Our week with the O’Reillys and beyond

We were up on Sunday morning and in the kitchen at 8 am. We had decided to go to Tayto Park, named after a beg of crisps (chips). We had breakfast and then headed out for a day of fun. The kids were so excited. They had orchestrated their plea to us the evening before and we agreed to the trip. 

The entrance to the park and in the background was the epic roller coaster we all went on. 

Ready for our crazy roller coaster experience. 

We spent the day on rides and laughing....a lot. The boys went off on their own and felt so grown up. Jack is the youngest of the boys so he was in heaven being trusted to be away from us in an amusement park. 

PDA is not allowed in the UAE, so when we can we smooch to embarrass the kids. 

This is the factory on site that makes the lovely crisps. Yummy!

This little race track ran the slowest cars ever. It was hilarious to see our way too large children fold up and get into these cars. 

Millie fit best of all. 

This was a sickening, turn upside down, ride. Blah!

Gemma, Clare and I came back to the house just after 6 pm to rescue the dogs from their bladders. There was only one wee when we got back to the house, which was pretty good since we had been gone nearly 8 hours. Gemma and Clare walked the dogs while I relaxed with a cider. 

The rest of the crew arrived just after 7 pm. Gemma whipped up some food for the kids and then warmed up leftovers for the adults. The kids had an earlier night, which was necessary. Millie was going to sleep in the house with May and Astrid, but in the end she decided against it. She did, however, learn the 5 rules of being part of the girls’ club, which proved to be beneficial to her parents. The rules were 1) Listen to adults, 2) respect everyone, 3) be helpful to everyone, and there were two more, but the first three were good enough for me. Millie was an angel the entire evening. It was bliss. Stuart and I stayed in the house once the kids were in bed in the van. We were all in bed by 11:30 pm. 

I was up on Monday morning just before 7. Farm commotion started just after I got up, so it made sense to get dressed and get going. We were going into Dublin for the day. We figured out that the Richardsons’ camper van wouldn’t fit in any of the car parks in Dublin city center. So Fechin followed Scott to a car Park and then came to meet up at the Guinness Storehouse for our 12 o’clock tour. They made it just in time. 

The girls are ready for the tour. What’s up with my chin? 

And now we are all ready!

The kids were intrigued by the quiz. 

We all got to pull our own pint of Guinness. 

And the final product!

Everyone had their appropriate drink. 

The girl

And the boys!

We had to stop under a scaffolding because it was pouring rain and we were all wet rats. 

In the middle of the picture you can see a man with a paper on his head. That’s Stuart trying to keep the rain off his head. Not sure it was a very useful umbrella. 

We found a cafe and had a coffee to get out of the rain. It dried up enough for us to walk to the Natural History Museum, but unfortunately it was closing in 15 minutes. The kids weren’t terribly upset. We carried on and walked toward our cars. 

We stopped to take a picture with the statute of Molly Malone. There is a song that tells the fictional tale of a fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but who died young, of a fever. In the late 20th century a legend grew up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century. She is typically represented as a hawker by day and part-time prostitute by night. In contrast she has also been portrayed as one of the few chaste female street-hawkers of her day. So a picture was a must. 

We got to the car park and out of the rain. We traveled back to the house and tried to dry off. We did a load of laundry. We were going to hang them on the line but the rain had set in so the tumble dryer was the answer. The kids had pizza for dinner and the adults just snacked. The girls had an earlier evening, but the boys were still up until close to 1 am. 

The night’s sleep was great. Our camper van bedding is fantastic. We have no idea how cold it is until we take the duvet off and then it is icy in the van. We were up just before 8. We decided to have a bit of an easy morning. The kids just played around for the morning and the adults chatted and drank coffee. Fechin’s mother came over for a visit. Her house is a mere 20 steps away from Gemma and Fechin’s house. It seems to work for them. 

Just before 1 pm we headed to Trim for a walk around and then to Trim Castle. This castle is a Norman castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland. It is the largest Norman castle in Ireland. There was an area called Newtown. Between the castle and the other structure there was farm land where the citizens grew their own food. It’s been a bit restructured and now looks like this. 

Trim Castle

Newtown

A grave marking in Newtown

🎶Over the castle on the hill🎶

Trim Castle behind us. 

We ended up walked all around the castle but not actually in it. Our walk was about an hour and a half. The dogs loved it. Around 2:30 pm we got the best fish and chips in the county.

Yum!

She loves her fish and chips!

We then decided to walk to a shop in a hotel with some Irish gear for sale. It started to pour, so it ended up just being Clare, Stuart, Gemma and myself who stayed behind. The rest of the crew went back to house and we followed shortly. 

The rest of the afternoon was a lazy one. I made banana bread, the kids played, and some of the other adults took a nana nap. The evening was a lot more of catching up on the year we have had apart. For dinner we made ham and cheese toasties. We had an earlier night than previously, which was good as we were heading to Northern Ireland on Wednesday. 

I didn’t have the greatest sleep as I joined Millie on her top bunch since I had promised to do so the night before. I had hoped she would forget, but no luck. I ended up sleeping there until 3 am which is when Mother Nature called. We all awoke to a cooked breakfast of sausage, bacon, black pudding (which I will never eat again) eggs and toast. Once we had everything sorted out and all of our things back in our van, we left the O’Reillys to head to Northern Ireland. 

We arrived at our campsite just before the rain caught us. Once we were set up, the kids stayed in the awning while the adults hung out in our van. 

This clever contraption hooks up to the Richardsons’ camper van. 

The scenery around was spectacular. 

Once the rain stopped we headed down to the beach. Naturally the kids had to get in the water. The temperature of the water was around 60 degrees. Too cold for me. 

We were sensible and kept warm, and out of the water. 

This was before they got totally soaked. 

The beach was beautiful. 

And she’s soaked!
All children had fun, but a hot shower was in order after our ten minute walk back to the campsite. 

We had a dinner of spaghetti bolognese and then everyone made their way into their sleeping accommodations. Millie has no desire to sleep anywhere but our van and Henry is dying to sleep in our van. She had an all out meltdown which was a bit embarrassing and irritating. I decided she would be having a conversation the next morning with me about how this holiday is not all about her. The adults stayed up for a bit longer while Jack and Millie went to sleep in our bed. When the evening was over, I went to take a shower and Stuart moved the kids to their bed. 

We had breakfast on Thursday and headed out for the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge as well as Giant’s Causeway. Wehad a bonus stop at Dunluce Castle which is one of the places where the Game of Thrones was filmed. 

Our first stop was the rope bridge. It was amazing! Jack clung on for dear life. 

The walk up to the bridge was stunning. 

She wasn’t scared of anything!

The view on the island wherethe rope bridge took us. 

That’s actually all of us, except Clare coming back across the bridge. Millie is the second little person from the left. I am in the white jumper and Jack is just behind me. Clare couldn’t come across with us because she had Biscuit. It’s a fab photo. 

We then headed to Giant’s Causeway. This is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, a result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. The columns are hexagonal for the most part. It is an amazing site and a must see. 

This is the entrance to the trail. 
The view along the trail. 
These are naturally formed rocks. It’s crazy!
Millie laid down on a flat bit of the causeway. 

The kids loved climbing around on these incredible formations. 

It was a lovely day. 

There was a great audio tour that went along with our tickets into Giant’s Causeway. 

The legend says this was Finn McCool’s pipe organ. The tale is a good one. 

The North Atlantic is glorious. 

The trail back was the most difficult one that went uphill, with 162 steps to the top of the ridge. Let’s just say we all got our steps in on this day. 

The view from the top. 
In the background is Dunluce Castle which was our last cultural stop of the day. 

In front of the castle. 
Rapunzel, let down your golden hair. 

This castle was pretty well preserved from the medieval times.  

Once we left the castle we stopped to get food for dinner. We then headed back to the campsite. Once there, the kids  played around and we decided to postpone dinner, which was best. Millie had a bit of a meltdown when she had to take a shower early, but in the end I think everything ended well. 

We ended the night in our living area. I had decided not to take a shower and instead take one Thursday morning. The plan was then to wash our clothes. We could probably survive without doing so, but we had a pile that was starting to stink. During the night a huge rain storm came up and literally lasted the entire night. It stopped raining around 6 am, but then the wind was brutal, even to the point of rocking our beast! 

While washing clothes there was there was an error code that caused us to have to rewash the load. Then the dryer shot an error code that caused us to have to stand by the dryer and restart the machine every 30 seconds or so for 45 minutes. In the end we took it to another dryer. Seems the washers and dryers in the complex had been acting up recently. It ended up taking us until 6 pm to get two loads of laundry washed and dried. It was ridiculous, but a memory I suppose. 

During the day, because we suspected there would be a day of bad weather, we decided to walk to a pub and then came back by a chip shop which was delightful. 

Millie and Stuart played a game in the morning because the weather permitted. 

This was our walk to the pub. 
A beverage at an authentic Irish pub. 
Our view from the beer garden. 
The beach and water called to us after we had our fish and chips. 
And although I took my flips off I only let the water hit my feet. 

These kids are crazy! The water was freezing again today. 
Millie swore by covering herself with sand she was warmer. All I know is that the sand ruined her swimsuit. Oh well. 

The boy tried to body board. The waves were not cooperating. 

After a bit more chilled water we headed back to camp. The laundry was the bain of our existence on Friday but at least we ended up with enough underwear to survive the rest of our holiday. 

We decided just to do pasta for the kids again and the adults simply ate cheese, salami, crisps, tomatoes and cucumbers with dip. It was easy and since we had fish and chips for lunch we decided to postpone the intended hamburgers for the following evening. It rained off and on for the rest of the evening. The boys ended up sleeping in our camper van, finally, and Millie slept between Stuart and myself which was cozy. 

We got up on Saturday morning and had breakfast. We decided to drive our vans down to the beach. 

The kids and dads spent a few hours surfing, with wetsuits of course. Clare and I supervised and drank coffee and tea. 

The crew ready for the freezing water. 

Jack got the hang of it rather quickly. 

It clearly wore Millie out. 
Doesn’t everyone have a cup of coffee in their wetsuit outside of their camper van?

A drive on the beach was a must. 

About halfway through their three hour rental, Clare and I managed to go to the supermarket for some lunchy bits. We snacked around 2 pm and then went for a walk around the campsite. We then came back and the kids had a game of tennis, sort of. 

About 20 minutes later there was a huge rainstorm. We then went inside and played Old Maid. Although we played with a regular deck of cards and the game was a bit different, Millie still figured out a way to give away that she had the Old Maid. We then played Oh Heck with everyone. It was fun!

We decided we would all get showered before dinner. Burgers were prepared shortly after we were clean, and then the entire van smelled like burgers. Scott and Clare did kitchen duty while Stuart and I sat in our van listening to the rain, and the kids were in the awning playing cards. 

We did our best to get Millie to bed by 9 pm, but she had another meltdown. It’s clearly time to get back to a schedule and back to our ‘normal’ life, whatever that is. After everyone had gone to bed and Millie had calmed down, Stuart and I played rummy. Millie’s meltdowns are nearly killing me, and I’m pretty sure I don’t handle them the way I should. I’ll keep working on that. Another week of fun to be had and then it’s back to school for us. 

Someone is turning 8! Wow!

Sunday morning I slept until around 8:15 am. Jack and Millie were awake and on their iPads when I got up. We had a very lazy morning. Stuart got home from London around 11 am. We ended up going to Sainsbury’s because Grandma didn’t get her weekly order for some reason. Apparently there was a computer glitch. 

We spent the afternoon just sitting around, which is often very nice. Around 4 pm we decided to play Oh Heck with Jack. It was fun, but he still stressed too much about not winning. I’m hoping he is able to cope with losing a little better when he is older. However, his competitive spirit runs through the Pennell clan and I’m not sure he will ever settle for losing. 

Grandpa played catch with the kids in the garden. 

Grandma, Daddy and I sat and chatted. 

We stayed in the garden for the early evening. Since we ate a late lunch of Chinese leftovers we decided just to snack for the evening meal. The kids showered and headed to bed. The adults played cards for the evening and then called it a night. 

We got up on Monday morning and Millie announced to me that she would be 8 years old the next day. I think she manages rather well for a child who never has her school friends around on her actual birthday. 

We left the house around 9 am to go get prizes for the birthday party.  We also got food for lunch. It started raining while we were out, so when we got back we had to get the clothes in off the line and put them in the tumble dryer. 

Once back at the house we had lunch. We were going to have a roast dinner but it got put off until Wednesday because it was thought that Granny would join us for our last evening in Hastings. We had toad in the hole for supper instead of a roast. 

Tuesday morning I woke up early but then went back to sleep until around 8:15 am. Once I was up and around I started getting ready for Millie’s birthday party. We got the games prepared, her treat bags on the table and Stuart started making the food. Her guests arrived around 1130. Our friend Sam and her girls came, as well as Anna and the cousins. Janie and Digby, long time friends of Barry and Karen, came up as well. They brought treats and the Pass The Parcel package. Lunch was at 1 pm. We had more food than people. BBQ would be the meal for the next few days, at least for Grandpa. Before we ate the kids played games. It seemed that everyone had a good time. 

The birthday girl was very excited. 

Move the Marshmallows using chopsticks proved to be quite challenging. 

Pass the parcel is always a party favorite. 

And naturally we have to do the mummy dressing. 

A unicorn cake for our unicorn loving girl. 

Everyone was gone and the festivities were over around 4 pm.  We just ate leftovers for dinner, which was fine by all of us. We played some games, the kids showered, and then the adults played cards. We called it a night around 10:30 pm. 

Wednesday morning we headed to Sainsbury’s for one last look around. I had to get postage stamps, thank you cards, some pain killers for kids and adults just in case, Grandma’s medication and some flowers for Grandad Tom’s grave. 

The rest of the morning was spent doing things in the garden and packing for our departure on Thursday morning. I didn’t garden, but rather supervised (aka sat and watched while they worked). 

To be honest, I pulled a few weeds (and maybe a couple of plants). I have no idea what the difference is between a plant and a weed. 

We got the laundry in from the line as we knew the rain was coming. It rained for about 45 minutes and then stopped. We had a lunch of leftovers and then headed to Eastbourne. Stuart was going to paint the bench at his grandfather’s grave side. He dropped us off at a small shopping center. I ended up buying a fleece at a charity shop. I didn’t bring anything that would keep me warm in Ireland. 

Once Grandma and Grandpa picked us up at the shopping center we went to the crematorium where Stuart was finishing up painting the bench. 

Grandpa and Millie at the pub. 

Grandma and Jack at the pub. 

We stopped in at a pub to have a drink. Getting to Granny’s too much before dinner time would have proved to be challenging for the kids. They just can’t be confined for very long. After our brief beverage break, we headed to Granny’s flat for a cup of tea. 

Granny and Millie share a cuddle. 

After about an hour, Grandpa and I took the kids to play at a park for about a half hour. 

Jack got a bit dizzy on this round about. 

After the park, we headed back to the flat and then went to The Farm for dinner. The service left a bit to be desired, but the food was delicious. 

This is a typical pub in an English town. 

Grandma and Grandpa drove Granny back to her place, while the rest of us headed to the house. The kids showered and went to bed while the adults played cards. We all called it a night around 10:30 pm. I decided to stay downstairs and watch Netflix for a while, then retired for the last night of our time in St Leonard’s. 

We were up and busy on Thursday morning. I changed out all three beds, finished packing for myself and the kids, realizing Millie had too much crap. It’s the way it always happens. We ended up playing a round of cards and then the kids watched Netflix for a while. We left Highwoods just before 11 am to head to the camper van hire place. 

We decided to return the car to the airport before getting an Uber to Just go Motorhomes where we would pick up our home on wheels for the next 13 days. We stopped for lunch and then had an uneventful, yet traffic ridden, ride to the airport. We then Ubered it to the motorhome rental place. We had a brief review of our massive vehicle, then I made the beds to get the bedding out of the way. We stored some of our crap in the compartment at the back and then headed out. The kids were so excited. 

The Griswolds have nothing on us. 

Our drive to Scott and Clare’s has its moments. We had to stop at a lay by because of water leaking from the kids bench seat, most likely condensation, and then the bathroom door popped open. Lastly, I had to brave the rapids and go back to put Millie’s bag back on the bed after an abrupt stop....still getting used to the breaks....he says. 

We arrived at The Richardson’s house just about the time our food order was delivered from Ocado, a local delivery service. Clare and I then went to Tesco to get the kids food for dinner. They were all so ramped up that they had difficulty not imploding. 

After dinner, showers and a good old natter, we took ours out to the camper van, which was obnoxiously parked on the little street where Clare and Scott live, and we settled down for the night. 

We were a bit of an eye sore for this street. Clare spoke to the neighbors to make sure we were okay to park here. 

Sleeping in the camper van will take some getting used to. We got to bed just before 11 pm. Jack and Millie’s bed comes down from the ceiling, so we had to clip some bungees up to keep them contained for the night. She kicked up a fuss and wanted to sleep with us. I think the excitement of the trip and being in this open van made her a bit nervous. I come to the front of the van and sat in my seat while she fell asleep on the bed above my head. When I could hear her breathing deeply, I went back to my bed. I slept for a couple of hours and then had to pee. I then couldn’t go back to sleep for about an hour. It started raining just before I went back to sleep and rained most of the night. Friday morning we were all awake by just after 7. Stuart made coffee and we got dressed. 

We went to the house and had breakfast. We loaded up and headed out. May and Millie road in Scott and Clare’s van and the boys road with us for the first leg. 

The weather was sure to be a bit rainy, but the show must go on. We followed Clare and Scott. 

Best buddies together again for 12 days. 

After a bit of driving, somehow we took the lead. It worked out okay but the weather became terrentual and the road became more narrow. There were several times we felt the need to breathe in! The rain kept coming. We decided to stop at a pub on route and have a late lunch. It turned out there wasn’t a place to eat that was relatively close to our camp ground, so it worked out well. 

A pub lunch is always a good lunch. 

After everyone was full we headed on to Holyhead, Wales, where we would camp for the night before getting the ferry on Saturday morning to Ireland. The girls came with us and the boys rode with Clare and Scott. Our journey was another hour and a half. The girls did a craft that kind of went wrong because the pieces scattered all over the place. It was fine in the end, but took a bit of time to clean up. 

We arrived at the camp ground around 5:30 pm. We ended up just selecting a pitch and parking our vehicles. There was no one there to check us in or seemed to really care we had arrived. It seemed to be run a bit on the honor system, which was fine by us. We had already paid so no one really needed to help us settle in. 

The adults in the front. 

The kids played Uno on our bed. 

All of us except Clare. She was taking the picture. 

We opted to feed the kids from our excess of food in the fridges and then we just snacked for the evening. It rained rather a lot, but we were all able to fit in our camper van to play games or just sit and chat. We ended up calling it a night around 10:30 pm. Millie kicked off again which resulted in Jack hitting her in the chest. I explained to him that no matter how angry he gets with her, he can’t hit her. He’s so much bigger than she is and really could hurt her. He truly doesn’t understand his own strength. It scares me sometimes. She totally provoked him, so I understand his frustration. I don’t know the answers. This parenting thing is not for the weak. 

We were awake just before 7 on Saturday. We got up and put the kettle on. We messaged the RV group and the doors began to open. We had breakfast, but kept it light as we feared our ferry journey would be a rough one. 

We were away from the campsite around 10 am and in Tesco to top up our food supply. We left Tesco and were on route to the ferry, with a stop at Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch- the longest one-word name of a place in Europe. It happens to be a train station in Wales. It has 59 characters and 19 syllables. I have no idea how to pronounce it. 

Millie shows her true colors, yet again. 

This stop was a little like the stop Clark W Griswold made at the Grand Canyon during Vacation. Once you’ve seen it, that’s about it. We did walk around the gift shop and bought some sweets, then we headed on to the ferry port. We thought we would be really early, but they started boarding us not long after we arrived. 

And the cars are going under the passenger levels. 

You can’t tell, but the waters were less than calm. 

The ferry journey was a bit rough as it was reported their wind gales would be the worst in years, and the ride proved that to be true. I felt icky for almost half of the 3 and a half hour journey. I tried to ease my pain with crisps but to no avail. Finally, we landed and worked our way to the camper vans. 

This was a gambling hall on the ferry. 

Our journey through the Emerald Isle had begun. While we waited for everyone to disembark the ferry, naturally Jack and Millie needed a snack, because it had been nearly a half hour since their last snack. Once we were on our way, the weather showed why Ireland has the nickname it does. 

We arrived in Summerhill at Gemma and Fechin’s. It seemed the kids slipped right back into their normal behavior with each other. 

Naturally the boys got busy with gaming. 

Gemma had made a delightful meal for us. We felt so cozy and welcome. It was so good to be back with our friends. 

We were so thrilled to finally be in Ireland. We had this trip planned for about a year and a half, every since we knew the O’Reillys were returning to Ireland. 

Our holidays continue in grand style.