Christmas in Mayo

Gemma and I departed Dublin for Louisburgh to spend Christmas with Paul's family on Tuesday, December 22nd, and Paul followed the next day after he was finished with work. On Christmas Eve morning, Marie, Brian, Paul, Gemma, and I made our second annual trip to Westport House to see Santa. It's a great experience- we got to decorate gingerbread men, make a Yule log, get faces painted, have a treat, and see the man himself!

That evening we made an attempt to go to mass (we left about half way through, as Gemma was getting tired and impatient!), then got ready for Santa's arrival!

We woke up on Christmas Day to discover that Santa had arrived!

Gemma's reaction to the 'snowy' boot prints was, "we have to clean up that mess!"

She opened her gifts from Santa and everyone else. 

So excited!

We ate the traditional Irish Christmas dinner of turkey and ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, roast potatoes, carrots, and brussel sprouts. It was delicious!

We spent the rest of the Christmas break relaxing, trying to dodge the rain, and visiting friends and family, including spending a night with friends in Galway. Gemma also helped a bit with the renovations on Marie and Brian's future home!

All seven of us went out for dinner on New Year's Eve. 

I headed back to Dublin early on New Year's Day to get the Christmas decorations taken down, etc, and Paul and Gemma came back yesterday afternoon. It was a wonderful Christmas to see the magic through Gemma's eyes! 

Christmas Time in Dublin

Back on Saturday, December 19th, Paul, Gemma, and I spent the afternoon/evening taking in the Christmas atmosphere in the Dublin city centre. Our first stop was the Live Animal Crib outside the Mansion House, where a choir was singing some festive favourites. Gemma danced and sang along!

We walked over to the Grafton street area, where we got dinner, watched the 'snow' fall outside a shop, looked at the lights, listened to all the Christmas music, and even got ice cream because the weather was so mild!

On Monday, December 21st, Gemma and I met Paul's cousin's wife and their two boys for lunch and fun at a cafe/petting zoo.