Guest Post by my Husband, Justin

Hello everyone! Justin here. Meg asked me to post a guest blog some time ago. I have found an excellent excuse to do so. Yesterday Liam and I gave Meg a nice long afternoon to herself. Where does and Irish history-obsessed dad take his son on a Saturday? To a graveyard of course! Liam and I visited Prospect Cemetery, better known as Glasnevin Cemetery. Despite a small setback (note: the 13 bus from Merrion Square does not go past the cemetery, despite what the driver might tell you), we made it safe and sound. Liam was asleep when we arrived, but soon awoke to find himself in Dublin's necropolis.

We wandered up and down the small avenues that dissect towers of tombstones. A lot of work has been done to the cemetery since last I visited in 2005. One grave that is always immaculately kept is that of Michael Collins - Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Free State Army during the shaky first year of Irish independence. The anniversary of his death is 22 August, so we were right on time to lay some flowers in memory of this great organizer and leader.

A quick visit to the gift shop (€25 for a paper print of Collins? I think not!), to the cafe for an ice cream, and we were on our way back to town. Liam and I stopped in Trinity College for a run around the cricket pitch before heading home to Meg.

A great day overall! Go check out Glasnevin Cemetery for yourself. There is a new visitor's center, museum and hourly tours. http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/
All the best,
JDS

Growing

It's not only children who grow.  Parents do too.  As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours.  I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.  All I can do is reach for it, myself.  ~Joyce Maynard

A Morning on the Seaside

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.  ~Isak Dinesen


A trip to presumably the best beach in Dublin was a great escape from the city yesterday morning. When my friend, Áine (pronounced An-ya, for my non-Irish friends) suggested it, I jumped at the chance, as we've never been to Skerries' Beach and we're all about exploring unseen places our last month here. 


Stupidly I didn't do much research on how to get there - I just knew we needed to get the train at my local DART station (Dublin City's rail service). It was a bit more complicated than I anticipated and the lift was out of order so imagine a frantic woman trying to get to the other side of the platform, baby in one arm, stroller and coffee in the other and diaper bag over the shoulder - which in involved going up two flights of stairs, running to the other side and seeing the train pull in as I was descending the last two flights to get to the platform. Liam was crying and I nearly was as we boarded at the last possible second!


We got to the next station in just a couple of minutes and had to wait about 15 minutes for the train to Skerries, as well as our friends who were running a bit late (these morning playdates are difficult, I tell you!) The train was pulling in and Aine was not in sight! I ran to the front and asked the conductor (do we still call them that??) if he could wait a couple of extra seconds for my friend who was thisclose (see the train to Skerries does not come very freqeuntly, so this train was our only chance!). He said he would try but couldn't wait long - they have to account for every second. Well, the couple extra seconds were all we needed as Áine andherbaby literally flew through the gate and onto the train (although in a different car than the one I was in)! No worries though, she joined me in my compartment at the next stop and we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Soon we watched the Sea come into view and arrived at the Skerries stop. Now, to the beach!

The train station in Skerries

 Ahh.... can you smell the fresh sea air?

Having fun!

Áine & Matthew

We had such a lovely time at the beach, and the boys were so exhausted by the time we left that they fell asleep in their strollers on our walk back to the station. Áine and I managed to have a wonderful conversation while we waited 30 minutes for the train, without interruption! It was a peaceful ride home, too. It's true, Isak, salt water is the cure - I didn't even know I needed one.

Brothers

While I'm on the subject, wouldn't this be the cutest for a shared boys' room (or even a non-shared room!)?

Image from Pinterest

My Gorgeous Sister is Having a...

BOY! They found yesterday at her 20 week scan. I am beyond thrilled for her little family. This is her second little boy... how fun for Jude to have a brother; a best friend for life. And Liam will have another boy cousin! The trouble those three will get into...

The growing family (doesn't she have the cutest

little baby bump?!)

Big Brother!

The best part is that I will be home for the birth of my newest nephew! This is so exciting, I could just pee myself. Oh to hold a newborn again... I just felt my uterus twinge. Just kidding! It will be a little while before we add to the family.

Sisters, Aunties, Cousins

Congratulations, Kelly, Joel & Jude! You guys hit the jackpot!

More Pictures!

As I said here, a friend of ours was very kind to take pictures of Liam and the three of us together last month. She sent the unedited photos the other day and I've played with a few. I'm kind of a dummy with photo editing but they turned out okay I think. Get prepared for a picture overload!

Sneak Peak

A few weeks ago a good friend of ours took a few family shots of us at our favorite spot, Herbert Park (duh!) We just received the CD in the post with about 500 pictures on it - yay! Here is one of my favorites... more to come in the next couple of days.