The McDonald World

December Festivities & New Year's

2012-01-19T18:30:00.017-06:00

We had such a jam packed December that I am so behind on blogging about it. It started off with a Christmas Feis in Palm Springs and a trip to Disneyland. Followed by 2 weeks in Texas to see all the family. We got to do all the usual traditions and pretty much ate our way through the holidays. The food in TX is sooo good! To wrap up the holidays we spent New Year's Day (well the day after to be exact) at the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Here is our holidays in a short photo recap! (You know me, I took no less than 300 pictures for sure!)

Sarah had a great Christmas Feis! Moved up to Prizewinner for the 1st time!

Lauren preparing for her Santa special!

Christmastime at Disney is magical. Great day at the park seeing princesses and riding our favorite rides. It's A Small World is especially nice a Christmas!

Santa visit at The Grove in L.A.

1st stop in TX was to Sweet N Sassy with all the girlfriends! Fun times!

Dallas Symphony Choir at the Morton Meyerson in Dallas. A Christmas tradition!

Little AXO Legacies cookie party! Look at all those gorgeous Iota Lambda legacies!

Nutcracker at Bass Hall! My favorite of all traditions!

Christmas Eve morning...checking out the tree with Nana.

Christmas Eve!

Santa was here!

Christmas Day at Mary Kay's house.

The very awesome red velvet cake...

Christmas with my family in San Antonio.

New Year's Eve fun at Nana & Papa's. Also celebrating Nana's birthday!

Rose Parade in Pasadena with good friends!

My Sweet Sarah turns 8

2012-01-10T15:24:00.007-06:00

How is it possible that this little girl has turned 8!? Yesterday was her birthday and we had a wonderful 2 days celebrating! Sarah is growing into the most remarkable young lady. I say young lady, because she is no longer that baby I once had. Yes, she is still a child, but she is growing out of that "kid" stage. She knows that the princesses at Disneyland are just pretend, she has her suspicions about Santa, she no longer wants to buy baby dolls and read fairy stories, but rather she is into reading large chapter books and playing with things like video games and doing art sketches. In fact, the only thing that makes me still see that little child sparkle in her eyes is when she would talk to our little Elf on the Shelf, Max, at Christmas. (I give this one 1 more year at best)

She is not only literally growing taller, but she is showing signs of being "all growns up" (Anyone know what movie that phrase cam from??) She is starting to get into fashion and actually gets excited to see a shirt box wrapped as a gift. She also inquires about more mature topics and is learning that life is not just fairy stories and happiness all the time. So, needless to say, the day that Charlie and I have been sort of dreading with all the "talks" and serious conversations about life, death, boys, etc...It is starting to knock on our doorstep. It hasn't fully been let in to sit on the couch, but we are approaching that stage and will be fully immersed in the next few years, I am sure.

She likes to be treated as a young lady. She wants to order her own food at restaurants, she has become a little teacher for Lauren and likes to read her books, she loves to teach her friends how to Irish dance, and she likes to be in on dinners with adults and is not so much a "kids table" fan anymore.

At 8 years old she does art, hip hop, ice skating and Irish dancing. Irish dancing is her love and she know takes class 3 days a week and competes at least once monthly. Her distant goal is to become an open champion and maybe one day get to compete at the World Championships. Her goal for this year is to compete at Oireachtas in November and try to recall. It is a big dream, but you gotta dream big!

Sarah is blossoming right in front of my eyes and I love what I see. She is sweet, smart, polite, a little sensitive, very talented and very caring. I am so proud that she is my daughter and I am so in love with this little girl.

My sweet Sarah.

Little Birdie Sip & See

2011-12-14T10:20:00.004-06:00

Back in October, one of my very best friends had an adorable baby boy. Since this was her 2nd child she opted to have a Sip & See after he was born, rather than a full blown baby shower. So a couple of weeks ago we had a simple, small gathering to see the baby and share some gifts with her. I chose a simple theme that was not too over the top and yet was appropriate to the occasion. 'Welcome to the Nest' with little birdie touches was a sweet simple theme. Here are some photos from the morning soiree.

Me with my BFF and her sweet baby!

He slept through most of the shower and when he was awake he was a perfect angel!

Cute birdie cupcakes. Baby boy has an older sister, so that is why the other birdie is pink! The cupcakes were lemon and vanilla, with coconut frosting.
Got them at Cupcakes Couture in Manhattan Beach

We had a lovely spread of quiches, bagels, berries, and blueberry or blood orange mimosas!

Simple little favors were miniature soaps and the box read "The nest egg"

Oireachtas 2011

2011-12-03T11:09:00.010-06:00

If you are not familiar with the world of Irish Step Dance then you might have no idea what the term Oireachtas is. I just learned this year myself. It is the regional Irish Dance Championships, and this year the western region competition was held in Anaheim, CA. Sarah has been doing Irish dance since the spring of 2010 (Age 6), but didn't get really serious about it until we moved out here in January of 2011. We found a great school in our area. It is the Kelly School of Traditional Irish Dance located in El Segundo. By June, Sarah had competed in her first Feis and has quickly moved up in the levels of competition.

Kelly School pin

Basically you start out as Beginner 1 in 4 soft shoe dances and 3 hard shoe dances. As you place in the top 3 you can move on up to Beginner 2. From there, you have to place in the top 2 to move to novice level. At present, Sarah is novice level in 3 soft shoe dances and 1 hard shoe dance. The next step after novice would be prize winner level and then champion levels from there on. So she has been doing quite well pretty fast!

So every November, kids compete at the Oireachtas. For kids that are 10 and up this is a HUGE deal, because if they place well (it varies on how many are in their competition), they can qualify to go to the World Championships!! This is typically the only way to qualify. I believe you can at the National competition, but that takes place after Worlds. This year the World Championships are in Belfast, Northern Ireland in April.

Sarah got to compete in her first Oireachtas this year, which was a big accomplishment. Teachers get to hand pick you they think should compete. (I could not register Sarah myself, the teacher decides). Sarah was picked to compete in the Traditional set competition which is a beginning level competition. Dancers in this competition cannot qualify for Worlds regardless of age. They have to compete at the champion level. Sarah had 22 in her competition and she placed 6th!! We were so proud. She danced the St. Patrick's Day dance beautifully!

Sarah also got to compete on a Ceili Team. They danced the High Cauled Cap traditional dance and Sarah's team did well. They had 10 teams in their group and they placed 8th. They had hoped for higher, but they were a young team and had not been practicing for very long. This was their first time doing the dance at a competition, too, so there was probably a little bit of nerves at play. She had fun doing it, though!

Sarah and her teacher, Ms. Kelly

So Sarah's upcoming goals: She wants to place in the novice level in her remaining dances at the next Feis in Indian Wells next week. We have ordered her a solo dress from Ireland and I promised her she could have it once she reached novice level completely! The dress is not here yet and we cannot wait to see it. Once the kids reach novice level, they can forgo the school uniform and wear the sparkly costume!

Next goal: To work hard this year, go to as many Feis' as we can, and by next Oireachtas get to compete at the championship level. Her big goal would be to recall at Oireachtas (which means to be a finalist), so we will see. There could be up to 80-100 girls in her competition next year, so that would be quite the accomplishment. What awesome practice and experience to have for the next few years leading up to being able to qualify for Worlds! The biggest of all dreams!

To learn more about this little world of Irish Dance I highly recommend watching the documentary called JIG. It is the story of different kids competing at the 40th anniversary of the World Championships. Awesome dancing and it explains a lot about what life is like being an Irish dancer and a parent of one.

Thanksgiving 2011- San Antonio

2011-11-29T14:56:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful week in San Antonio visiting my dad and step mom. Opa and Myrtle as my kids call them! We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with yummy food, LOTS of football (thank the lord the Cowboys won), a beautiful day, and many blessings to be thankful for. Here are some photos from the week!

Mi Tierra Mexican restaurant. This is how it looks 365 days a year. So much fun! A usual hang out for us. Great food, drinks, music, atmosphere, and Mexican bakery! Go HERE to check it out!

The day after Thanksgiving we spent the afternoon in Gruene (pronounced Green), TX. It is just north of New Braunfels and is a great little, picturesque town. Great antique shopping, food, and I noticed a rather cute honky tonk there too! Gruene is located right on the river, so in the summer I imagine that is a hot spot.

We had dinner at the Gristmill that over looks the river. Go HERE to see more. Very pretty place with great food!

The girls even enjoyed a little cookie decorating with Opa & Myrtle

One last shot before I leave you....my sweet pilgrim!

Thankful

2011-11-24T12:14:00.002-06:00

Once again it is Thanksgiving and I am so thankful for so many things. It is almost too many to list. We are in San Antonio with my dad and step mom. So right off the bat I am thankful for family and the fact that I am not the one cooking the turkey this year! It sure does smell good and I did not have to get up at 6am to do it!

But in all seriousness, I am thankful for my family, my sweet, darling girls, my wonderful husband, the health of my family, the perfectly beautiful day today and the feast we are about to eat. I am so thankful for all of our friends, old and new. We are thankful for the beautiful place in Hermosa Beach that we now call home. We are truly blessed and are reminded every night when the gorgeous sunset melts into the Pacific and we are listening to the lullaby of the ocean waves. Even though there are people we miss and wish were here with us, I am thankful to have had them in my life and and thankful for the many memories. I am thankful for the wonderful country we live in and the life I was born into. I am so glad we have a holiday in which we spend the day reflecting on our blessings and not what we don't have. In addition to the meal, the football, the parades, etc....it is truly a wonderful day that everyone, every human being, can partake in and be a part of. Happy Thanksgiving!

La mia Italia: Vernazza & Monterosso

2011-11-15T14:08:00.004-06:00

My mother-in-law told me this morning about how there had been horrible flooding and mudslides in Cinque Terre (specifically Vernazza and Monterosso). So I quickly went online and googled Vernazza flood 2011 and this is what I found:

VIDEO

Unbelievable. This actually happened on October 25th. I can't believe this is the first I had heard of it. This was a gorgeous spot in the beautiful Italian Riviera. We were there in 2007 and just loved it. We actually had stayed in Riomaggiore, but Vernazza was every one's favorite of the 5 hillside towns. Here is what it looked like on our trip.

Sarah being a pouty baby sitting water's edge.

You can go HERE (SAVE VERNAZZA) to help with the clean-up and rebuilding effort.

Halloween Recap 2011

2011-11-08T14:41:00.011-06:00

We had a great first Halloween in Hermosa this year. My little angels were, well, actually and angel and an angelfish. We had some friends over for dinner and then went down to the walk streets for 'trick-or-treating'. It was quite the scene and I was very happy to see that the residents really do participate and make it fun for the kids. After 3 walk streets their buckets were full and they were ready to come home and survey the damage.

Leading up to the big day, Lauren had her harvest festival at her school, Sarah had a Halloween carnival at her school and she had a Pippi Longstocking Day on Halloween. We also did a little pumpkin shopping to pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve for the annual McDonald Family Pumpkin Carving Contest. We used Facetime to be a part of the action and it was quite fun!

We ended our Halloween week, with a broken arm for Sarah (scooter accident) and new glasses for Lauren!

Fun Times in Southern California

2011-10-21T12:58:00.007-05:00

At the end of September we had the luxury of having a 4 day weekend. I am not sure if it was because it was a Jewish holiday, or just a couple of furlough days the school had to fit in, but we had a blast with our time off. On the Thursday, a friend of mine and I decided to take the girls to Disneyland. We surprised them, of course, because it is so much more fun that way! My friend and I have 7 year-olds that are BFF's and we have younger girls that are only about a year apart, so it is nice to get together and hang out. Moms are happy and girls are happy! I am very lucky to have made such a good friend and gotten to know this woman in my area and I am even more lucky that our kids love each other!

So here are some pics from that fun day! Disney was all decked out for Fall and Halloween, so extra fun for the kiddos!

On Friday, I decided to take Sarah and Lauren to the American Girl Place at The Grove in LA. This is a fall tradition for us. We love to go have a girls day having lunch in the bistro/cafe and then doing a little shopping. In addition, it gives me a chance to find out what is good for their Santa list this Christmas! Since Lauren's birthday was a couple of weeks from when we went, I let her pick out her first real American Girl Doll to replace her Bitty Baby. She picked the Kanani doll and loves her very much! What a wonderful day with my girls! I just love them!

Lauren's Tinkerbell/Peter Pan 4th Birthday Party

2011-10-13T11:39:00.008-05:00

What a lovely little magical party Lauren had this weekend! I owe it all to the special guests that came to celebrate Lauren's birthday with her.

I usually go all out on these parties, but decided that since our beach house isn't quite spacious enough to host lots of little kids running around, to go easy this year. I booked the local park, got a bounce house, made some cupcakes from a box mix, and hired some spectacular entertainers to do all the hard work of entertaining the kiddos. Lauren really wanted a Tinkerbell theme, but because we know a few more boys out here than we did back home in TX, I turned it into a Peter Pan theme to accommodate. Here are the photos and few details.

The Details:
Location: Valley Park, Hermosa Beach
Entertainers: True Enchantment Entertainment
Bounce House: Planet Bouncy
Invitations, stickers, cupcake toppers: Katie Belle Paperie
Tutus/Fairy Wings: Designed 2B Sweet
Party Favors: Party City

Birthday Girl

2011-10-08T23:39:00.005-05:00

Today my Lauren is 4! As I posted on Facebook, she is certainly made of sugar, but she is definitely more spice. Anyone who knows her knows that she is my wild child. She is not the quite perfect angel like her older sister, but rather an attention getting, independent, little devil! Well, not really a little devil. She is my Lauren. She has that look in her eye and you know she is up to no good and is not going to listen to a word you say, but she is sweet as honey. Momma...Momma...Momma, is what I hear all day long from her. The best is at night when I get an "I love you momma". "I want a hug and a kiss", she tells me. I love that she cuddles up next to me on the couch. It rather interferes with my right arm and its mobility to surf the net or check FB, but oh how it melts my heart that that is her favorite spot to sit in the living room. She is my chocolate milk drinking, cheese loving, sweet tooth little girl. Her only real fruit or veggie she eats is the occasional banana, apple slice or 2, the baby food sweet potatoes I don't know how she can eat, and the grapes that take her 10 minutes to eat for just one. She completely dissects it to get out any strange seeds or textures she has found. I can FINALLY say that she is sleeping through the night on a regular basis. Something about this saltwater, smog infused air that must be doing her some good. She no longer wakes up crying multiple times during the night and this is making mommy and daddy very happy. It also makes her very well rested and ready to take on her many activities. She does gymnastics and ballet/tap every week and faithfully attends all of Sarah's hip hop, soccer, ice skating, and Irish dance practices and cheers her on. "Now that I am 4 momma, I am going to take Irish dance, ice skating, and soccer too," she tells me! Oh my! We are already out between the hours of 3:30-6:30 5 days out of the week doing activities. Where my I ask are we going to fit all this in?? Not only does she want to try all these things, but she is my little American Idol in training. She sings and raps in the backseat of the car to all her little Justin Beiber and Shake It Up songs, and I will post (one I get it filmed) her rendition of "Watch Me" from Shake It Up. SOOO CUTE!

And somewhere in the midst of all this going on, she is my little religious child. This aspect of Lauren is one that I find very sweet, but very humorous, all at the same time. Although we do talk to our girls about God and Jesus and the Bible, they are not exposed to church every Sunday, Sunday school, and lots of religion talk. Lauren, however, going to her church pre-school amazes us and catches us off guard often with what she is learning. I was once asked out-of-the-blue at dinner one night if I was a good Samaritan? Which when I said yes, and asked her back if she was, she said, "No, I am a bad Samaritan!" Another time I mentioned to the girls that we would go to Barnes & Noble so Sarah could pick out a new chapter book, which Lauren's response was "and I can get a Bible!" She also recently drew me a picture on the Ipad of Jesus on the cross. She used to draw rainbows and smiley faces. She also sings countless songs that are the type you would learn at Vacation Bible School. She also likes to tell us about all the Bible stories she is learning. We are quite impressed and humored at the same time that she is our little theologian.

So there she is...my little Lauren...my little 4 year-old. My beautiful little child who can bring a smile to my face, melt my heart, and drive me a little bit crazy all at the same time. Tonight when I tucked her in bed, I turned on her Twilight turtle, wound up her music box, and got the sweetest hug and kiss from her. She was happy, content, and loving her star-filled room, with Beauty and the Beast playing on the music box, and dreaming of her party tomorrow. No words can describe how much I love this little child.

Recent cute words/phrases:
zizzors - scissors
"I got my bangs back" - when we got her bangs cut right before school started.

Photos: Many thanks to my friend Anna Stokes for capturing these adorable images of Lauren. GO HERE to see her website!

Pink Skygirls Soccer

2011-09-10T22:06:00.010-05:00

Soccer began today! Just when you thought we couldn't add another activity to our already growing list, here we are. Sarah was very excited to start again. She took the spring off, not by choice, so she was glad to get back at it. It helped too that there was a girl from her class on her team and that the uniforms were pink. Not sure how the group came to the decision of the name The Skygirls, but it is cute! Us moms think it has something to do with all the pink sunsets we have had lately. Hermosa Beach is truly a beautiful place to live.

So today was their first game. Although they played good and hard, they still got beat by the Teal Dragons 3-0. Sarah started out as goalie and gave up 2 goals, but she saved a lot more. When it was her turn on offense, she almost scored 2 herself, but just no luck today. The main thing is she had fun and it was a great day for soccer. Looking forward to a great season!

Oh yea...the girls also started dance this week. Hip Hop for Sarah and Ballet/Tap for Lauren.

Since I didn't post about their recitals this summer here are some photos from that. They both did awesome and put on great shows.

So if you are keeping score:
Lauren: gymnastics & ballet/tap
Sarah: Art, Hip Hop, Soccer, ice skating, and Irish Dance (3 times a week)
Did I mention I am trying to get her on a Brownie troop, too?? Thursday is our only open day, so if they don't meet on Thursday, we are out!

Labor Day Weekend on Coronado Island

2011-09-06T11:16:00.013-05:00

This past weekend Sarah had a Feis (Irish Dance Competition) in San Diego. Since it is such a beautiful city and the drive could take anywhere from 3-4 hours, I decided we should go down the day before and make a little girls weekend out of it. Just me and my 2 girls!

Lucky for us, the hotel where the competition was being held had sold out, so I used that to justify getting to stay at one of the best hotels in country, Hotel del Coronado. I had visited this hotel in the past, but had never actually stayed. It did not disappoint. The girls loved it so much we already are trying to figure out when we should go back. Out hotel room was probably our least favorite part, but it was still nice. We did not reserve an ocean view room, but we did have a small view of the bay from the back side of the hotel. This turned out to be good because we got to see fireworks later that night.

The views from our room

The first thing we did was shop and do a little scavenger hunt they had set up for the girls. They got to go on the hunt for stickers at different locations around the hotel. Once they got all of them, then they got a prize out of the treasure chest at the kids club. We then went to the beach and it was quite nice. The sand was soft and the beach very flat. It was an easy walk out to the waves. (Here in Hermosa it can feel like quite the trek most times) The water was too freezing for my liking, but it didn't seem to bother the girls. After the beach we went up to the pool and I let Sarah swim for a little bit. Lauren lounged poolside like the little princess she is.

My favorite little shop

After that we went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant Sheerwater. (This is 1 of about 4-5 restaurants at the hotel) When that was done we headed back out to the beach for some sunset pictures. Thankfully the girls amused me and let me take about 200 pictures of them. It usually takes that many for me to really get some good shots. Then it was ice cream and off to bed.

The next morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It was amazing. Then we headed down the road to the competition. Sarah did great as usual. This time she placed 1st in the Hornpipe, 2nd in the St. Patrick's Day dance, 3rd in the Light Jig, and 4th in the Reel and Single Jig. She had a lot of fun and we all did the whole weekend. It went by too fast!

1st Day of 2nd Grade

2011-09-01T11:12:00.007-05:00

One of my all time favorite writers is James Barrie. He was the author of Peter Pan. If you ever go searching through his writings and his quotes, you will find he wrote a lot about growing up, having hope in the unknown, relishing being young, and about childhood dreams in general. One of my favorite ones I found from the movie Finding Neverland, was this one:

"Young boys (or girls) should never be sent to bed, for when they wake up they are a day older."

Now whether or not Mr. Barrie himself actually uttered these words or it was a line written in the script for Johnny Depp to read (he played Barrie in the movie), is beside the point. It has great meaning for me and on days such as yesterday when you take your baby to school and you realize she in the 2nd grade, you sort of wonder, where the time has gone.

Sarah and her BFF

I am so grateful I have a child that loves school. I am sure there will come a day when she does not, but for now she is absolutely giddy with excitement. Even when we found out she only knew 3 boys in her hew class and no girls, she wasn't phased a bit. She is a very social girl and has never had a problem making new friends. She loves being around all her friends, she loves learning new things, she loves wearing new school clothes, and she seems to like her new teacher. As a mom, it makes me happy knowing that when I drop her off everyday, the place she spends the majority of her childhood, is a happy place for her.

She said yesterday, "Mom before you know it, I will be in the 3rd grade" and I responded with, "Before I know it you will be going off to college!" Sort of makes me not want to put her to bed tonight and just hold her close and try to keep her from growing up.

Mr. Barrie knew a thing or 2 about children and life and about how as humans it is a struggle to deal with the fact that things change and will never be the same. I feel I can relate to so much of what James Barrie wrote about and cared about. I encourage you to watch Peter Pan again (and this time, not through the eyes of a child.) I also encourage you to watch this movie:

Not only is Johnny Depp amazing as ever, but it is such a touching, beautiful movie. One of my favorites of all time!

Back to Blogging

2011-08-31T15:59:00.019-05:00

So, If I have anybody left who still checks to see if I am blogging, I am back! I decided to take the summer off. I have not been busy every single second and could have found the time to blog, but just didn't feel like it. I was having such a great time just enjoying life. Something about sitting down at the computer almost every night to journal my day, sort of felt like homework to me! However, I started this blog to be a memory book of sorts for our family and my kids to have one day. SO I find that I NEED to get back to blogging.

So what did we do all summer?? As for our family, we didn't do the vacation thing this year. Instead, Charlie's family came out to visit us for the 4th of July week. We had a wonderful time visiting, eating, playing games, going to the beach, sight-seeing, etc...Here are some pics from the week.

Lobster Dinner rooftop

The McDonald Family in Palos Verdes

4th of July

Sarah was busy doing camps and Irish dance competitions. Sarah started her camps with a dance (all-in-one) camp. It was basically hip-hop, jazz, yoga, musical theater, cheerleading, and music everyday. She then did a couple of weeks of beach camp, an Irish dance camp, and soccer camp. Amidst all that, she continued to do her art classes, ice skating classes, and upped her Irish dance classes to 2 days a week. She also competed in 3 competitions this summer and did well in all of them. So a lazy summer she did not have, but a fun one for sure.

Sarah's 1st Feis

2nd Feis medals

Soccer Camp

Her team (U.S.A.) won the mock tournament

Lauren continued to do gymnastics and asked me weekly when she would start ballet up again. She is excited for next week! She spent most of her days at the summer camp at her daycare, however, we did pull her out some to do some fun activities. She had some play dates with friends, we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Natural History Museum.

Ready for Pirate Fest at the Aquarium

Natural History Museum

Charlie has been a busy, busy worker bee. He has worked 2 bike races (Tour of France and Tour of Colorado) and has been hard at work prepping for his new gig as the producer of the weekly college football game on FX. This is the FOX network's 1st year of doing college football and Charlie was picked to be the producer. It is sort of a big deal and a big promotion for him. It has been a lot of hard work, but it has taken him all over the country for press and media days, he has had some fancy dinners out (which is the part I am jealous of), and has been on the phone or computer about 99% of the summer. A restful summer at the beach he did not have, but he loves what he does.

I have been busy carting kids around to play dates, camps and competitions, as you can imagine. On July 22nd, I became the primary care giver extraordinaire to our dog Peaches. She decided to jump off our tall bed and dislocated her hip and had to have emergency surgery to keep it back in place. I do love my sweet old dog to death, but a good patient she is not. She is supposed to rest and recuperate and she has done everything in her power to be nothing put active and disobedient. We are in the last 2 weeks of this healing period where I have to carry her up and down the stairs (we live in a 3 story house) and I am not allowed to let her jump on anything. (Mind you her favorite place to be is on the couch). I will be so glad when she is back to "normal".... And somewhere between being mom and dog nurse, I have been working at my new business of being a Stella & Dot Stylist. I LOVE this job and have had great success my first 3 months in business. Every month has been better than the one before. If you are not familiar with this product, you need to go check it out and fall in love with it like I did!

www.stelladot.com/tamaramcdonald

Poor Peaches

So there is our summer, busy, but fun! The fall looks to be even busier and even more fun. I love that we decided to move to Hermosa Beach. I think it is suiting us well.

I will be back to blogging more frequently now, in fact, I will post tomorrow about 1st Day of School and next week about our girls weekend to San Diego for Labor Day.

Stella and Dot: I'm a Stylist Now!

2011-06-03T12:49:00.008-05:00

I first heard about Stella and Dot in August of last year. A friend had invited me to a trunk show, and although I could not attend, I looked at everything online and just loved it! During this time we were planning our out of state move and in the back of my mind I thought I might like to try this once we got settled. In May I hosted a trunk show for a stylist I met out here and it was a great success. My party grossed over $1000, which meant I got tons of free jewelry for hosting the party (about $430 worth, along with 4- 1/2 priced items), so I was hooked! It is now June, we just closed on our house in CA, we are settled, and I am ready to take on a new opportunity. That is how I look at this.

An opportunity to get lots of great jewelry to wear.
An opportunity to do something that makes me happy and gives me an outlet from being just mom.
An opportunity to meet lots of new people and reconnect with my friends I had out here from before.
An opportunity to make a little money to spend on my cute kids.
An opportunity to run that business I have always wanted to, but was too afraid to take the leap!

I am in the beginning phases of my business. I am looking to book trunk shows for anyone interested in getting FREE jewelry and I will have my launch party once the new Fall line comes out later this summer!

To me the jewelry and the company is so much more than any at-home party product I have seen before. (Being from TX, I have been to my fair share of at-home parties. It is what we do.) This stuff is so cute, so versatile, so well made, and so much fun! If you aren't familiar with Stella & Dot, please check out my button to the side. It is a link to my website. You can buy jewelry at any time. You are not bound to just attending a show. I know a lot of you that read do not live near me anymore, so just know you can still support me and enjoy the jewelry at anytime! I know you will love it as much as I do!

Here are some photos from my 1st trunk show that I hosted in May
Cinco de Mayo!!

Thoughts on Normandy

2011-05-30T20:38:00.012-05:00

This Memorial Day I am thinking about our trip last June to Normandy. I am jumping ahead a little bit in my journal-ing of our vacation to bring you some photos of this spectacular place.

Never have I been so moved and humbled by a location before. The sites we visited were truly awe inspiring. To see first hand those beaches in which our brave soldiers fought so gallantly was amazing and eerie. To think how horrible those landings were and to see how far and long the beaches were at low tide and then the cliffs they had to climb once they reached the shore was unbelievable. World War II movies come close to capturing the horror, but it is all too much to take in when standing there thinking of what it must have been like. Rows and rows of brave dead men and you can't help but be moved and feel patriotic. I found this section of France particularly to be very welcoming to Americans. The French get a bad rep in the eyes of many Americans, but those in this region remember well, first hand or through stories, what the Americans did for them. There are just as many American flags flying in this region as French. I highly recommend any American tourist to travel to this location and spend a few days, if not a week or so, seeing all the sights. A special place to remember this Memorial Day weekend.

Iron Mike - a memorial just outside of St. Mere-Eglise

This is just one of the many bridges that our troops fought to keep control of. Amazing how small it is and yet how important. The paratroopers (from the story Band of Brothers) were the ones to land here.

The church in St. Mere-Eglise. If you look closely you can see the fake para-trooper hanging from the troop. This is a memorial to a solider for whom this actually happened to. He hung up there while fighting commenced all around him. After 2 hours he was cut down by the Germans and taken prisoner. He was later released to the Americans. You can read the story HERE.

Stained glass windows in the church with para-troopers surrounding the Virgin Mary.

The girls at the Airborne Museum in St. Mere-Elgise

The writing on the wall at the American cemetery in Normandy. Such powerful words.

This place was sad, beautiful, moving, haunting, and all around amazing. This was the American cemetery in Normandy. Just out past the graves you see the beaches of Omaha Beach. Go HERE to read more about this awe-inspiring place.

The memorial at Omaha Beach.

We went to go walk the beach and were greeted by hundreds of these little jellies. IF the war wasn't bad enough, to be greeted by a beach full of these babies would have just added to the struggle of the day.

Point du Hoc
This location lends itself to another story of valor and bravery. Read about it HERE.

Entrance to one of the artillery bunkers

Us next to one of the bomb craters.

Utah Beach in the morning low tide. Look how far it is to the water.

Utah Beach at sunset. Look how much farther still to the water... So scary to think about all those brave men so exposed for so long when getting off those boats. How brave they must have been.

I have many more pictures from this area. This was just the tip of the iceberg. I was never a big World War II buff and certainly didn't know (and still don't know) all the stories, but there is so much to learn here about some many brave men. You can just be driving down the side of the road and see a monument to a hero that died doing something that helped his battalion or group get to where they needed to be. We hear so many times about specific main battles and main heroes, that we forget all the ones that go un-mentioned. This place memorializes them all. Well all they know about. Truly a patriotic place and one we as Americans can be very proud of.

Our house on Whittier Lane

2011-05-26T23:55:00.013-05:00

Tomorrow, May 27th, we close on our house on Whittier Lane. In many ways I am excited because in this market I was worried it would take forever and a day for it to sell, and I am ready to be a permanent CA resident. On the other hand, it was a great house and I will miss it. Going through all my photos from the past 6 years, I admit I am sitting here tearing up writing this post. We have had a great 6 years there. Aside from the loss of some loved ones that took place during those 6 years, it was a wonderful, happy, perfect time in our lives.

We moved into the house on Whittier Lane in April of 2005. We built and designed this house from the ground up. We chose the lot and everything in between. Right down to the knobs on every drawer. It was our baby.

Our 1st Christmas in the house.

Speaking of babies, when we moved in Sarah had just turned 15 months. We loved raising her in this beautiful home with a lovely nursery and lots of room for her to crawl around in (although we had her caged in most of the time!). It is also the home we brought Lauren home to from the hospital in 2007.

The girls have enjoyed so many happy times in this house.
From birthday parties...

(Yes, we had a pinata in the foyer)

Halloween costume pictures in the front yard...

to camping in the back yard...

to helping me in the kitchen....

random silliness....

everyday life.....

to cheering on our Horned Frogs to a Rose Bowl victory!

Our house was so beautiful anytime of year. My favorite was spring because that as when everything was in bloom. Including my beloved hydrangeas.

If I could have brought them with me I would have. I will have them growing here in no time though. The climate here actually suits them better!

It was also gorgeous in the winter when we had our snows. I will NEVER forget the magical Christmas Eve in 2009 when it snowed all day. The warmth and love and coziness I felt that day was palpable and unforgettable.

I also will never forget the day it snowed 13 inches and we were caught in a full on snowpocalypse.

We had many great times at our house celebrating Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July pool parties, my 30th birthday and my husband's 40th birthday. We also had a bridal shower there, many many play dates, and watched countless Cowboy losses throughout the years.
My family gatherings were my favorite and that is the number one thing we miss most about moving.

We also miss having our friends over....

and their kids.

I will always have a special place in my heart for our house on Whittier Lane. What happy, happy times we had there. In some ways I think how could I ever move from OUR home where we made so many memories....but I have to always remember that home is the family and not just the shell of a house. We will have a happy home and create happy memories where ever we are.

And what a beautiful place we find ourselves in now to start that next chapter!

My Top Ten: Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T22:26:00.005-05:00

Although I did not end up staying up all night to watch the wedding, I did DVR it and watch it this morning. I LOVED it and was in near tears several times. Mostly because I was so happy for William and wished dearly for him that his beautiful mother could have been there to see it all. But also I was so happy and excited for Kate. I remember all to well what it was like to be a bride. Even me being a simple commoner having experienced nothing like what she did today, I could still feel that excitement and happiness that comes with being a bride and marrying your "prince"!

So what were my top ten favorite things about the wedding:

10. The location of the ceremony.

There is something so sacred and special about being married in a church, but to be married in a cathedral that has been standing for hundreds of years, it must be awe-inspiring. I have walked in many old cathedrals and basilicas in my travels and I cannot even imagine what it might be like to be married in one. If I could have my pick, I would pick St. Peter's in Rome. Breathtaking! I thought they had decorated Westminster beautifully and I love the layout of it. It was a wonderful backdrop.

9. The hats of the guests.

I have always loved the British tradition of wearing hats to weddings. There is something so formal about them and I love how fun all the designs are. There were several that were border-line weird, but for the most part, I loved looking at them all!

8. The wedding cakes.

Especially the fact that William had a groom's cake! How southern is that! People in CA don't even have groom's cake normally. I even loved that his cake was a recipe from a cake he used to eat as a child. How sweet. I thought they were both beautiful!

7. Prince Harry.

I love how cute these two brothers are together. He seemed to play the part of the perfect younger brother/best man. I saw him making jokes and just being a brother to William on many occasions. It has been so neat to watch these boys grow up. They both really take after their mother.

6. The carriage ride.

How royal is that. It is like something out of a fairytale. Sure you can arrange to exit in a horse and carriage after your own wedding, but when does anyone ever get to parade around the city with millions of people cheering them on and with hundreds of uniformed escorts. AMAZING. ROYAL.

5. The exit from Buckingham Palace.

How cute was that when William and Kate left on their own in such an amazing car. It even read Just Wed on the license plate. I could have done without the cheesy balloons and ribbons on it, but how wonderfully cute and surprising the whole thing was.

4. The formality.

I love all the royal protocol and all the proper-ness of the whole thing. How much time must they all spend learning how to be royal. How to act graciously, who to shake hands with and who to not, how to compose yourself and be proper all the time. It was amazing and refreshing to see. One thing I love about being from the south is all the etiquette and learning how to be and act, and it is so nice to see that there is still a proper way to be and the royals are experts at it.

3. Pippa's dress.

I almost half expected for Kate to be wearing something along the lines of Pippa's dress. How perfect is her petite frame and how wonderfully beautiful was her dress. It was fit perfectly and I loved that it was white. It complemented the whole bridal party I thought.

2. The coordination of the wedding.

I am not sure who the wedding planner(s) was/were, but my hats off to them. I am pretty sure it wasn't a Martha Stewart or a Colin Cowie, but they need to be equally recognized as if they were. How in the heck do you coordinate such a fete and have it come off without a hitch. As a planner myself I am in awe of how you seat all 2000 guests appropriately in a church where most will not have a view at all. How you get people from 3 different locations, to one location at perfect intervals and in the order they need to be. I am imagining people on radios going cue the brothers, cure the mother, cue the queen, cue Kate, etc....They all made it on time and in the correct order. Amazing. Prefect.

1. Kate's Dress.

My first reaction when I saw it was, that's it...that's what she chose? I have seen that dress before? Someone else has worn something almost identical before. It is so the opposite of what I pictured her in. Where is the modern day princess everyone was talking about? How safe of a pick. How boring of a pick. How not representative of a young bride. It looks like an older bride dress. So at first I was disappointed. So how did it make my #1?? It was perfect for the occasion. Had it been me, I would have picked the same thing. I would have said, "I want to look like Grace Kelly, like royalty. I want to be that traditional princess bride. I want a tiara, I want a ball gown, I want lace, I want to be exactly what I had always pictured a princess bride to be. In that sense, I LOVED it. She is so beautiful and it fit her perfect and it was just perfect for a royal wedding.

Royal Wedding Fever

2011-04-28T15:25:00.004-05:00

I have got it bad! I remember Diana's wedding 30 years ago very well! I remember watching it on TV and just being mesmerized! I think it was at that moment I became in love with weddings. Her wedding was the stuff dreams were made of. I must say, all the excitement and those feelings are coming back now for the wedding of her son. I am almost seriously contemplating staying up all night to watch this thing! The coverage begins at 1am PST. Am I crazy??

I cannot wait to see Catherine in her dress. I mean really, that is all I really care about. What crown will she wear is maybe something I am looking forward to. Maybe! All this hype made me bring out my old Diana doll my aunt gave me the year she was married. It is a little old and yellowed, but I love it. It is priceless to me.

I still have all my old Diana books too. I used to gaze at these pondering my life as a princess one day when I was a little girl. I wonder if my girls will do the same about Kate? Probably not as they don't seem to be as into it all, ....yet.

Somewhere I have the post card my babysitter sent me that actually went to London to be a part of the Diana and Charles festivities. She also brought me back a viewfinder with images from the wedding on it. I made scrapbook upon scrapbook of magazine cutouts of Diana when I was growing up. I just loved her. It was such a sad day the day I heard the news about her passing. The world lost a wonderful lady that day. I have hopes that Kate will be just as much a beautiful princess and wonderful role model as Diana was. I feel like a proud mom and am so happy that William seems to have chosen well!

Cannot wait for the big day that starts tonight!!

Disneyland for Easter

2011-04-25T22:36:00.019-05:00

It was not your traditional Easter for us this year. Since we have moved away from family and Charlie was home this rare weekend, we felt it a good idea to head on over to Disney for the weekend. We had our fingers crossed it would be a little less crowded with the holiday, but no such luck. Actually Saturday was quite busy and Sunday a little less. We decided to surprise the girls with the weekend trip and I even recorded the surprise. The newest Disney commercial it was not, I am sad to say. I think Sarah had a sneaking suspicion all along and Lauren, although excited, thought we were going to see Dora. So I won't post the video as it is not quite what I was going for.

They were excited nonetheless! Our main focus was to see the Princesses. We had much better luck this time and got to see Cinderella. She evaded us a few years ago, but we got her this time. This time around, Belle, was the one we missed out on, but too be honest, we didn't try as hard as we could have. Lauren wasn't to upset that we didn't see her so we didn't push it. It made for less standing in lines and less stress. Here they are the princesses!

Here they are with Rapunzel. Probably the longest line we waited in. About an hour or so. Worth the wait! I think she was the girls' favorite!

We also got to see some other characters roaming around. A few extras that I missed with the camera were Pluto, Goofy, Peter Pan, and Captain Hook. They were just too quick darting around the park. By the time I got my camera out and set, they were gone.

So what were our favorite rides?

Sarah and I loved Peter Pan the best!

Lauren loved the Carousel!

I am guessing Daddy loved the Teacups.
(I know it wasn't It's a Small World that was his favorite)

Well, we all loved the teacups!

Some of our other favorites were: The Dumbo Ride, Alice in Wonderland, It's a Small World, The new Nemo submarine, and we like going into Minnie and Mickey's houses.

Saturday night, Sarah and I did some late evening rides and went to see the fireworks. It was a great show, but man were there a lot of people there. We were all a little too close for comfort. I was glad to get out of there. Big crowds like that freak me out a bit and let's just say the security at Disney seemed to be a little relaxed in my opinion.

We did stay over one night just outside the Disney gates. The hotel was probably about a 2 star venue, but it had the coolest little room with Mickey decor and bunk beds and the girls were in 7th heaven. All that matters right!

On Sunday it did rain for about 1/2 the day. I had put the girls in dresses and sandals with it being Easter and all, but their little feet were all wet and cold. We found the cutest little socks and shoes for them, though!

All in all it was a great weekend! We didn't see Dora ;) but we saw just about everyone else. The girls had a blast and we loved seeing them so happy. It was not our usual Easter weekend, but one we will remember always.

The Easter Bunny had left a few little goodies back at the house for when we returned and a little egg hunt for the girls. Nothing like a little indoor egg hunt when you have no yard at the beach!

Who Do You Think You Are?

2011-04-17T14:09:00.005-05:00

I have become obsessed with this show. For those that may not know, it is a show on NBC where celebrities research their family history. I was already a family history/genealogy buff before this show was even created, but it has inspired me to learn more and dig deeper into my family roots.

I have done a little research and have found ancestors dating back to about the 1500's on certain lines, however, I have not verified all the info I have found and I am interested to now learn the stories. At first I just wanted to get names, dates, and places of major events in my ancestors lives, but now I want to know more about them. Who were they really? What did they do for a living? What kind of lives did they lead? Why did they move around and come from another country? A lot of these answers I know I will never find, but the journey to find out is fascinating. I only wish I had the time and the resources to really travel to all the places that my ancestors lived to meet with genealogists and historians to really get the full story. In the TV show that is what each celebrity gets to do. It makes the experience that much more rich. For example: Lisa Kudrow traveled to an old town that was basically wiped out during the holocaust and learning some of her ancestors were the victims in that horrible day. Or Rosie O'Donnell going to Ireland to see first hand the type of living conditions her relatives were living in just before they boarded a ship to come to America. I love that all the stories are unique, but all very much the same. Everyone has people in their family that overcame obstacles and were searching to make a better life for themselves and their family. I find it sooo interesting!

Do any of you know a lot about your family history? How far back have you found ancestors? If any of my friends or family are interested in having me help them, I would love to help. I am by no means a seasoned genealogist, and do not know a whole lot, but it is something I find very fun and interesting to do. It does take time and a lot of reading, but I think it is important for everyone to know where they came from. Don't you?

Texas Tradition: Bluebonnet Photos

2011-04-14T18:45:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite things about living in Texas are the gorgeous bluebonnets that blanket the landscape every March and April. Not even after moving from the state could I resist bringing the girls back for their annual pictures. It just so happened that we got to make a visit back to our native state for my daughter's spring break, so I took full advantage. Taking photos of my pretties is one of my most favorite things and one of my most challenging things. Two girls worried about bugs, the sun, not smiling, not looking at the camera (well not at the same time). It is exhausting. I have found that if you take enough, you are bound to have some great ones in the bunch!

I've been featured!

2011-04-05T19:06:00.002-05:00

I was just checking my blog roll and noticed that one of my favorite websites Design Dazzle did a post on Snow White parties. I started reading it and low and behold, my Snow White party for Lauren was mentioned! Go HERE to read the post and check out her awesome blog!

Kinsale

2011-03-29T15:11:00.025-05:00

WOW--This is my last post regarding the Ireland portion of our trip! I can't believe I actually am finishing it in the month of March (which was my goal).

So Kinsale was our last stop on the trip around the Emerald Isle.

Pretty buildings in Kinsale

As far as pretty towns go that have shops, art galleries, good restaurants, sights to see, and things to do...this one is pretty much a 10. It is a gorgeous little port town in County Cork. We spent 2 nights here and had some great food, did a little shopping, and enjoyed the sights. I will break down this post into those categories.

First off, where we stayed:

We actually stayed about 10 minutes out of town at a little B&B that overlooked the River Brandon. It was a very nice, clean, modern B&B with a gorgeous river view. The owners were very nice, also. It was called The Rivermount House. Although I would recommend this place, if I ever go to Kinsale again, I would prefer to stay in the town itself. It is just nice to not have to get in a car and drive.

The gorgeous sunset over the River Brandon

Where to eat:
Being in Kinsale 2 nights, did not allow me to try all the options and we left wanting to try several places. The places that we had heard about that were good, but did not try were: Jim Edwards Bar, The Spinnaker Restuarant and Bar,and The Spaniard. However, we did eat at 2 places that were both good. One was better.
The White House was the one that we ate at the first night and it was just OK. We had the mussels to start (which we did almost everywhere we went), and they were good, but not the best. Charlie and I got an Italian dish and a Bailey's cheesecake for dessert, and again good, but not memorable. I only remember what I had because I wrote down everything!
The next night we ate at an OUTSTANDING place! It was called The Fishy Fishy Cafe! Now, I don't know if I enjoyed this meal more because it was sans kids (they stayed back at the B&B with Linda), or because I had lobster, or both! I am guessing both! Don't let the word cafe in the name fool you. This is not a casual walk in type place (at least not for dinner). It is very much fine dining, and I suggest you make reservations a day or two at least before you plan to eat there. We made ours for a group of 14 the day before and we lucked out. We had to sit split up at 2 tables and we had a late time, but worth it!

So what did we eat at Fishy Fishy...I mentioned I got the lobster. Here, as with most all other places in Ireland we ate at, they go to the tank and get the lobster fresh. So our waiter came back with a live lobster to get my approval. When he did, his shirt was soaked! It was so funny. We asked him what happened and he explained to us that he had sat the lobster down on the scale and he jumped into the oyster tank. Poor lobster....I wouldn't want to be eaten either, but you sure were good. Lobster alone is reason enough for me never to go vegetarian for good. We started with the mussels (again) and they were sooo good. Some of the best we had on the trip. We had to order several extra orders of bread to soak up all the wonderful sauce they were cooked in. Charlie got the crab claws and they were outstanding, too! For dessert, the special was a Strawberry Pavlova. I highly recommend that. The strawberries were in season and so good. It was so nice to see desserts on the menu that were not your typical brownie with ice cream, cheesecake, creme brulee, wall of chocolate cake, etc... Places in Ireland had pavlovas, trifles, tarts, etc....Very refreshing for a change!

My lobster

Charlie's crab claws

This was an appetizer. Forget exactly what it was, but what a cool presentation!

As for shopping, the main thing we shopped for was a painting. Charlie and I started a "tradition" or "hobby", not sure what to call it, on our honeymoon. We bought a gorgeous painting in Positano and decided that we would try to buy a painting from each trip we take as a memento. We are not much into buying T-shirts and gift shops knick knacks, but we love looking at the beauty of painting, painted by a local artist, to remember a place by. So far we have not been able to collect one from every country or trip, but we have the one from Positano, one from Venice, one from Paris, a Van Gogh reproduction from Amsterdam, 2 small paintings from Brussels, and some small drawings from Sitges, Spain and Rome. We add to our collection, this painting:

It is called Kerry Cottages. It was painted by an artist from Cork, very near Kinsale. In fact, we were informed when we bought the painting that we had just missed meeting the artist by about a half hour. She had been in the gallery. Coincidentally, many of her paintings were hanging at the Fishy Fishy Cafe when we went there that night for dinner. Her name is Dee Peiters. I love her paintings so much, that I would love to have another.

Lauren running around the art gallery.

The gallery we bought the painting at.

As a tourist, Kinsale is a great town because it has all the great places to stay, eat, and shop, but it also has some history. There are 2 forts that sit at the mouth of the river, Charles Fort and James Fort. Charles Fort dates back to the 1670's. It is a star fort, meant that it is in the shape of a star. It was designed this way to be able to resist attack by cannon. There used to be a large chain that connected to both James and Charles fort that was raised across the harbour to prevent enemies from invading. Since 1971, Charles Fort has become a National Monument. We decided that we would go out and have a picnic at the fort and then get a tour. We had such a lovely day sitting on the hillside with our ham and baguettes and wine. It was so interesting to tour the fort and walk the expansive grounds. It was such a pretty place and overlooked the town Kinsale.

Picnic at Charles Fort

Our group of weary travellers!

View out to sea from Charles Fort.

Sarah & Lauren with Papa

The last morning in Kinsale we headed out to Rosslare to take the overnight ferry across the English Channel to Cherbourg, France.

SO there ends the blog posts about Ireland. I might have a few more from time to time as we had some fun adventures and laughs along the way. I took so many pictures and each one of them tells its own story.

Gift of the Gab

2011-03-27T15:32:00.008-05:00

This I do not have, or at least no thanks to the Blarney Stone.

Of all the places we went, this was the sight that was the least like I expected it to be. First off, the grounds of the Blarney Castle are pretty expansive and just gorgeous! I seriously thought we would walk up a short flight of stairs, kiss the stone, and be on our merry way. It was so not like that. The stone you kiss is not only sort of in the middle of the grounds, but it is also on top of the castle, oh..and it is also perched about a foot out from the side of the castle. Not to mention, in case you are not aware, you lie on your back and hang upside down to kiss it. You would think the idea of millions of visitors kissing the same spot every year would gross me out enough that I would not want to kiss the stone, but that was not my reason for not doing it. I couldn't get past the fact that I was several stories up on top of what seemed to me a crumbling castle, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of visitors in a line that went on forever. I had never felt more claustrophobic, and more stressed about my 2 year old slipping and falling off the top of the castle (yes the thought did cross my mind, it probably never happens). Everyone was so excited to do this and all I wanted was DOWN!

Charlie kissing the Blarney Stone

Since we had a full day on our plate (driving from Milltown to Kinsale with stops at Blarney Castle and Cobh), we did not spend anytime visiting the rest of the grounds. It was raining a bit and that day we had what one Irishman described as a whole year of weather in one day. It went from freezing cold and rainy, to sunshine and fairly warm in the matter of an hour or 2. Reminded me a bit of TX. So, I would like to go back one day, visit the grounds and take photos of all the beautiful sights. The stone, I will probably take a pass on that again!

Killarney, Ring of Kerry, and McDonald Castle

2011-03-24T15:43:00.014-05:00

Our last day in the area was a busy one! Not only were we going to tour some sights on the Ring of Kerry, but we were traveling about an hour the opposite direction to pick up our nanny at the train station in Killarney! I never thought we would be one of those families that traveled with a nanny, but let me tell you, it was worth the money. We basically worked out a deal to pay for travel expenses, lodging and most meals, and in return we got free babysitting when needed! She got a mini-vacation and got to see Europe and we had an extra set of hands so we could experience pub life and an adult dinner every now and then!

So meet Linda.

(Photo taken at Point du Hoc, Normandy)

She started out with us back in 2007 when Lauren was born. I was struggling with having 2 kids, a husband that traveled a ton, and a little bit of postpartum. We found her and she was a God send. She came over on weekends and evenings to help out with the baby or play with Sarah while I tended to Lauren. She even would stay over 1 night a week to help with feedings so I could get some rest. (Mind you this was a few months after Lauren was born and she was not yet sleeping at night on a regular pattern.) In fact it hasn't been till recently she has become a decent sleeper and at that she wakes up crying at least once most nights. But I digress... Anyway, just a little background about Linda and why she was chosen to come help us out. The girls had known her for years, I knew she was reliable and responsible, and it was great to have her on the trip!

So we started our day traveling out to the Ring of Kerry. Basically this peninsula that is full of beautiful coastlines, awesome views, old castles, etc... We first stopped at some old ruins of an ancient fort. It was Cahergal Stone Fort. Dating back to about the 8th or 9th century. It was pretty awesome to walk around it. It was amazing to think how they built something like that so long ago and that it is still standing. My girls loved running around and playing. Go HERE to see a video of the fort. I do not know who made the video, I just found it on a google search. If you are the person that made it, I would love to give you credit. The first 2 minutes are of Cahergal Fort.

The last minute or so of the video is of BallyCarberry Castle, also known in our family as McDonald Castle. It doesn't really have anything to do with our family, we have just enjoyed it so much (Charlie's parents have been many times to see it) that we have sort of claimed it. As you can see, my girls loved it too! It is seen in the movie Leap Year with Amy Adams. It is also known as the 10th wonder of Ireland.

We then continued on the road to find a spot for a picnic. Charlie's parents had a place in mind on Valentia Island that was beautiful, however it was perched on the edge of a cliff and it was quite cold and breezy that day. Not my idea of fun with 2 small children. So we ate our food in the car as we traveled back towards Killareny to get Linda. I would love to go back one day and finish the journey around the Ring. We just did not have time this trip.

Picnic spot on Valentia Island

Killarney was also a nice little town. Well, it was actually a much bigger town than I expected. It has a great city center with lots of shops (high end ones too) and restaurants. I would definitely go back and spend a day or 2 in and around Killareny. It looks to be a very wealthy town and lots of pretty areas to explore. It will be on the to do list the next time we go back.

That night we had dinner at a great little place called Nick's. It was located in the nearby town of Killorglin. It was a very nice seafood restaurant and had live piano music. I will never forget the piano man played the song "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. I have been crazy about this song since K.D. Lang mesmerized the world with it during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The food was great here. Linda and I split the scampi and monk fish plate and the sole with lemon. There was even some chicken tenders for the kids! Very nice evening.

The next day we left the Kilburn House, kissed Baily good-bye and headed toward Blarney castle.

Me and my sweet Bailey dog!

Kilburn House, Inch Beach, and Dingle

2011-03-18T12:22:00.019-05:00

It is hard to believe, but by this point we had only been in Ireland a week and a day. If you have been reading my posts it probably felt like a lot longer, but alas, we were flying through Ireland. Our entire trip was 3 weeks long, I still have a lot of posting to do! It has taken me this long and we are only a week in!!

So the next stop on our trip was the area around the Ring of Kerry. The night before we tackled that, we decided to head out to the town of Dingle. We had heard that they had great lobster there, so I was all for that. I love my lobster.

So we first pulled into our B&B where we were going to be staying for a couple of nights. It was called the Kilburn House B&B. This was such a nice little place to stay. Our family room was quite cramped, but all in all, it was a lovely little place. It had a wonderful breakfast room and the owners put out an amazing spread. For breakfast they would also make the most wonderful omelets. The owners also have 2 kids so there was a slide for Sarah and Lauren to play on and the sweetest little dog for us to play with. His name was Bailey he was such a highlight of the trip. Especially for the girls. He was so fun to come home to every night and he loved to play. So sweet. We really wished we could have taken him with us. This hotel was a great location as far as it being so central to get to the Ring of Kerry, Dingle, and Killarney.

Bailey dog :)

Once we had checked in it was time to head out to Dingle. On the way there you pass Inch beach. This is such a beautiful beach and it was so nice to get out and walk around. The girls loved checking out the small shells and little crabs. It was a bit chilly, but really a pretty spot. It is nestled in Dingle Bay between Dingle Peninsula and the northern coast of the Ring of Kerry. It is known to be in the movies "Ryan's Daughter" and "The Playboy of the Western World". (Neither of which I have seen). If you plan to visit, I found this place that looks like it might be a great place to stay: Inch Beach - Beach House and Cottages

So once we left the beach we headed on to Dingle. What a gorgeous drive this was. It was later in the day and it was sort of cloudy, but the sun was peeking through, it was just heavenly. Dingle was a charming little sea town. Lots of pretty boats, tons of cute shops, lots of pubs, and great restaurants. The one we ate was called Fenton's. I highly recommend this place.

This is what I had for dinner:

Starter: Mussels- To die for, could drink the sauce they were in like it was a soup!
Main Course: Lobster- this was my 2nd lobster of the trip and it required a bit more work to get to the meat. So yummy!

Dessert: Bourbon marinated blackberries served over ice cream...enough said.

We only spent one evening in Dingle, but I would go back and stay at least a full day. Such a great little town!

Gorgeous flowers and homes

Cute as can be dresses in little dress shop!

Shhh...don't tell Bailey, but we were loving this dog too!

Sunset at Inch Beach on our drive back from Dingle

Redondo Beach Kite Festival

2011-03-18T12:13:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was the Redondo Beach Kite Festival. This is such a fun family event and I am so glad we got to attend it this year. It is basically just a day set aside for everyone to bring their cool kites and come to the beach and fly them. They give away prizes for different things, but I really don't know who really cares about that. I guess a real kite enthusiast would. We just enjoyed being together, enjoyed the nice weather, and loved seeing the kids happy faces. Afterwards we played some games and rode some rides at the Redondo Pier arcade. Such a fun Sunday!

Sarah's was the ladybug kite and Lauren's was The Little Mermaid

Here are a few of the fun kites we saw!

Doolin

2011-03-15T14:05:00.005-05:00

If you are going to visit the Cliffs of Moher, chances are you will either drive through or stay in Doolin. This is a very small, quite town. It sits near the coast and is a great home base if you plan to visit the Cliffs of Moher or head out to visit the Aran Islands. We only stayed one night in Doolin and the place we stayed at was called the Doolin Activity Lodge. This was a great little place to stay. There was plenty of parking (which was great for our 3 vans) and there were a few great amenities. First off, we had a family room that had 3 beds in it. The bathroom was updated and spacious. There was a rec room with a kitchen in it that was so nice to hang out in. This was great for the kids. They could sit on the couch and watch a movie. Since there was a full kitchen, I was able to cook them spaghetti for dinner so they could 1. eat at a normal time and 2. eat something that they liked and was familiar to them. Most of our dinners on this trip started late and ended late. For the most part the food was child friendly, but just different from what they were used to. To be able to cook them something that was hot and just like how I would have made it at home, was so nice. The hotel also had a nice little breakfast room and they served very American style breakfasts with eggs and pancakes, etc...You could still get the traditional Irish breakfast, but again, with kids, this was a plus!

I mentioned in my last post that we stopped at a fudge shop in town and got some wonderful homemade fudge. I do not remember the name of it, but if you go to Doolin, the town is so small, it won't be hard to find. Here is a link to a video that I found. It shows a lot of pictures from the town including the fudge shop. It really captures the essence of the little town. WATCH IT HERE.

That night for dinner we ate at a place called Cullinan's. It is actually a restaurant that is part of a little hotel. It came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. Most everyone in our party got the Early Bird menu (you would see this a lot of there. Pre-set menus with multiple course choices at a great value.) They mostly had seafood and steaks. That is what we usually got at dinner. I, however, was about mussel'd out and had had enough seafood, that I went with a pasta. I by far made the right choice. Everyone made fun of me for getting Italian in Ireland, but it was soo good. I got a cannelloni pasta with a ratatouille Parmesan. Yumm!

Sarah Irish Dancing in the parking lot of Cullinan's!

After that we went to McGann's Pub. I have a movie quote that comes to mind every time I think of this night. "You have a baby...in a bar.." - Sweet Home Alabama. Not only did I have one of my babies in a bar, I had 2! They were welcomed with open arms and Sarah ended up being the hit of the night due to her Irish dancing showcase that she put on inside! She really commanded that bar crowd!

Next post will about The Ring of Kerry....Inch Beach....Dingle....and the arrival of our nanny to the vacation!

Cliffs of Moher

2011-03-02T13:06:00.010-06:00

Without a doubt, the Cliffs of Moher are a sight in Ireland not to be missed. It was my 2nd favorite location we visited, 2nd only to Giant's Causeway. The Cliffs of Moher are these majestic cliffs the reside on the western coast of Ireland in Co. Clare.

I will admit that with 2 small children I had been quite stressed as to what to expect when going to the cliffs. I had nightmares about my kids running around and me not being able to catch them, or strollers inching dangerously close to the edge, etc... I had pictured a flat piece of prairie land that dropped into the Atlantic without warning. This is however a very safe attraction and one that is quite family friendly and, without fail, a MUST-SEE.

This is if you stay within the barriers provided and follow the signs appropriately.

We could not have been there on a more perfect day. It was sunny and warm (for Ireland standards.) The girls had sweaters on, but it was quite comfortable for us in short sleeves. The Atlantic was as blue as could be and the grass equally green. It is the type of place you could sit out at and enjoy the view the whole day and not get tired of it. There are a few different points at which to view the cliffs. I took about 200 pictures there that day. We were there at about high noon, so I was a bit frustrated with the light being a student of photography. I yearned to come back at sunset or wished I had been there in the early morning hours. Alas, I will just have to plan to come back as photographer and not a tourist next time. If you do plan to spend the day there, note that there is a restaurant to get food and there are gift shops to be shopped. We did not eat there, so I cannot vouch for the food, but just know it is available. We, however, had stopped at a general store before hand and got some ham, baguette, cheese, and fudge to snack on for lunch. We had a nice little picnic on the side of the road in Doolin where we stayed the night.

Charlie and his dad. The 2 of them along with 90% of all the other visitors ignored the warning signs.

The next post will about Doolin: Where we stayed, where we got the most divine fudge, where we had a wonderful dinner, and the pub my daughter Irish danced in!

Kylemore Abbey and Clifden

2011-03-01T20:33:00.001-06:00

Now that it is March and we are getting in the St. Patrick's Day/Irish spirit, my goal is to finish blogging about the Ireland portion of the trip. So we continue on....

As we made our way South from Donegal and drove in western Ireland, we made a stop at a place called Kylemore Abbey. What a wonderfully beautiful, quintessentially Irish place. It was even gray and rainy the day we were there, so I really felt like I was in Ireland. It used to be an Abbey and is now pretty much just a tourist attraction. I must admit, I did take the tour, but was so wrapped up by its beauty and was busy snapping photos, I didn't really pay attention to the history lesson that was given. It has a history, and it is interesting I was told, so look it up and read about it and go visit it if you ever find yourself in Ireland. If for nothing else it has beautiful grounds (even a botanical gardens, which we did not visit due to the rain that day), and it has a great gift shop. Not a cheesy one, but a really nice one that you buy expensive jewelry at and jams and jellies made on site, etc... A nice day trip visit, just up from the town of Clifden.

Doesn't Charlie looked thrilled...It was raining just enough to be annoying, but not enough to keep us from seeing the Abbey.
My most favorite part of the Abbey was the red velvet furniture. These shots are pretty much straight our of the camera. The light was so perfect, it really captured the richness of the fabric.

Pretty flowers blooming all over Ireland

In addition to the Abbey, there is the Gothic Church. Not very big, but very pretty. NOTE: When visiting, please take OFF wipes or bug spray with you. The church is nestled amongst millions of little biting gnats. They were too small to see, but really did bite hard. We quickly got in and out of there.

Now, as for Clifden...we did not explore this town a whole lot. It was really just sort of a place to stay for the night. I will say that it was quite quaint and I would have liked to explore a bit more. We ate dinner at a wonderful place! Mitchell's!

Home Sweet Home - By the Beach

2011-02-27T14:45:00.012-06:00

It has been about a month and a half now since we have moved to California. In some ways it seems like we just got here and in others it feels like we have been here forever. I am glad to say it has been a smooth transition for everyone. I had a lot of people back home in Texas giving us a little grief about moving here and "Why would we do that?", "I would never make such a drastic move with young kids?", "You are going to leave your spacious, beautiful TX home to live in much smaller quarters in CA?", "Are the schools good? I have heard they are not.", etc...and so on and so on. So not that any of those people would be reading my blog, but in case you are...here is why we made the move, and yes we love it, and yes the kids love it, and even the dog is in seventh heaven.

What we love so far:
We live in a beach house - 2 blocks from the sand.
The house is not too big, but not too small, it is just right and has amazing views.
The weather (for the most part) has been great.
We can walk to restaurants, shops, ice cream in less than 5 minutes
We are close to old friends and have made new ones.
The girls love their schools and teachers (their schools are 2 blocks apart which makes drop off and pick up easy peasy).
The sunsets are intoxicating.
We are slowly falling into a regular schedule that will soon include seeing Charlie at lot more.
No pool or yard to take care of.

What we miss:
Family and Friends
Tex Mex and a combo plate that isn't $15.
Our great babysitters that DID NOT charge $15+/hour.

Donegal: Where to Stay and Eat

2011-02-22T11:43:00.018-06:00

Even though I don't think Donegal has to be part of your Ireland travel plans, I do have 2 great recommendations for you. The first is the place that we stay. It was a little Farmhouse B&B outside of the town and it was very quaint, charming, but not lacking in amenities. It was called the Coxtown Manor. When you arrive it has a private drive and I felt like I was stepping into a Jane Austen movie or something. It was a very dreary, cold day and the grass and trees were so green, and the farmhouse was so gray, and the yellow light from inside was so inviting. It is basically an old farm that they have turned into a B&B. There is the main house and then the 300 year old back house (where we stayed). Even though our location was the oldest, it had been the most newly renovated. The accommodations were very comfortable and the bathroom very modern. It wasn't until the 2nd day that I heard the owner say something about it being haunted. He actually said some people have said that it is, but he had never really experienced anything. I think when something is that old, there is always the possibility. Regardless, I would recommend it and I was not scared. Of course the breakfast was wonderful with all the traditional fare. The breakfast room was so perfectly proper, I felt like I was lost in a British time warp. In the evenings, they will serve you food and they have a cool bar in one part of the house. A nice place to hang out after being out all day. (Or having gone through all the drama we had while in Donegal.) You can drink and live it up without having to drive back to your hotel. A nice perk.

The back house where we stayed.

We had a great room that they called a "family" room. Plenty of room for us for a couple of nights!

The breakfast room.

Jack and Mark at the bar!

Traditional breakfast

All of their dishes had their logo on them. I really wanted to put one in my purse!

The 2nd recommendation I have is a place called the Castle Murray House.

The funny thing about this place is that is was recommended to us by the people at the Coxtown Manor as a great place to go eat. As we arrived up to it, I immediately recognized it as a place I had suggested we stay at when we were planning the trip. We had decided against it because it was quite a bit more expensive and we were really trying to stay on budget. Now the Castle Murray house has quite a different feel and look to it than the Coxtown Manor. The Castle Murray House sits out on Donegal Bay so it is much more coastal in feel. It has breathtaking views of the bay and was the PERFECT place to go eat dinner. Although I don't recommend Donegal as a tourist location, it might be worth the stop through just to have dinner at the Castle Murray House. Reservations are probably recommended. You have a great view from just about any table in the restaurant and the meal was to die for. I had my first lobster of the trip and it was great. After dinner, I took the girls out on the lawn and we got some photos of the sunset. So pretty!

Aunt Karen and Uncle Mark celebrating their Anniversary!

My first lobster in Ireland...Thankfully I didn't have to do hardly any work to eat this one. By the time we left Ireland I was ordering them whole and am proud to say I now know how to properly eat a lobster! YUMM-O

Sarah and Nana with the Rahan Castle in the background. It dates back to at least the 15th century.

Valentine's Day Wrap Up

2011-02-18T15:42:00.008-06:00

Valentine's Day this year was really great for us. It was on of the first I can remember that Charlie was actually home with us. Instead of doing some romantic evening out just the two of us, we decided to have family dinner at home and make it special and fun for the kids. Of course the girls had a blast during the day at their schools having parties, making crafts, and eating sweets. So it is always hard to top the fun that they have at school. SO when they got home I had a little Valentine's table set with goodies for each of them. I then made them breakfast for dinner (one of their favorites!) I attempted heart shaped pancakes, but was having some technical difficulties with that. They loved them just the same regardless of the shape. Whew! Then I made sausage, bacon, and had strawberries and yogurt for them. While all this smelled divine, Charlie and I opted to try the Thai place down the street, so he went and got take-out. We had chicken satay, yellow chicken curry, and chicken pad thai. It was really good, but not as good as Sea Siam in Keller, TX. I will say, though, that here in Hermosa Beach and the South Bay, there are about a hundred different Thai places in a 5 mile radius, so we will find one we love. I am sure of it.

For dessert we had chocolate fondue. You can tell by the pictures that the girls LOVED it. Every time we do fondue I ask myself, "Why don't you do this more often?" It is always so good. We had pound cake, strawberries, and bananas with the chocolate. YUM! So it was a nice evening at home and a great Valentine's!

Drama in Donegal

2011-02-09T22:45:00.003-06:00

Yea! So I am back to posting about the vacation that happened about a 100 years ago now. We will get through me marathon blogging about this trip together!

So...I mentioned in my last post about the trip that we had sort of a family emergency while on the vacation...well that took place while in Donegal. The night before we got to Donegal we ate at the fish and chips place in Bushmills. Well, the next day Jetta (Charlie's mom) wasn't feeling great. Some sort of chest pain/reflux...we didn't know. So the next day after that was our first full day in Donegal. We started the morning doing a little shopping in the city center. Jetta was still not feeling great, in fact she seemed to be feeling worse. So after about an hour she decides she needs to see a Dr. Now at this point is about the point I clued in that she REALLY wasn't feeling well and that there might really be something wrong here. Now keep in mind we are in a little village and the local Dr. is hard to find. We walked and walked with bad directions trying to find this guy. Jetta was feeling faint, heart racing, etc... Once we got to the Dr. he suggested she be taken by ambulance to the nearest big city with a hospital (about an hour away) in fear that she might be having a heart attack.

Okay...so this is not something you really plan for while on vacation. We were all scared to death. She is having chest pains and being whisked away in an ambulance. Charlie and his Dad are in shock and little emotional and everyone is like what do we do now. So, basically the game plan was for me to head back to the B &B with the girls and everyone else headed to the town where the hospital was. So I spent the whole day in the room with the girls. Thankfully it was a nice place. It was cold outside, so it was nice to be in. I had a computer in which they could watch movies and I had peanut butter and bread so we were set with food. I didn't really get many updates, but by dinner time they were all on their way home. Final diagnosis: She must have swallowed a fish bone that scratched her on the way down and was just irritating her and causing her pain. Thankfully that was all it was, but unfortunately she was uncomfortable most of the rest of the trip with it.

Donegal (aside form the health scare) was not all that much to write home about. Should you find yourself there, or really want to go for some reason, the place we stayed was nice and quaint and we did have a great dinner one night. My next vacation post will be about those 2 places. (I promise that it will be sometime the month of February!)

Around the World Party

2011-02-04T22:20:00.016-06:00

One of my most favorite parties growing up that my mother threw for me was an Around the World Party. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I know it was a sleepover, so I had to be 13 or older. (I didn't get to partake in sleepovers until I turned 13. My how times have changed.) It was me and 4 of my close friends. It was simple, but fun. We made posters for the walls representing different countries and she made food from different countries for dinner. I remember how fun it was to order stuff from Oriental Trading like chopsticks, world flag banners, and pinatas.

So this summer after Sarah got to travel to Europe, she became increasingly interested in traveling and learning about other countries. When we brainstormed about her party I gave her some ideas, the Around the World party being one of them. She instantly latched onto that and wanted that to be her theme. I was thrilled and we had such a great time planning it. I originally planned to let her have only about 5-6 of her close friends, but as we got closer and realized we would be moving just after, I decided to let it become a sleepover and she could increase the number of friends. I still had to draw a line so we didn't have 40 girls at my house, but she narrowed it to 10 and that was about perfect!

So here are some photos and specifics! Since the party was on Saturday, January 8th and we moved out of our house on the 10th, it was a relatively simple party for me. I did not go too over board on decor and what not. Less to pack up. It was easy peasy as Sarah would say and the girls had a BLAST!

Party Specifics:
Theme: Around the World
Invites: Handmade Passports individualized with each girls picture and birth date

Countries Visited:
Note-- They got passport stamps in their passports at each country.
France- They got to dress up in fashion, have manicures, and their souvenir was star glasses and necklaces

Italy- Our kitchen was Italy and they made make your own pizzas for dinner

China- We did origami and their souvenir was fortune cookies and Chinese fans

Mexico- Sarah beat her pinata and their souvenir was flowers for their hair and the candy from the pinata

Islands of the South Pacific- They played limbo and watched Barbie Mermaidia. Their souvenir was pink and purple Leis. We also did the cookie cake and had fruit punch with umbrellas in it while visiting this country

U.S.A.- My kitchen was the US for breakfast. They had donuts, yogurts, and strawberries. Their souvenir was a small American flag.
(Was too tired I guess and didn't snap any photos)

Craft: As each girl arrived at my house they made "suitcases" to collect their souvenirs. They got to decorate a suitcase box with travel stickers and colors. This served as their party favor.

Cake: Sarah loves cookie cakes. Got ours from The Cakery in Southlake

Decor: Items came from Party City, Oriental Trading Company, World Market, and various other party sites.

The party was a success. They really loved having the suitcases and gathering something from every country, as well as, having the passports. They stayed up until about 10pm and were early risers for breakfast the next morning at 7am. As the last guest was leaving it started to snow outside and that was the best present Sarah could have ever had. She thought that was so special that it actually snowed on her birthday! We ended up having a late lunch that day with family at Brio and it was a perfect birthday!

Sarah is Seven

2011-02-03T23:00:00.003-06:00

Well, did ya miss me?? Sorry I have been MIA on the blogging front. We have only been a little busy with the holidays, TCU winning the Rose Bowl, my daughter's 7th birthday and moving to California! I hope to get back on track this month and plan on having lots of posts!

SO let's back track to January 9th. My sweet Sarah turned 7! I can't even believe it. There are times I look at her and she is 7 going on 13 and other times I am sweetly reminded she is still a child. What a blessing of a daughter she is. I don't even know where to begin when I try to describe my first born and how much I love her. People tell me all the time that she is so polite and well mannered. I take that as a huge compliment and it is truly one of the things I love most about her. She loves her family and she loves her friends. I was very concerned about us moving away from everyone and that she would be missing her friends. She is, but she has done a wonderful job of making new ones and adjusting just perfect. I am so glad she did not inherit the vast shyness that I grew up with. She is very social, friendly, and easy to make friends with. I am so proud that she was so brave to start a new school and she fell right into place in her new class instantly. I love that Sarah is creative. She is a beautiful artist and loves to draw pictures and write stories to go with them. I love that she is still my baby and likes watching Nick Jr., still likes bed time stories, still wants all her Beatrix Potter stuff in her room, and still likes playing dress up and baby dolls. On the other hand, I think it is adorable (and a tad bit scary) that she loves to play on her DS, is a Justin Beiber fan, likes to take hip hop, and doesn't want a drop of pale pink in her new room. We bought everything from PB Teen. Suited her taste much better. She is still a picky eater, but I am proud that one of the few things she loves to eat is vegetables...carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers will be chosen over many a bad food any day of the week. She has set a great example for me as I don't like vegetables all that much. She loves ice skating, soccer, girl scouts, hip hop, Irish step dancing, art, and playing at the beach. She could dig from here to China she loves playing in the sand so much. She is so full of love and has such a sweet heart. Even though baby sister is always in her stuff, I know she loves her too. Last but not least...I am molding her into my little party planner apprentice. She was my right hand girl when it came to planning her 7th birthday party. We had an Around the World sleepover (for 11) and it was a blast! Next post I will share all the details! It was so much fun working on the project with her and she had such good ideas and really enjoyed being involved. Love to my Sweet Sarah on her 7th birthday. You are growing like a weed!

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

2010-12-31T11:36:00.004-06:00

2010 was a fabulous year for our family. Everyone was healthy, we got to travel, Charlie continued to do well at work and we decided to move back to LA and are moving into a beach house! (A personal dream of mine!) So I hate to see the year come to a close. It really seems like it went by really fast.

I do love a new year, though! There is something about the new year that always makes you feel like you have got a fresh start. I always make resolutions, but hardly ever keep them. That is the great thing about a new year, though, I can be optimistic that this is the year I keep them!

So here are a few:
1. I plan not to worry so much about EVERYTHING. I worry and stress out about everything from major world events to what I am going to cook for dinner, so I plan to try and take things in stride more.

2. I plan to try an appreciate and enjoy the small things in life, but the best things in life. Play more with my kids, take walks on the beach and not just watch them build sand castles but get in there and do it too, appreciate the days we are at home as a family more, and really listen to every little thing my kids talk about and just enjoy family time more.

3. Cook more for my family. I love to eat out WAY too much. Along the same lines, get my kids to try new foods and by the end of the year be eating a least one new, healthy thing!

4. Keep in touch with friends more. As I get older, I realize the value of great friendships more and more. I want to keep in touch, get together more, and stay connected.

5. Pursue doing more of the things I love. Party planning, photography, blogging. Not sure what path I will take, but try to have the courage and discipline to try and make it happen. I have been wanting to start my own party planning business for over 5 years now, so maybe this is my year. Who knows....I will keep you posted.

I wish everyone a prosperous and healthy 2011!

Oh, and GO FROGS!!!!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T16:54:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Time is A-Flyin'

2010-12-13T10:29:00.004-06:00

I wish I could be one of those bloggers that blogged everyday, multiple times a day, but alas..I am not. I have so much to write about and I want to write about it all, but I just don't seem to find the time. Right now we have so much going on. Not only is it the holidays and the busiest social time of the year, but we have decided to go ahead and make our move to LA in mid-January. So between Christmas, New Year's and my daughter's birthday party, I have to pack up the house without it looking like I am packing up the house! I am also trying to purge while packing so I don't take a bunch of stuff with us that we don't need.

We are SOOO excited about our place in Hermosa Beach. My husband found it and I am finally going to get to live in a beach house! It has been at the top of my dream/wish list since I can remember and I am thrilled about it. I am so excited to raise my girls at the beach and we can't wait to get out there. I know my girls are excited about being there now, I just hope they don't get bored of it too soon and always love the location as much as we do. Since we are now going to be living that beach lifestyle, I for sure need to go through our stuff and down size. Everything is bigger in Texas and that is no joke.

So topics to look forward to once things get a little more settled:
My brother's wedding
Christmas posts: We have down so much this holiday and have more to come. Rudolph play, the Nutcracker, ICE at the Gaylord Texan, Santa pics, Dallas Symphony Choir, making cookies, last Christmas in our TX house, etc....
TCU and the Rose Bowl (I am not going :( .....but I will blog about it)
Sarah's 7th Birthday: Theme- Around the World
More Ireland/France vacation posts: Donegal (the family emergency we had there), The Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, Blarney Castle, Ferry ride to France, and so much more.....
Our beach house in Hermosa
Remembering our Texas home: It has been such a great home that we custom built back in 2004/2005. We have LOVED living there and will miss it dearly. The more I pack up the house, the more sad I get. What great memories we have!

Those are just some things I plan to write about. Maybe I will be able to sneak a few posts in before we move, just so it isn't February before you hear from me again!

Thanksgiving Day at our house

2010-11-26T14:10:00.008-06:00

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving! I, of course, loved entertaining everyone. While the house was quite and peaceful early in the morning, I decorated 2 different tables for the meal.

The flowers and fall leaves were straight from my backyard.

The girls enjoyed watching the parade.

The turkey turned out great.

Peaches was most interested in what was going on in the kitchen.

I would have taken pictures of all the rest of the food, but I got all teary eyed in giving my thankful speech, that I forgot to.

She may not have ended up liking it, but at least Lauren tried the pumpkin pie!

Thankful

2010-11-25T22:04:00.003-06:00

What a wonderful day this has been. We have so much to be thankful for in our house this year. Charlie and I are most thankful to have happy, healthy kids, to have each other, and to be living such a wonderful life. We spent the day with great family and we had such an abundance of food it was almost ridiculous. What more can you ask for than to have your health, your family, a warm house on a cold day, and such a feast. We are so very thankful!

My girls were thankful for no school, new people (the family) to play with, no nap for Lauren, and desserts! Deep down I know they are thankful for each other and the love from all their family.

Peaches was thankful for all the food that fell on the floor and all the attention she got from everyone. She is also thankful that the house still smells like roasting turkey and that it did not rain today causing her to get her dainty paws wet.

I will post a few pics tomorrow. Did not get as many as I would of liked because everyone was in a little bit of a downer mood. Why you may ask? One word....Cowboys. Thanks...thanks a lot. They are one thing I am definitely not thankful for.

Northern Ireland

2010-11-07T21:26:00.016-06:00

One of my favorite parts of our entire trip this summer was Northern Ireland. I thought it was such a beautiful place with so many great things to see. The tip top part of Ireland has a rugged coastline, but has gorgeous, seemingly untouched water, stunning rock formations and views of neighboring islands. Even though I knew we were not at the most Northern part of the world, it certainly felt like it at times. The sun did not set until almost 10:30 at night and was back up again around 5am. In mid June, we needed jackets and ski hats. Well, my girls did anyway. I would love to go back one day and really spend time exploring the area. We did a quick whirlwind tour in 1 night and 2 days. Not enough time to soak it in, but enough time to fall in love with it. I would love nothing more than to have a little white sea cottage in Bushmills to spend my summers.

So, first things first, where did we stay? We stayed at the Valley View Inn just southwest of Bushmills. It was a quaint little B & B complete with rolling green fields full of cows. Very Irish countryside. The rooms were all different, and ours was very accommodating for the 4 of us. We had a queen size bed and 2 twin beds in our family room. They took our order for breakfast the next morning and to Sarah's delight, pancakes were on the menu! I warned her they may not be like what she would get at IHOP, but they absolutely were. Even better. You even felt like the butter was freshly churned and the syrup came from a tree outside. Neither were the case, but the place just gave you that feel. I would stay here again if I wasn't so set by trying to stay by the sea next time!

Sarah trying to decide which bed was going to be hers. Looks like Lauren decided on the big bed. She did. Mommy and Lauren got the big bed.

SO when we arrived there the evening of June 6, the lady at the Inn recommended we go to Giant's Causeway that evening. Mind you it was a Sunday evening, it was already about 7pm, and I was worried that the girls were getting hungry for dinner and that the sun was going to drop soon and it would be freezing. Boy was I ever wrong. What a great suggestion she had. It was the best time to go. There were no crowds (we almost had it complete to ourselves) and it stayed light for us for hours. It was a bit cool, but oh how lovely it was to be there near sunset. If you are not Familiar with Giant's Causeway this is it...

It is an area made up of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns that were the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Most of the columns are hexagonal. The legend of it is that an Irish Warrior named Fin McCool built the causeway to go fight his Scottish counterpart in Scotland. The geological history supports the legend because there are similar hexagonal basalt formations at Fingal's cave on the Isle of Staffa in Scotland. Giant warriors or not, it is a truly spectacular place. A sight not to be missed!

That night we had played around at Giant's Causeway so much that we did not start looking for a dinner place until 9pm. This was a problem because most places closed on Sundays at 9pm. We did, however, find a dive of a place that sold fish and chips called a Flash in the Pan. From it's cover it was a dumpy sort of place, but from the taste of the food, it was one great choice we were left with. (Charlie's mom had a different opinion, but that is another story for another post. Let's just say that having eaten at this place almost left us all wondering if we were going to need to cut the trip short by a couple of weeks and head home to the states. Stay Tuned) Anyway, the food was great and we headed off to bed late and got up early for our better than IHOP breakfast and to head out to the Carrick Rope Bridge.

So yes, I did bathe Lauren while on the trip...That brown above her lip is the first sip of Chocolate milk she had had in about 5 days. She was so proud of her "Chocolate mustache" and was in chocolate milk bliss.

Sarah was also in bliss, but hers was soda bliss. She didn't waste anytime sucking that one down. Gotta love vacations!

Carrick Rope Bridge: Another amazing stop. Quite a hike to get to it, a bridge I will never cross, but one gorgeous location. A must do (or at least a see) if you find yourself in Northern Ireland.

Our last stop as we jetted out of Northern Ireland that day was Dunluce Castle. We did not even actually pay or go into this attraction, but we took a stop and took a few pictures.

Then it was peanut butter sandwiches in the car and off to Donegal.

Be-lated Halloween

2010-11-06T20:42:00.005-05:00

A little late on getting the Halloween photos posted, but most of my family friends have seen them all already anyway. We had a great Halloween. Perfect weather and the most perfect little witch and mermaid!

At the Pumpkin Patch

My little flying!

Happy Halloween!

McDonald Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2010-10-30T22:17:00.006-05:00

This is one of my favorite things throughout the whole year. It all start back in 2004. However, I do not have the pictures from that year. Each year the pumpkins have become so much more interesting and the number of entries has grown. The rules are that you can not stencil your design and you can only use the parts of the pumpkin on the final product. No outside props.
Enjoy!

2005

2006

2007

2008
No Photo (Lost to a computer malfunction)

2009
No contest due to Rob and Nina's Wedding

2010

Snow White Party

2010-10-21T20:47:00.015-05:00

This year for Lauren's 3rd birthday I threw her a Snow White party. Back when I started planning, Snow White was her favorite princess. A few weeks out she switched to Ariel, but we decided to stick with our plan. I was so pleased with how it all turned out. It was a sweet little party. I was a little sad that not many of Lauren little friends ended up actually coming. Sarah actually had more of her friends there. I wanted to keep it small, though, and Lauren did have her BFF there, so it worked out just fine! Enjoy!

Details:
Theme: Snow White & Seven Dwarfs
Colors: Primary Blue, Red, and Yellow accented with Red w/ white polka dots
Apple Cupcakes: The Cakery in Southlake
Choices were Red Velvet, Vanilla, or Chocolate
Entertainment: Snow White (she was awesome! Even the 6 year-olds loved her!)
Food: Chick-fil-A and apple slices for the kids
Adults had spinach dip, spinach salad, fruit salsa with cinnamon pita chips, and nuggets, too!
Drinks: Witch's Poison Brew (Apple Lemonade)
Favors: Apple Letters and note pads/pencils for the older ones
Snow White gloves, apple purses and beads for the younger ones
Snow White Board book for the baby
Photography: Alyssa Maisano and myself

The Apple Cupcakes

Lauren and her BFF

Snow White entertaining the children

The Favors

My little 3 year-old princess!

Eating my way through Chicago

2010-10-18T20:35:00.007-05:00

Ok...so this weekend I went to Chicago with my husband who was working the Bears game for FOX. I LOVE going with him every time he goes to Chicago. When I can't go, I am sad all weekend knowing that I could be up there with him. Why Chicago you might ask?? Well the shopping (Michigan Avenue is to die for..I know it has all the big name retailers, but let's face it, they are bigger, better, and all in one place.) Second, I love staying in fancy hotels my husband gets put up in. He has been in so many different ones I could start my own travel book on where to stay in downtown Chicago. I love nice hotels and I love the city/downtown nightlife. Drinks out whether it is just me and him, with my AXO lil' sis, or with his crew.. is always fun. However, eating is probably my favorite part of Chicago. I LOVE to eat out and there is no better place to do it than in Chicago!

SO here are some of my favorites..this is by no means a list of all the places I like, just my favorites. And there are still so many left to discover. Next time I am dying to try an Indian place. If you are reading this and have been to a great Indian place in downtown Chicago...let me know!

So here it goes.
(Click on Logo's to go to websites)

1. Bandera

Not your typical Chicago restaurant. In fact, it is a chain and I don't think it originated in Chicago at all. However, the only other ones you can find are in AZ and CA and it is soo good. We eat here for sure every time. It is in the same family of restaurants as Houston's, so if like that place, you will love this place.

What we get:
We start with the Queso (not your typical Mexican food restaurant queso)
I get the beef ribs that are melt in your mouth good. They come with these stringy fries that are perfect.
Charlie gets the rotisserie chicken (what they are known for) and it comes with green rice (sort of like a Spanish rice)
We also both get the skillet cornbread to share. This item is not specifically spelled out on the menu, but they are known for it. It is like cake, but better.
If we have any room left over after that we split a banana cream pie. We usually don't.

Aside from the food, the ambiance is great. It is dark with a jazz band. It also sits above Michigan Ave. Right in the heart of it all!

2. Shaw's Crab House
This was a new place I tried this weekend. Charlie had been before and when I couldn't get us into Joe's (see the #3 on the list), we decided this was a great 2nd choice. Oh boy, was it ever...This might be my new favorite place to eat at every time!

What to get:
For appetizer: We split the crab cake and the Snow Crab California Roll. The crab cake was excellent (but not as good as Del Frisco's in Dallas) and we chose a very safe bet on the sushi. They have a very extensive sashmi/sushi list, so if you are into that, this a great place for you.
We also each got a cup of the clam chowder...YUM!
For main courses he got the Surf/Turf which was the King Crab Legs and the steak, and I got the Surf/Surf which was King Crab Lags and Lobster tail. Not sure which was better. Lobster is my favorite, but the Crab Legs were out of this world! We got a side of green beans, too!
No dessert on this one, but let me tell you they looked divine. We were just too stuffed! They had Raspberry pie, Key Lime pie, Pecan Pie, homemade ice creams (peppermint, no less) just to name a few.

3. Joe's
No I am not referring to Joe's pizza and pasta that you see in every town in America...I am referring to this:
Lucky for me, I could not get us in here over this past weekend. I called 3 weeks ago to get a reservation for 2 people for either Friday or Saturday and they were booked solid. Thanks to that we ate at Shaw's! However, I will want to eat here again. I ate here a few years ago. Funny enough, that night we didn't have a reservation and luckily they did have room at the bar, so we ate at the bar. Full menu, but on bar stools no less. I can't remember exactly what we got. I am sure stone crab and lobster were in the mix. I do remember it being awesome, so I plan to go back. Even if I have to call now for a reservation for next year!

4. Gino's East
There might be native Chicagoans (if that is a word) that would laugh and say I don't know good deep dish when I see it, but I love Gino's East for deep dish pizza. Don't think I ate anything else there because I knew what was coming prior to the pizza and had no room for anything after I ate it.

See what I mean.

5. Soup Box

My AXO lil' sis who lives up there took me to this little gem of a place when I was up there last December. She must have noticed I was frozen, because she suggested we go get soup for lunch. PERFECT! That is all they have there. 12 wonderful soups. You can even taste them like you can taste gelato at a gelato place. They give you a slab of bread to go with it. SET. So I checked the other day to see if there was one here in Dallas/Ft. Worth because I was craving a good soup for lunch, but to my disappointment they are only in Chicago. Boo.

Lauren is 3

2010-10-08T11:03:00.003-05:00

It is hard to believe that 3 years ago today my Lauren was born. Her birth was so easy and quick (unlike her sister's 36 hour marathon). I should have known that the differences would not stop there. I could not have two more different daughters.

Lauren...you are a handful, you don't sleep at night, you want to do everything by yourself, you want to be first, you want to do everything your sister does (except eat fruit and vegetables), you are a macaroni and cheese addict, and you are a bit of a wild child. However, what should I expect from a 3 year old. You are entering the terrible 3's! I have to look at you in a different light...you are the baby, so of course I have to give into you more. I have to try and say every night at 1:30 am, it is just because she loves me that she wants me to come tuck her back in. I am so glad you look up to your older sister. Sarah is sweet and smart and I want you guys to always be close. I can't worry too much about the amount of mac and cheese you eat, because I did the same when I was your age. It is pretty good stuff! At least you do still eat your baby food sweet potatoes. I also have to allow you to be a bit of a wild child now so you can get it out of your system. My little goody two shoes Sarah will more than likely be my nightmare when she turns 13, so get it out of your system now, so I don't have to deal with 2 later on.

I love you so much Lauren. You are trying, but oh so sweet and such a little doll. I love that you love going to Sarah's activities and supporting her. I love to watch you dance, especially when you are dressed up in that pink Barbie dress. I love when you sit in my lap and watch TV. To have you close to me, quite and still, reminds me of when I used to carry you around before you were born. So sweet. I love your little good night kisses and your big hugs. I think it is cute that your favorite song right now is Phoenix's Listomania. It is cute that you called IHOP, Hip Hop the other night. I also love that you call your gymnastics leotard - "lee-guitar" Sorts of sounds like lead guitar. You love your snacks, you love your sister, your love your mommy and daddy and we love you back! Happy Birthday big girl. Go easy on me this year! Please!

Happy Birthday!

2010-10-01T20:08:00.004-05:00

Today is my hubby's birthday. I have had a pretty busy day, so I am just now getting around to posting about it. I feel bad, because there is only like 4 hours left in the day! Anyway, today he is 41! That is insane to think about. Last year I threw him a great little surprise party for turning 40. See it HERE.

SO my Charlie is everything to me. He is so loving, so supportive, my rock, my best friend, the best daddy (our girls ADORE him), the best husband and I feel so incredibly lucky that I found him. I feel so incredibly fortunate that he saw something in me that made him want to be with me forever. He puts up with all my weird ways and my moodiness. He works so (and I mean so) very hard to give me and our girls a great life. We are a great team and he is our smart, loving, and hard-working leader. I love him just as much now as the day I married him and he is truly my heart and soul. Love to my sweetie! Happy Birthday!

Rostrevor and Kilbroney Parish

2010-09-14T11:02:00.017-05:00

I am speaking of the town in Northern Ireland that we actually visited to trace our Irish roots when we were there this summer. Well, it is not my Irish roots, but one track of the Irish roots on Charlie's side of the family. (I tried and tried to find a link of my Irish roots to go visit, but had no luck. I need to dig a little deeper) So in this case, we are looking at the line from Charlie's mom (Sarah/Lauren's grandmother). Her name is Jetta. Now Jetta's grandfather was James Nicholas Hollywood and we was born 1/1/1893 in County Down, Northern Ireland. (Very interesting I find that Jetta is also a January 1st, birthday!) SO this would be Sarah and Lauren's Great Great Grandfather. Jetta actually found prior to our trip information that he was baptized in a church called St. Mary's Star of the Sea in the Kilbroney Parish in Rostrevor. This is all in County Down, Northern Ireland. The records show that his parents were Lawrence Hollywood and Bridget Carroll. So when we went to Rostrevor, we found the church. It was beautiful!

Sarah and her Nana on the steps of the church that her Great Great grandfather was baptized at.

This is what the region around Rostrevor looks like...GORGEOUS.

We even found the old cemetery where his parents are supposedly buried. Although we did not find their grave sites, we found many other grave stones with names belonging to the Hollywood and Carroll families. We wrote the names down and hopefully sometime we will find where those pieces to the puzzle fit. We spoke to a caretaker there and she said it was quite possible that who we were looking for was buried there, but it was a big cemetery and a lot of the older grave stones were very weathered. So even though we didn't find the actual names we were looking for, we did find the area, the church and we all felt a connection to it. I know I did and I am only related by marriage.

To continue the James Hollywood story, we have record that he left Ireland on February 5, 1913 from Queenstown (now Cobh in County Cork, Ireland). He departed on the S.S. Carpathia arriving in Boston on February 16, 1913. You might remember that the S.S. Carpathia was the famous ship that rescued the survivors form the Titanic disaster in 1912. It was eventually sunk by a German torpedo during WWI in 1918. We were very lucky to get to travel to Cobh and visit the dock where all these Irish immigrants departed so long ago. To be standing in a place where you know your ancestors passed through with dreams of a better life in a new country and to think that such great ships as the Titanic were once at port there, was very moving. This was by far one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Gorgeous church in the town of Cobh

This is the interior of the building that once was where the immigrants went to board the ships. It is now the museum and shopping are of the Cobh Heritage Center. Click HERE to learn more about this amazing place

This is a painting rendition of what it might have looked like with the huge ships at port!

The statue of Annie Moore that became the first ever emigrant to be processed at Ellis Island. She left the port at Queenstown (Cobh) in 1892.

I only wish I had proof of my relatives passing through the same way. I know I have Irish in my blood, my mother told me so, but I have yet to confirm it! This red hair came from somewhere!

Daughters of the American Revolution

2010-09-09T12:16:00.005-05:00

I am now a member! I am a proud member because it was an organization that my mother was most proud to be a part of. I think if she were here today she would so love to share this with me and would probably make me go to every meeting! My main reason for joining was to honor her. I remember as a child being part of the Children of the American Revolution and we would have fun parties from time to time. My favorite memories, though, are of going to the DAR meetings with my mom every now and then. Because we did not live in San Antonio proper, she couldn't attend every meeting, but she selected to attend those that were held at the San Antonio country club and such. She picked those mainly to expose me to something nice and refined. I think she got something out of the meeting (I certainly didn't), but I know she loved to give me an opportunity to learn about which fork to eat with and how to keep my elbows of the table and how to make small talk, etc.... Even at an early age, I knew it was practice on how to be a lady and have manners. So, anyway, if you were to look up the DAR, I don't think that is one of the goals of the organization, but it was one of my mother's.

Aside from that it was a way for my mother to teach me to be proud of our heritage. To be a member of the DAR you have to show proof that you had relatives that were in the country during the time of the American Revolution. (Note: that may not be the only qualification, but it is one of them.) Thanks to my moms hard genealogy work, we have such a link in our lineage. Because I am her daughter I automatically can become a member and so can my daughters and so on.

It is a very interesting group and maybe one day I will attend a meeting. I am anxious to see if they are how I remember them as a little girl.

(Note: She was also a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and I am looking into becoming an official member of that too. In my mind, our Texas heritage is way more interesting and the stories are the ones I love the most!)

Who's the Fairest of them all....

2010-09-03T16:00:00.003-05:00

SNOW WHITE!

I am in Snow White La-La Land right now. That is going to be the theme for Lauren's 3rd birthday party next month and I am a party planning fool right now. So far I have found super adorable things..such as the invites! Check them out!

I also found these cute graphics to use on all my party planning goods. I am basing my whole color scheme and decor around this.

I have also found cute, cute things to give away as party favors. There is tons more stuff out there with apples on it than there is Snow White. She is one of the princesses who is currently not getting the props she deserves. Why is it always Cinderella??

FYI...Beauty and the Beast comes out next month... you can reserve your copy at The Disney Store!

Dublin: What to do

2010-09-02T14:06:00.016-05:00

Ok...maybe by the time we take our next vacation I will be done blogging about the last. Sorry folks. I know I have been back in the country almost 2 months now and I still haven't gotten you guys out of Dublin...I will try harder to blog more.

So what did we do in Dublin? Besides eat and drink? No much....In fact one of my to-do's is to go drink. So let's get to it.

1. Day trip to Howth.
This is a nice little trip to take. I know it is not really Dublin, but I still recommend it. It is a 30 minute train ride east of the city. Howth is a little port town on the Irish Sea. Why go here? It is quaint, beautiful, you can feed the seals, you can eat great Irish fare like fish and chips, there is a little park and playground if you have kids, and there is a bit of shopping. (Don't let the shopping really sell you that much, it wasn't great). We enjoyed getting out and seeing the ocean. There are some nice views and it is a nice area to leisurely walk. There are lots of good restaurants and we ate at the Oar House. We spent most of the morning there and went back after lunch, so it wasn't a full day, but a nice escape.

2. Trinity College
What a gorgeous campus this is. We took the 30 minute tour, which I recommend. It gives you a little history on the college and you realize it has really been around for a long time. They also preface you a bit on the Book of Kells, so when you go see it, you know more about what you are looking at. The Book of Kells is a must see. On the surface it is not overly impressive, but when you think about how long ago it was done and completely by hand, that is when it becomes pretty awesome to look at it. That is why I think the tour was great. Once I knew more about it, it was infinitely more interesting. Plus...at the end of going to see the Book of Kells you walk through the old library which is a magnificent treat. It looks like something out of a movie or another era. Truly how you imagine an old college library to be. My favorite part of the whole Trinity college experience.

Isn't it AWESOME!

3. Shop Grafton Street
Yes...this is a must and yes there is a Gap and other stores we already all know about...but what a nice little afternoon to have spent perusing the other interesting shops. We found several great little finds. If you have little girls...take them to the Accessorize store...soooo cute clothes, shoes, jewelry, bags, etc... They have some great things for mom too!

4. Visit the Guinness Brew house
This was not at the top of my list of things I was dying to do in Ireland, but it is a definite must I will admit. Even if you don't drink beer, it was a great tour, an impressive building, and there is an amazing 360 degree view of Dublin at the top at the Gravity Bar. SO for nothing else....go for that. The gift shop is one of the best I have ever seen too.

Sarah playing in the Hops (Who says there is nothing for the kids at the brewery!)

Charlie pretending he is excited about it sample of Guinness! He is not a beer drinker.

These guys are beer drinkers, on the other hand....

Sarah and her Sprite at the Gravity Bar

5. Go find a pub and enjoy the good life in Dublin. If you are lucky they will be playing some Irish music and if you are really lucky, there might be some Irish dancing!