Holy Family School

Ian and Emma started back at school on Wednesday, August 27. The school is called Holy Family School and it is in downtown Ennis (http://www.hfss.org/) It is split into 2 different schools. The junior school is from pre-school to 1st class. (1st grade) We are part of the senior school which are grades 2-6th class. The school was run by the Nuns for many years. Mrs. Cooney, the principal is the 1st lay principal at the school. There are still a few nuns who help with religious education.

The schools here in Ireland don't believe in getting up early so they start at 9:00 and end at 2:45. The kids must wear a dress uniform or a school track suit. They also have to take hurling (for boys) and camogie (for girls.) This is a sport where you hit a small ball with a really big stick. It is very popular over here. I haven't a clue how it's played. All I know is you are required to wear a helmet which quite honestly, scares me!!

The kids seemed to have settled in quite nicely. Emma made a friend in about 10 seconds and Ian is starting to warm up to some of the boys. They still miss their friends from home, however.

The funny farm

I never in a million years thought I would live on a farm. I guess that is why we can't stop feeding, watching, and generally just obsessing about the cows, the donkey and pony.
Dave rotates the animals every 2-3 weeks so we never know who is going to be under our window the next day. Mostly it is Dunkin the donkey and Dudlee the pony. We buy groceries now for ourselves, Dunkin and Dudlee. They have taken to "wandering" near the electric fence while we are having supper. They learned pretty quickly that they get carrots and apples that way. Dunkin starts braying as soon as he sees the food. (Emma calls it honking, i.e., "why is Dunkin honking at us"?) Dudlee just trots over. I have to mention here that Dudlee is the world's ugliest pony. I say that with affection. Dave cut his hair so it looks like a mullet. He has a disease called sweet itch that makes his skin all scabby and bald in spots. He also has these weird growths on his knees. All in all, not an attractive sight, poor thing!!!

When the cows are in our field, we watch them and moo at them. Dave and Mary must think we are insane!!! There are 7 cows; 3 brown and 4 black. The alpha cow is Beryl and she bosses the other cows around. Last night, one of the black cows broke the fence around our house and was munching contentedly under our living room window. Bad Cow!!!

The last animal is Toby the dog. Toby thinks he owns us and our house as Dave used to live in this house. Toby is an outside farm dog and is not allowed in Dave's house. So of course he comes in our house and gets spoiled. He was never given a bath before I got here. He cried and fussed too much. Well, he has now had 4 baths and smells like Pantene! Toby's favorite past time is barking at Dunkin and Dudlee. One of these days, he is going to get punted!!!!

Going to Galway

We decided to take a ride out to Galway. The day was beautiful and so was the ride. We arrived in Eyre square, think Boston Common only about half the size. Being the courageous culinary connoisseurs that we are, we settled on Supermacs for our repast (just like McDonald's only not as healthy).

Just as we were getting ready to explore this beautiful city, you guessed it, the skies opened up. Good thing there was a bookstore nearby. After a mere twenty minutes of torrential downpours we saw the sites. Galway reminded us of the old city in Quebec. Lots of outdoor cafes, shops and surprise... PUBS!! The remnants of the old city wall are preserved within a two story mall. A perfect co mingling of the old and new. The arch in the picture is called the Spanish Arch and I'm sure there is some historical significance there but I can't for the life of me recall what it is. Suffice it to say that its really old and cool looking. (Can you tell we are really getting the most out of our time in Ireland?)

Emma purchased her 942nd stuffed animal. Because you always need one more. Ian bought a book and Lori finally bought a coat rack. I say finally because you wear a coat here EVERY DAY!!

The Aran Islands

A couple of weeks ago we went to visit the Aran Islands. We took the ferry to Inis Mor which is the largest of 3 islands. We had every intention of biking the 9 miles around the islands. We made it about 1/2 way. We rented tandem bikes which are a type of torture device visited upon unsuspecting parents. Did we mention that the island is one BIG hill. We didn't think it was possible to continuously bike uphill both ways. We wanted to bike to the ring fort. We made it to a lookout tower and a crumbling castle. Still, very cool and the view was amazing. We had a picnic lunch at the crumbling castle. Ian and Emma walked on the rocks while we waited for one of them to fall. We were terrified since Ian head butted the road the day before. Did we forget to mention that he was bit by 2 dogs the day before that? Well thankfully, they managed not to injure themselves.

We ended the day with vows to get in shape and I bought an Aran island sweater. You know those white knit ones that Ireland is famous for? Well they were originally from here. Mine is pink!!!(I don't look good in white!!!)

You can go to http://www.aranislands.ie/ and http://www.aransweatermarket.com/