travel

“Where are you from?” Country name confusion while traveling :)

I sometimes feel confused, when traveling abroad, about what I am supposed to say when people ask where I'm from. I'm from the United States of America. But that is a bit of a mouth full. Also, at least in Ireland, it seemed that most people we talked to thought it was obvious that we… Continue reading “Where are you from?” Country name confusion while traveling 🙂

Kids, Parenting, Productivity

A 12 year old’s perception of “free time”

Asher is really busy right now. Obviously he is back in school, but he also has play practice after school, volleyball Tuesday/ Thursday and swim practice almost every night. It's a lot! Possibly (probably?) bordering on "too much", but we decided to allow it because it's a fairly short period in time. (The play is… Continue reading A 12 year old’s perception of “free time”

Deep thoughts, travel

Tired + some random musings on international travel

I woke up this morning AGAIN at ~3:15, making it the 4th day in a row I have woken up in the 3:00-4:00 a.m. hour. Today though, I felt determined to fall back to sleep. (The last few days I didn't really fight it and basically just got up extra early.) But I have been… Continue reading Tired + some random musings on international travel

Family Fun, travel

Back in the USA + my worry stone!

We're home! We got home last night, actually (Saturday). The flight home was a bit longer than on the way over- maybe 7 1/2 hours, but everything went smoothly. One nice thing flying home from Ireland is that they do a U.S. "Pre-Clearance" for Immigration and Customs before you leave Ireland. Then, you just get… Continue reading Back in the USA + my worry stone!

travel

Day 4- lazy morning, Museum of Country Life, pub

Tuesday, March 15 After a couple of pretty full days, and a weather forecast that looked iffy anyway, the plan for Tuesday was a pretty low key morning. My nieces had school, so they went off to that, but the rest of us slept in a bit. The boys got a kick out of riding… Continue reading Day 4- lazy morning, Museum of Country Life, pub

travel

Day 3- Scenic drive, Kylemore Abbey, Castle

Monday, March 14: My sister planned a full day “out” on Monday, just us, my parents, her youngest and her (while my nieces went to school and brother-in-law worked). She had mapped out a scenic driving route, with several stops along the way. Starting out- it was gloomy/rainy at first, but the weather was supposed… Continue reading Day 3- Scenic drive, Kylemore Abbey, Castle