I think the rest of Sept can be summed up in 3 words: Tennis, band, and closet. We finally pulled the trigger on a Pax Ikea Closet system. We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. We got all the demo done, and then set aside one Saturday to do the install. Things…
Woah–life keeps moving at the speed of light. We got home from our trip and BAM-tennis starts. BAM-we move Halle back to Ft. Collins. BAM-my baby starts High School! In no particular order, here we go: Tennis team dinner! We had Hawaiian chicken and coconut rice and shave ice for dessert. The boys also drafted…
Our big adventure was finally here! I can’t remember where I first learned about the online skating marathon in Berlin, but as soon as I did, I knew I had to do it. I recruited Rusty and Carlie and Dan and we spent the summer rollerblading up and down the trails in Erie. We were…
Is there anything more fun that vacationing with friends? I think not. Sam invited us all to come celebrate Gina’s birthday at her favorite place on earth–their cabin at Hebgen Lake. And I think now it is also all of our favorite place on earth. We had the best time! From boating to board games,…
Rusty here–Friday morning We picked up our breakfast bags and were off to the airport pretty early like 7AM.. It was about an hour. We pulled up to the curb and hugged the kids and said we will see you in America in a week! Crazy. The kids were troopers and I think were a…
Halle’s one Ireland wish was to do a photoshoot in a castle. Which got me thinking….Ireland would make some pretty epic family pictures. I shopped around and found a photographer and a location I loved. Bective Abby, although not a castle, was an incredibly picturesque ruin in County Meath. At the last minute, our photographer…
Friday was castle day! We ate our breakfast and left our glamping cottage around 10am and then it was time to make our way to some archery. It was at a beautiful farm estate of course. Archery was super cool. Tara was the archery pro, winning all the games. Josh and blake also enjoyed it.…
Rusty–I’m getting Galway and Limerick mixed up a little bit but Galway was where we stayed right next to the Latin quarter. Galway was a big city! We checked into our hotel and then we walked the Latin quarter late at night. So much music and so much energy. Really fun. I was surprised when…
The Cliffs of Moher get a big shrug from the Banks Family. Perhaps we were too tired. Perhaps we were on beauty overload. Perhaps if the weather was better we would have liked it more. Our Ferry from Insheer took us under the cliffs on the way back. Blake could not stop talking about how…
We woke up and were scrambling because we had to be on the road by 10 to hit our ferry in time. Blake was supposed to come down and meet me for breakfast but I couldn’t find him so I got frustrated and he didn’t want to talk to the waitress when I had to…
After Soccer Golf, we did the Dingle Peninsula which was a 3+ hour drive. First stop. Hold the baby lambs. But we did not get to hold the lamb. But we got to feed the lamb. “You, feed this one! You, feed this lamb!” said the old grumpy groundskeeper. They were sufficiently cute and would…
Blake–The whole family went to a falconry where they had all different kinds of birds including hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. They started by showing us a bird named Gus who was a parigrine falcon and the fastest bird alive. They had a life which was a stick and rope with meat on the end…
Valencia Island—Went to bed with bad news. Our Skelling Michael trip was cancelled. Curse this stormy weather! I was so disappointed. We are going to have to come back to Ireland just to try to do this again. THE FLOWERS. I cannot get enough. I wish we had more time to explore this island on…
We stayed at the Lake Hotel in Killarney. It was such a pretty place. I wish we could have stayed longer. We thoroughly enjoyed our big buffet breakfast while watching the ROBOT LAWNMOWER. Halle-The gap of Dunloe was a breathtaking hike. The hills were neon green, rocky, mossy, and full of sheep. It was so…
Josh–After our time in Dublin was over we headed southwest to start seeing the rest of the country and one of our first stops was a hike in Wicklow. We started at a big lake that was super reflective and we walked along it for a while before we reached the climbing part of the…
