Mediterranean Disney Cruise- Night before/Day 1

On the evening of Friday, September 9th, Paul, Gemma, and I flew from Dublin to Barcelona to spend the night before embarking on a week long Mediterranean cruise the next day. 

We had a bit of time in the morning before we had to be to the port, so we took a stroll from our hotel to La Rambla, a pedestrian street in the city centre, and La Boqueria Market, a market just off La Rambla. 

We went back to the hotel, got our luggage, then got a taxi to the port to get checked in and board the ship, The Disney Magic!

We were greeted by name as we boarded, then ate lunch, explored the ship, Gemma went swimming, and we enjoyed the Adventures Away Party as we sailed away from Barcelona. 

After a bit of a rest in our room and unpacking, we had dinner in the Animator's Palate restaurant, enjoyed some sea views after dinner, took in the show in the theatre, then headed to bed!

Preschool!

On Thursday, September 1st, Gemma started preschool! The government here sponsors a year (now two- we just missed out on it!) of preschool every morning, 5 days a week from September through the end of June. The creche that Gemma has been going to for over three years now is also a Montessori preschool, so she gets to stay in one place! On days that I work she spends the mornings upstairs in the Montessori room and the afternoons downstairs in creche. On the days I don't work, she'll go for the morning only. I don't think the difference has been too noticeable yet for her, but she was singing a song in Irish today when she got home. I better learn a bit now too!

Up Mayo!

On Sunday, August 21st, the Mayo Gaelic Football team played Tipperary in the championship semi-final in Croke Park in Dublin. The three of us went to the match and cheered Mayo on to victory! The final will be on September 18th, and Mayo will face Dublin. Mayo are huge underdogs this year. They haven't won the championship since 1951 (despite having come SOOOO close in recent years), so the entire county (and anyone originally from there), will celebrate for MONTHS if they win!

The Rose of Tralee Festival

Back on August 19th we made a quick trip overnight down to Tralee, County Kerry. That is where Paul's mom is originally from, and she has a house down there. Every August they have a festival to crown the 'Rose of Tralee'. Gemma had a great time at it last year, so we had to go again! Unfortunately it was pretty rainy, but we got some activities in between the showers! 

Taking part in a show for kids in the park

RTE is the television station that airs the pageant

Fun on the amusements! 

Gemma's 4th Birthday!

Gemma turned 4 back on the 10th of August! We had a few cakes and celebrations!

When Gemma woke up that morning, there was a new teddy bear (made by one of my patients), balloons, and decorations right outside of her bedroom door!

Since it was a creche day, Gemma took a cake in to share with all of her friends!

After creche we celebrated at home with another cake, presents, and we told Gemma about our upcoming family vacation- a 7 night Disney Cruise in the Mediterranean!

The following weekend we celebrated with Paul's family in Louisburgh. We went out for pizza and some amusement rides at Westport House, then presents and cake back at Granny and Grandad's house. 

We can't believe our sweet, spunky little girl is 4 already!

About time!

So, we've been a bit busy since I last posted! I was looking at the calendar one day (probably counting the sleeps until Gemma's birthday), and since the last post, the weekend of May 7th/8th, all three of us weren't home for an entire weekend until July 23rd/24th!  And, we moved house in June also (more on that later), so no wonder I feel as if life has been a bit hectic lately! Here's a brief rundown of what we've been up to:

A trip to the circus in Lucan on May 28th while Paul was in London for the weekend

Blowing bubbles on May 31st

Fun at Ikea on June 3rd

Gemma at Carrowmore beach in Louisburgh on June 4th (the June Bank Holiday weekend). 

Unfortunately we had to move out of our last place (where we had lived for almost 7 years!), because even though we were paying the rent, the landlord wasn't paying the mortgage, so the property went into receivership (like foreclosure). We had 6 month's notice, but there is an EXTREME shortage of rental properties here at the moment, so it was kind of stressful. Luckily in the end we found a great house with a backyard, that totally coincidentally is right next door to one of Gemma's best buddies from creche! Unfortunately we didn't know for sure when we would be moving, so we had nothing packed. Once we found a place, we had to pack everything and move in about two weeks. Paul and Gemma went to Mayo the first weekend in June so I could start packing, and Gemma spent a week in Mayo 'on her holidays' while Paul and I got everything moved, unpacked, and settled. Paul and I spent the first night in the new house on June 16th, then we went to Mayo for the weekend, collected Gemma, and all 3 of us spent our first night together in the new house on June 19th. We are really enjoying our new place now. 

Our last family pic in the old house on June 10th

Celebrating my birthday on June 23rd

Another weekend in Mayo- Paul and I climbed Croagh Patrick with friends on July 2nd

Amusements at Westport House on July 3rd

Happy 4th of July!

Cheering on Mayo at a Gaelic Football match in Castlebar, County Mayo on July 9th

Making funny faces by the River Liffey in Lucan on July 14th

The Louisburgh Horse Show on July 17th

Fun in the pool in the back yard (and an ice cream break!) on July 18th

A day exploring Dublin (The Natural History Museum, St. Stephen's Green, and Grafton Street) on July 22nd

The Bray Air Show on July 24th

An art project at home on July 31st

A walk on Howth Pier August 1st

In the midst of all the craziness of moving, we've been having a lot of fun this summer too!  I'll write another post soon about Gemma's 4th birthday!