Dublin: Where to Stay

Yeah! I am finally getting around to doing my 1st post about our trip. I am going to start with Dublin, because that is where we started. I am going to break down Dublin into 3 parts. Where to Stay, Where to Eat, and What to Do. I will by no means have all the answers to any of these, but will share with you our experience. As with most places, you can't really see it all and do it all in one trip. I already have a list of things I want to do on my next Dublin visit!

So Where to Stay:

This is where we stayed: The Arlington Hotel



I guess I should probably preface this post and all posts about the vacation a bit by saying that we traveled as a group of 15 the entire 3 weeks. In order to coordinate this madness, my mother-in-law booked all hotels. This was a task that I was very glad to relinquish to her, however, in hindsight, I would have probably made slightly different choices in some cases. Dublin, however, was not really one of those. I feel she did a good job of getting us a nice place to stay, at a good, reasonable rate, great location to the heart of the city, and an overall good choice.

Pros to the Arlington Hotel:

1. Clean and Comfortable (You will see from the photos that our room was quite spacious. We had a corner room with a king sized bed and 2 twins. Aside from the girls having separate rooms, this was quite a nice arrangement.)



2. Staff was very friendly at front desk and breakfast. The breakfast was very nice with lots of options and it was included in the price of the room.

3. The location of the hotel was ideal for walking in Dublin. We were right on the River Liffey next to the O'Connell Bridge. Trinity College, Grafton Street, great restaurants, and a train station were all just short walks from our hotel.

4. There was a pub located within the hotel, so it was easy and convenient to grab a drink before dinner or before heading in for the night. They also advertised Irish Dancing every night (however, to our & Sarah's disappointment, we never actually saw it).

5. The price. Being that we would be traveling for 3.5 weeks, we needed to stay within a certain budget. There would be no Four Seasons every night so to speak. On average, I would say our hotel rooms cost about $100-$120 euros a night. Keep in mind we usually had the bigger rooms b/c we had the kids and sometimes the nanny. Several hotels we stayed at were under 80 Euros, so we did well on the cost for decent places.

6. It had Internet. Period.

Cons to the Arlington Hotel:

1. There is a pub downstairs. This makes for quite a lot of noise at night when you are trying to go to sleep. Especially on the weekends. We had mild weather while we were in Dublin and had the windows open at night (there is no air conditioning) so the music and conversation could be heard into the wee hours of the morning.

2. The bathrooms were tiny. Not always are hotel bathrooms big, but these were pretty small. Also, aside from our corner room, the standard guest rooms were a little on the small side, as well.

3. It did not have very many amenities. If you are like me and are more of a luxury hotel goer, it was lacking in some areas. However...only in big cities would you find a lot luxury in Ireland and there was the budget thing. Still, there was no air conditioning, small elevators, sparse decor, ...well...now that I am naming all the things I think I missed out on, I really didn't need them. It was just an overall feeling of luxury, I guess, that I missed.

So you see...all in all...this was a good place. I would recommend it to friends and family and you get your money's worth.

However...the next time I go...this may be the place I want to stay....The Shelbourne

A family friend was actually in Dublin on business a couple of weeks afterward and this is where he stayed. Now again, I realize that this was on his company's dime, but if you compare the 2 websites, you will be able to see the difference. (Not to mention my friend said that Bono was seen in the lobby on multiple occasions while he was staying there!!!) Now that is my kind of place!

So, I am sure there are tons of great places to stay in Dublin and I have not done a ton of research on this topic. Dublin is a great city and I recommend it highly and both the places I mention above.

Why I love July

One might think I love July because of my birthday or just simply because it is the summer, but the reason I love it is because of the 4th of July. What is not to love...warm weather, red-white-blue, fireworks, hot dogs, blueberry pie, watermelon, swimming, baseball, and lemonade. I have always loved this holiday..well, I actually love all the holidays...but I LOVE this one. This years was pretty picture perfect in my book. First off....Charlie was home. This can be rare in July. With the Tour de France, baseball, NASCAR, and a whole host of other random sporting events that happen this time of year, he 9 out of 10 times, is not home. It was a huge treat to have him this year. So on Saturday we took our kids to Southlake to see the fireworks and partake in the festivities a little bit. It had rained earlier that day, so it was actually very pleasant outside. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory..always a crowd pleaser, and walked around the Town Square a little. We got the girls ice cream and then we parked our chairs in prime viewing position for the fireworks. Luckily there was a little 3 year-old girl sitting next to us who was very sweet and kept the girls very entertained while we waited for it to get dark. The girls had glow necklaces, so that was a treat.





Then the fireworks began....an oh, boy did they ever. Lauren about had a heart attack and was scared to death for the whole 20 minutes. You could not have pried her off of Charlie's shoulder if you tried. Poor thing was terrified. Sarah on the other hand loved it. As did I! I got to practice taking shots with my new camera and had a blast. I think the photos turned out decently well for my first try so I was pleased!
What do you think?



The next day, on the 4th, we hosted our family and close family friends over for swimming and a cookout. The girls loved having their friends over to play with them. I was so glad all of our family could come. I wish my older brother and my dad and step mom lived closer so they could have attended. We had Charlie's parents, his aunt, uncle, and cousin, his brother and sister-in-law, and her mom, my brother and sister-in-law, and her parents and grandmother, and then our friends who live the next neighborhood over that have 2 girls Sarah and Lauren's age. They had a blast swimming. The little ones played in the baby pool and the older girls swam in the big pool. Sarah really needs to learn to swim...we almost had a catastrophe b/c she lost her kick board in the middle of the pool. I have never been more frantic. All is well, though.









We had sooo much food. We grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken kabobs, beans, salads, deviled eggs, appetizers, cookies, brownies, and blueberry cobbler. Out of all that, the cobbler was the only thing I got around to snapping a photo of. It is hard to play host and photographer at the same time! Go HERE to get the recipe for the cobbler.

It was a great afternoon/evening and a wonderful weekend. It was back to reality today as Charlie jetted off to work and we started a new week. Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

We are Back!

Wow...it seems like ages ago that we left for our trip. We are now back and so glad to be back. We had a great trip. Ireland was gorgeous and the food De-Lish! France was a whirlwind with all we had to see and Paris was, well, Paris. Wonderful. It was a long 3 1/2 weeks with 2 kids. Especially a 2 1/2 year-old. We made it, though, and they are wonderfully happy to be home with their toys and TV and FOOD. I can't wait to start blogging about all of our adventures. I hope you all will be interested. I will blog about cities, sights, restaurants, and other travel topics. I am not sure about my plan of attack just yet, but bear with me. The posting will commence soon.

Right now I have to get through editing 2100 photos. No...not exaggerating. I bought a Canon 7D right before we left, and let's say I got a little carried away!! My pictures are great, although no-where near what they could have been had I really known how to use my camera. I also need to learn photo shop!

Well, I will be posting soon....great to be back!

Off to the Emerald Isle

Well we are just a few days out from jetting off to the Emerald Isle for a couple of weeks and then heading on to France for about another week and a half. This trip has been almost a year in the making and I can't believe it is upon us. I am excited to see the sights, but what I am most looking forward to is spending some quality time with my family (immediate and extended). We won't have all the interruptions of daily schedules, TV, FB, etc...We will be spending time talking and doing things together. I can't wait for my girls to experience another culture. I know it is not like we are visiting ancient tribes in Africa or anything, but the European way of life is different from ours. We need a break from Easy Mac, Nick Jr., trips to Target, etc.....all of which we will be dying for come the end of June I am sure! We need a little time to walk and enjoy the sights, we need to broaden our horizons and try new foods and not try to eat in five minutes, and we need for the girls (especially Sarah) to see that there is more to the world than what is within 10 miles of our house. I know there will be challenges with food for the girls, no naps for Lauren some days, TV and toy withdrawals, but with 15 people in our group...I think the kids will do just fine. When our nanny, Linda, joins us 1/2 way in that will be a blessing for sure! Charlie and I are most excited to have her take the kids the night in Paris we have dinner reservations at the Jules Verne. It will be a most wonderful dinner to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary!


We pray for safe travels, no sick kids, no lost luggage, and perfect weather! I may or may not be blogging while over there. This is my first overseas trip to take since I began this blog, so I am not sure if we will have great computer connections, if I will have time, or even if I will want to! You can bet if it is crickets chirping around her for a few weeks, there will be lots of posting going on when we get back!

Don't you just love these graphics. You can find them HERE...they have all sorts of cute items to buy with graphics from many countries and states, as well!

Sarah's Big Weekend

Sarah had a big weekend. It was not only her dance recital, but her spring gym meet, too. She did so great at both and Lauren was a great little sister sitting through everything and supporting her.

Saturday was the gym meet. This is the 2nd gym meet that Sarah has done and she improved a lot since December. On the Floor she went from an 8.8 to a 9.15, on vault a 9.1 to a 9.2, on beam an 8.9 to a 9.1 and on bars she is holding even at an 8.8. Maybe by the next meet she will get above a 9.0 on everything and get her Level 1 trophy!






Today, she had her dance recital. She did 2 numbers (same costume). One to I Wanna Be Like You from A Jungle Book and the other to Monkey Jive. She really knew her dances and smiled a lot. She seemed to really enjoy it. It makes me sad that she is not planning to take ballet/tap next year. She wants to try out hip-hop. We will see....you never know what the summer will bring. She has already changed her mind about quitting gymnastics.

I was so proud of her this weekend!

Rob and Nina's Wedding: The Wedding

FINALLY! I am so happy to say that I am finally getting around to writing about the wedding. I am very proud that I got it done before October! I still don't have all the pictures I would like to post, but I think you will get the idea regardless. It was such a classy celebration. They really lucked out that they had such a gorgeous day. I mean it was perfect and we had been having a rainy fall up to that point. It was sunny, about 75 degrees. Everything went off just as planned (or at least from what I could tell) It was very nice to be in a wedding and just have to look pretty. I didn't have to stress about vendors, or decor, or anything this time around. She had a very high end Dallas wedding planner, a well known wedding venue, and a great photographer. What more could a bride ask for!

The ceremony took place just as it was getting dark. The candles were beautiful and the trumpet playing as she walked in were perfect! It was the most beautiful evening wedding.

Ceremony: Highland Park Methodist Church

Sarah loved being a flower girl!

The McDonald Family

The reception was so much fun. We started off with a cocktail reception in the conservatory. All the windows with the beautiful botanicals around was the perfect setting. The piano music was wonderful. The ballroom was lit just perfectly for the reception. All the fall colored flowers and the gorgeous cake as the centerpiece was breathtaking. For dinner we dined on beef tenderloin and jumbo lump crab cakes. Fabulous! The band was so much fun and had the crowd dancing well into the wee hours of the morning. They made a fabulous exit in their Rolls Royce and it was a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Reception: Crescent Court

Sarah and I with my Dad

The Parents!

I will not be doing a final installment on the honeymoon. I was not invited, imagine that! I do not have any of their pictures from the honeymoon. I can tell you they both enjoyed FIJI immensely and it sounded like it was a great trip. HERE is where they stayed!