High heels!

One of the things we brought back for Gemma from our cruise was a pair of toy high heels. She loved Freya's when we were in Minnesota, and I found a pair for €2 in Spain! She has been wearing them A LOT! 

Iberian Cruise

Paul and I got to enjoy a one week Iberian cruise from October 2nd to 9th. Gemma went on her 'holidays' to Granny and Grandad's in Louisburgh, including going on the train for the first time, so that we could have a getaway. We had a wonderful week of relaxation and seeing some beautiful sites. 

We flew to London, then got a transfer to the port in Southampton, England, where we boarded the ship- Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. Our first full day was a sea day, then we had four days of stops in Vigo, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Cadiz, Spain; and Gibraltar. The last full day was a sea day, then we arrived in Barcelona in the early morning of Friday, October 9th, and we flew back to Dublin from there. We had a great time, but we missed Gemma a lot- the last day we spent nearly the whole day looking at pictures and videos of her on our phones!

Enjoying a drink before we sailed out of Southhampton. 

On the first day of the cruise we went to a talk onboard about all the different ports of call. We won one of the prizes of a day excursion when we were in Vigo to Santiago de Compostela. The city is the capital of Galicia, in northwest Spain, and the destination of a major Catholic pilgrimage route. We had a guided tour around the city and some time to explore on our own. 

In Lisbon we explored on our own, including taking a tour of the city on an open top bus. It was a beautiful city with gorgeous tiles everywhere, but unfortunately it was extremely windy and poured rain at times!

Cadiz is a beautiful coastal town with an amazing cathedral. We spent the day wandering the narrow streets and walking along the seafront. 

Gibraltar was probably our favourite spot. We took a private taxi tour with 4 other people to the top of the rock, stopping at all the points of interest along the way and getting educated about Gibraltar by a local person. We enjoyed looking in the numerous shops as well- it's a tax free shopping destination! 

On the last sea day we relaxed, read, watched an ice skating show, and enjoyed a final drink in one of the bars onboard. 

We arrived back in Barcelona after a wonderful week, then went straight to the airport- very excited to get back to Gemma!

Minnesota- Part 4

Thursday, September 10th

-Gemma spent the morning with grandma again while I ran some more errands, then we spent the afternoon with Freya too when she got home from school

The heat and humidity did a number on Gemma's hair!

-Mom, Margo, Freya, Gemma, and I had photos taken together

-Dinner at Chipotle, with some dirt cake for dessert back at Margo's!

Friday, September 11th

-Played at Margo's 

Dance party with grandma!

-Went to a Vehicle Fair and activities at Freya's school in the evening

Gemma LOVES Caesar the cat!

Saturday, September 12th

-Played in the morning

-Had a birthday party for the girls in the park across from Margo's in the afternoon- it was a great day!

Freya got an Elsa dress for her birthday, and we had brought Gemma's with us, so we had two Elsas that evening!

Sunday, September 13th

-My dad came for the day, and we went out for brunch 

-Played at Margo's, then had another attempt at some photos of the two girls

They could have gone better!

Monday, September 14th

-Departure day :( 

-Saw Freya off to preschool 

-My mom took us to the airport

-We flew to Chicago, had a few hours there- played and had dinner- then got on the long flight back to Dublin. Luckily we got 4 seats for the 2 of us, and Gemma slept about 95% of the flight!

-We arrived back in Dublin at around 9:30am local time on Tuesday, September 15th (3:30am Minnesota time). We were both very excited to see Paul- as soon as Gemma saw him she ran at high speed to him!

On Wednesday it was back to work and creche!

We had an AMAZING time in Minnesota. Thank you so much to everyone who hosted us and visited us! See you again soon!