, we were immediately greeted in the front office by a very lovely (yes, i am already adopting a lot of Irish terminology) secretary who called the principal to meet us for a tour. She took us to the one Senior Infant classroom in the school (this school was a bit smaller than St. Brigid's as well) and invited Maya to stay with the class to read a story, while Veron, and Luke and I went on to tour the rest of the school.  Maya jumped at this opportunity and was very excited to be back in a classroom.  The building was really new and clean, and the principal was fantastic.  Another aspect of this school that I really liked was the fact that they have laptop and ipad carts, which I was told is not standard for Irish Primary Schools.  Additionally, this school had a lot of options for after school activities, dance, ball skills, drama, and the ability to stay until 2:10 on a daily basis, which was not offered at St. Brigid's. Overall, I had a better feeling about St. Matthews. Unfortunately they do not wear school uniforms, which I was really hoping for to eliminate any early morning Diva fighting.  But, I guess now we have a use for all the Diva clothes currently making their way across the Atlantic.

I have reached out to an American parent at St. Brigid's who has a son that would be in Maya's class there, to get her feedback, but at the moment unless she says that the teacher is an Anne Sullivan-like miracle worker, I have a feeling Maya will be attending St. Matthews. Of course the house we found was in Ballsbridge and the school I like is in Sandymount, but oh well - more exercise is not a bad thing.  I also asked Maya which school she wanted to go to and she said, St. Matthews. I assume this means the children and teacher made a good impression on her while she was in the classroom. When I asked her why, she said, "Because the little girl sitting next to me while the teacher read a story also had long golden hair like me." It is all about the important things!

Now the search for Luke. Since Luke would have started at Harborlight this fall he is so ready for school at this point. We decided not to put him in school for the month back home and then move him once we got here. So, Luke has been told for months,  "When we get to Ireland, you will start school." Well it took all of about 10 minutes after getting off the plane and he started asking when he was going to school.  There are two Montessori Schools in Ballsbridge that are both convenient to our house.  Now, making sure the times align for me dropping off/picking each up at school is more of the challenge. We got to tour Gateway Montessori first,  we were greeted by the owner, Elanine who was so friendly and happy to give us a tour even though we did not have an appointment.  She let Maya and Luke play outside in the garden with the class that Luke would be in. The classrooms were adorable and very traditional Montessori with all the familiar works on the shelves. Maya felt right at home and Luke also was very comfortable there.   We toured the entire building and all classrooms were equally impressive.  Also, this school is located right at the end of the lane where the house is located. So, location is ideal.

The next school we went to visit was Embassy Montessori School, I didn't think that there was going to be a school better than Gateway after my visit, but this principal was also excellent and VERY traditional Montessori, which I really loved! She also had a strong focus on reading/writing and mathematic, which I know Brendan will love. This school is a bit farther from the house, but I think in terms of the two schools together I would be walking two sides of a triangle opposed to the hypotenuse.    Even if it is a bit longer, it might only be a minute or two when all is said and done. The kids loved this school as well. The garden area was larger and was left pretty empty aside from a great wooden play house for the children.  She wanted them to be outside using their imagination rather than fighting over toys.

I asked Luke which school he preferred and he said Embassy, but I would really be happy with Luke at either school.

So, stay tuned and hopefully very shortly you will see which schools we choose for the kids.

The search for an Umbrella

On Friday (October 3rd) we went on our first Irish adventure in the rain. The goal was to find Brendan an umbrella for work, however somehow we never managed to buy one.  We walked from our temporary housing in Grand Canal Square to O'Connell Street (Dublin's "main thoroughfare" according to Wikipedia). Here I was able to change the last of the American cash I had on me to Euro and we popped into a few shops. Nothing major to note of this excursion, but I have included a few photos below.  I guess we still have to find umbrellas. 

Waiting for the pedestrian light to turn on before crossing the street in front of the Samuel Beckett Bridge.  Our temporary housing is right next to this Harp shaped bridge, which opened in Dublin in 2009.

Unfortunately my finger wasn't fast enough, but for a fleeting moment the sun started shining and a huge rainbow arched from the far side of the Jurys Inn all the way to the boat to the right of Maya. It last only a few moments and I was unable to capture it in the photo.

At the mall Luke spotted a "Merry-a-ground" and we splurged on the 2 euro for the 30 second ride.

It made him happy though!

This was Brendan's favorite store at the Mall. Authentic Ameican Style. AMAZING If only I had a dress with half a tiger face on it!

We spotted a toy store at the mall and the kids have been having their christmas lists ever since. We could barely get Luke off this John Deer Peddle digger. He isn't quite grasping the idea of being good for Santa though. 

International House Hunting Cont. and First proper Irish Pub

So today (October 2) was a far more positive day on the house hunt.  We primarily focussed on houses in Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, and Sandymount. All areas just south of the City Center that have good schools and are well established "old" Dublin areas. We really love this area of the city and had high hopes we might find something that would work. This area is also a lot more "city" than Blackrock or Clontarf, so we can much easier do without a car.  Ireland has our equivalent to Zip Car, called Go-Car, so this should serve us well for golf trips, grocery shopping, and other big needs for the car. But we can pretty much get on in these areas without a car on a daily basis.

The first house we looked at was in Donnybrook. Definitely at the very top of our budget, ok let's be honest all are out of our budget (unless Momma get a job - anyone have Dublin connections for a really cool/family friendly job!!??).  We loved it. It was so clean and had so much character. It had an outdoor patio that was a couple stairs and a raised deck. Maya immediately made this a stage - shocker! It had both a wood burning and a gas fireplace and a large guest room on the 3rd floor! We were ready to give a deposit on the spot, despite the fact it would definitely put our monthly budget in the red.  But we had 3 other appointments lined up for the day, so we held off with the immediate deposit, but let the broker know that it might be coming later that day or the next morning. The next place we looked at was in Ballsbridge. For all the Bostonians reading this I would equate Ballsbridge with Beacon Hill in terms of history, prestige, and access to everything in the city on foot. We didn't anticipate finding anything in our price range here that would meet our needs. BUT... this place was spectacular!! It was so nice that our relocater, Veron, actually said that if we didn't want it she would take it or if we did she would take it once we moved back to the states.  Now, of course it was small, but when comparing to something in Beacon Hill it was huge!  It had 2 large bedrooms, one normal bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a large living/dining/ kitchen space a large yard off the kitchen and a gated front that most use for parking, but since we don't plan to have a car we could use this as another play space that was paved rather than grass. Luckily we didn't give a deposit to the first house since this one might be even better for us. Still more than we were hoping to spend, but when factoring in not needing a car it was still a lot better than the places we saw in Blackrock.  However, we still had another property to look at, the one in Sandymount that also would be ideal in terms of location and potentially not needing a car. This property also had 4 bedrooms so the kids wouldn't need to share a room to have a proper guest room. We had high hopes, but it did not even come close to the first two properties.  It was tired, the kitchen needed a crazy amount of cleaning to make it usable, the carpeting was stained and gross and the furniture was old and dingy. That is not even getting into the bathrooms.  They really needed to be re-done. While there was a complete 3rd floor guest room with ensuite bath, I think any guest of mine would prefer to be in either of the first two. Bummer for us since the 3rd property was the one that actually met what we initially thought would be the top of our budget.  Oh well you get what you pay for and we are so happy to have decided on......


HOUSE #2 in Ballsbridge!!!  Seeing as these were the only houses on the market in our price range in these areas we wanted to live in, we acted quickly. While we could have waited it out and saw what came on in the next few weeks, we were eager to get settled, get Maya back in school and not miss the opportunity to live somewhere that we know we like. We secured Maya a spot at St. Brigid's National School in Ballsbridge as well as St. Matthews in Sandymount.  St. Brigid's would be a 10 minute walk from the house and St. Matthews would be about 20.  I am going to tour both on Monday. While I would love the shorter walk, and both are very highly regarded, I want to make the best decision for Maya. Veron is also looking into local Montessori Pre-schools for Luke. Thank goodness for Veron! I now want a job as a relocater - how fun and rewarding to help people and get them settled in their new environments.

After our day of house hunting we were all hungry and Brendan and I felt justified to treat ourselves to a real pub pint, since we had yet to do this since landing in Ireland. Brendan is a stickler with our new Irish budget since it is so much tighter than our budget in the US (primarily since I do not currently have a job), so it took a lot of convincing for him to let us have something other than homemade pasta. Those of you that know me well, know I do not do well with budgets :) Anyway, we convinced him and headed to Grafton Street and found a nice Irish Pub where Luke and I split fish and chips and Maya and Brendan split a burger. All in all a good day!

Brendan and kids walking down Grafton Street

Kids Bellying up at the Bar waiting for our table to be ready

Table is ready! Brendan hates Heineken in the states. It is true that in Europe it is a completely different beer. Tastes like a nice refreshing light beer rather than skunked grossness. 

Does the Irish tooth fairy leave a pot of gold?

Maya lost her first tooth just a day into landing in Dublin! It must have been the Irish apples! Lucky girl is going to be paid in Euros!

One other event that I feel the need to document that happened during our house hunt yesterday. While we were at the unfurnished house in Clontarf talking to the broker about the possibility of the owners buying back some furniture once they return to their house (the owners are currently on a 2 year job in Switzerland), the kids were running around and playing in the garden.  One of the reasons I love this house so much is because it has so much light and big windows that look right out to the garden which is completely enclosed for the kids to safely play.  Out of the corner of my eye, I glance at Maya and Luke and spot a little white bum and a high arching stream of pee. Luke decided that this yard was the perfect place for a nature pee.  Mortified I try to downplay the situation to Veron and the broker, but luckily the broker starts laughing and says "that is brilliant, no worries I have 4 kids, one of which is a 3 year old boy." Phewwww, we have a fighting chance of fitting into this country. Sorry I don't have a photo to document this one. 

Jet Lagged with Kids

So... we have arrived in Dublin.  The kids did quite well on the plane even though their personal TV's took precedence over sleep, despite the 9pm flight time.  So, all in all, I would say we each got a good 2 hours of sleep in.  Luke luckily got to nap in his stroller through the long customs line, while poor Maya struggled through lack of sleep and extreme thirst, while pushing luggage and never complained. Once we got through security, the driver that was supposed to pick us up was nowhere to be seen. But Maya played on her leap pad, Luke slept in his stroller, Brendan made some calls and I made friends with a woman in the airport who's children go to St. Matthews in Sandymount which is one of the schools that have a place for Maya. She also lent Brendan her phone since since she could tell we were scrambling and clearly had more luggage than the average traveler.  She was so nice and made a great first impression of the country, city and hopefully the area of the city we will eventually live in.

Once our driver finally arrived and we were delivered to our temporary housing we were pleasantly surprised. It was clean and and airy and right across the river from Brendan's office.  The beds were inviting and we all were able to take nap for a couple hours, Brendan's was cut short by having to go to the office and deal with a few arrival logistics, but the rest of us pretty much napped until shortly before being picked up by our relocater, Veron to look at a house.

When Veron picked us up we were still pretty groggy, but excited to start the house hunt. She took us to Blackrock and the area where the house was located was really nice and you could see that it would be nice for kids, but it made for a pretty long commute for Brendan since the house was not that close to the DART (Dublin's rail system) and the third bedroom was not much bigger than a closet. Other than that the house was great, but probably would not work for us since we were hoping to put both kids into the third bedroom and have an actual guest room.. we don't want to discourage visitors!

That night we attempted for an early bedtime to try and acclimate ourselves to Dublin time, but that backfired. The kids went to bed at an earylish time despite the mid day naps, but woke up around midnight and were fully rested right at the time we were completely exhausted. This jet lagged with kids thing is pretty rough.

Finally all were asleep and woken up around 8 am with Luke puking. When it rains it pours... although the weather has actually been lovely since we have arrived.  Brendan stayed home with Luke since he continued to puke all morning and Maya and I went with Veron to look at some more houses. We saw a few more houses in Blackrock that were over our budget and pretty reminiscent of Kelly's Senior year house at Bates! Later in the day we went and looked at a house up in Clontarf that was PERFECT, aside from the fact Maya does not have a school up there and the house is unfurnished and all our furniture is currently sitting in my grandmother's loft in Boxford. Still we are not ruling this house out, Veron is looking into where we might be able to find a place for Maya in school and I have determined I could minimally furnish the house for about 4000 euro at IKEA.

All our hopes at the moment are riding on a viewing tomorrow night at a house in Sandymount, where we have a school and the location would be ideal for Brendan's commute. So fingers crossed!! The house would meet our budget and potentially be ok without a car!  Stay tuned and we will let you know how it all pans out.