Stalwart soldiers amid the packing chaos: We never did take pictures of the cool buildings of the UL campus, so Gary took these his last night there. This is the awesome pedestrian bridge over the Shannon he'd cross every day to get to the Irish World Academy Building. This is his little corner of campus where he spent most of his days: The mosaic in his building: Last day of school in Ireland. :-( Maggie's and Sophie's friends were all so cute - gave them big hugs again and again as we walked down through the parking lot to cross the street to go to our house. I wish I'd had my video camera! We do love British Airways... and in-seat video players!
This is what I posted on Facebook before we left Ireland:
"Heartbroken to be leaving Ireland. Boxing and cleaning up suck to begin with; leaving a place we love makes it all worse! Shouldn't be ungrateful though. Thank you Ireland for four wonderful months!"
I was heartbroken to leave Ireland. I'm not even completely sure why, but I cried on and off for a week before we left. I think it had something to do with adventure, with opportunity, with a simplified life, with seeing my children valued and loved in what we thought would be a foreign environment, with making new, unexpectedly close friends, with being together in a whole new way. I fell in love with Ireland and its people because we got to know them, go to their schools, eat at their houses, play with their children, see with new eyes. I loved all the tender mercies and beautiful moments we experienced there.
Hm, can't think about that right now. It's making me weepy.
The trip home was fairly uneventful. Our dear regular taxi driver Christy took us to the airport (at 5:30 AM, after being up till 2:30 cleaning and packing the last load of laundry - WHY do we do that to ourselves???), and we said goodbye to dear little 20 Compostella. We did have to absolutely tear through Heathrow to get to our connecting flight to Dallas after unexpectedly going through security for the second time (out of three, if you can believe that). We were a little sweaty from our jog up two flights of the most enormous escalators and down interminable corridors, but we made it. Kids did great on the flight, again due to BA's personalized tvs for each seat. We had a refreshingly yummy dinner of ribs and blue cheese wedge salad at TGIFridays in Dallas - our first time eating out at a restaurant, besides the one in Carcassonne, two Pizza Huts and our Golden Grill experience, in four months), then boarded the plane and slept, in spite of all our best intentions, all the way home to SLC where Nana and Papa brought the Black Beast to pick us up.
Only they didn't really need the huge car after all, because none of our luggage made the Heathrow flight. Two days later and we still don't know where it is. Sigh. But, we are currently comfortably ensconced in Nana and Papa's beautiful house, playing the Wii and dressups and working out (for the first time in way too long!). Ireland already feels miles and years away, almost as if another life. I will not ever forget it though, and am so glad I blogged about it so I can always remember this amazing journey we took.
I was VERY happy to see my car though!
We go to Gary's parents' house tomorrow for the Larsen Christmas, then it's off to Maui for ten days. And after that we return to the tundra... which I don't want to think about right now because I just finished three days of packing and cleaning in Ireland - too soon to think about doing it all over again in Idaho!
Merry Christmas everybody! And thank you again Ireland for a great ride.
Monday, December 12, 2011
This is the Lullaby song that Sophie sang for weeks before her school Christmas program (she's in the back):
The Botts get a special entry all their own. Living just two doors away, we saw them almost every day, especially towards the end of our stay in Ireland. Heather is a bright, joyous ray of sunshine, who fills every day with adventure and cheer. Her husband Colin is an artist, musician and chef extraordinaire of mashed potatoes and Sunday night cookies. Liesl is Spencer's best bud, and Penelope charms us all every day with her exquisite petiteness, huge grin and constant hunger. The kids like to call her their American Girl doll because she's about the same size as one. Colin entertained the kids frequently on his various instruments, most often the mandolin and the concertina. Heather is the one who introduced us to the river walks, blackberry hunting, and the lunchtime concerts on campus. We shared almost two full days of apple almond pudding and Downton Abbey! I love girl time! She's a wonderful person and a great friend. This is Liesl's birthday party on Dec. 7th, complete with Guinness stew and cheesecake. We gave her some dressups and a diamond L keychain. Thanksgiving together (at the Botts) was a joint affair we were all excited about. Our day out at Adare - in a rented car that Heather drove (much to Colin's dismay- he gets really carsick). The Manor is AWESOME, by the way, and Adare is the most charming Irish village. If you're going to western Ireland, STAY THERE! That same night, after getting fudge at the creamery and getting a peek at Santa, Heather drove me out to the church to so I could teach some world dances to the YM/YW. We got SO lost and ended up stranded in a deserted industrial park with lots of dead ends and evidently only one way out. We were laughing and crying and almost out of gas before someone finally drove by to save us. We made it to the church in time to teach the Virginia Reel and Missionary tag, so the evening was saved. A good time was had by all... eventually! Gary, me, Heather, Colin Sophie, Liesl, Spencer Who Doesn't Like to Be In Pictures, Maggie and Penelope We hate saying goodbye! But we feel pretty confident that we'll see them again. Gary will be in and out of Ireland over the next few years and they'll be here for another year (maybe), so he has an open invitation to their spare bedroom. And who knows - they could end up next door to us someday! It's a small, small world. In the meantime, we will miss them desperately and look forward to when we can see them again!
Here are some of our best blessings in Ireland: Okay, so these guys are actually from the States - they arrived and leave the same time as us - but we count them still. Dennis, Afton, and Julie Ferguson and Natalie Noakes were over here working for an American company in Adare, and got to live at the fabulous villas on the Manor Property. Julie, Natalie and I hung out a lot and went to see Twilight 4 together. You know, it's kind of a girl thing. Here's Sophie's school class; we took in homemade chocolate chip cookies to her and Maggie's classes and the girls handed out CTR rings and notes with our contact information to all their friends. We were so lucky that they got to go t0 school and make these friends in Ireland! Here is Sophie with her teacher, Mr. Kinnerk. Maggie handing out the cookies to her class. Maggie's four special friends Laura, Lauren, Louise and Beibhnn ("Bay-van") were so sweet; they got together and filled a bag with notes, necklaces, a stuffed animal, a cool hat, and a bunch of little trinkets for Maggie to take home to remember them by. We lucked out with those girls, I can tell you that!
Here are the Extons: Dara, Geraldine, Saoirse, Odhrin, and Chris. Saiorse ("ser-shuh") and Odhrin ("Orin") are in Sophie's and Maggie's classes at school as well. Chris is technology faculty at UL, and Geraldine is a teacher. They've been so kind to us so we had them over for dinner our third to last day here in Ireland. Here are Dara and Odhrin playing their tin whistles in our kitchen. We tried to get Maggie to clog with them but she was too shy. Kids on Stairs: note Sophie's tear-stained face. Ever my tender one, she was bawling when it came time to say goodbye to her friends! All three of them were very teary tonight as the realization that tomorrow is their last day in Ireland sunk in.
We also got to hang out this week with Mats (also faculty from UL) and Emma (from Sweden), and their three kids and two dogs, at a farewell dinner at their house. Of course, I forgot my camera for that one which was typical but too bad. I also give a shout-out to the Kelly families from church, particularly Michael and Ann, and Alex and David. Dear, wonderful people the lot of them! We will miss them very much!
Larsen Lessons Learned 2011 *Kids who want horseback riding lessons can be conned into doing all kinds of crazy chores! *Grandparents are treasures and good friends and neighbors are blessings from above. *We are dog people! Every kid needs a dog. Every mom, too. *Sometimes your kids are ready for milestones before you are, like Spencer (4) taking off on his 2-wheeler bike and Maggie (10) and Sophie (7) braving it out in a new school. On a new continent. Who told them they could all grow up so fast? *Dancing is a great way to stay fit and have fun. So is hosting 26 people at your house for 10 days during the Idaho International Dance Festival! Good times. *Sophie can get motion sick in 6.21 minutes, while Spencer invariably throws up when there is 1.8 minutes left in the road trip. *Healthy food will make you strong. But candy will make you rich! Or will it? (see Kid Histories Episode 6 on YouTube) *Starfall.com and Leap Frog dvds can teach your four year old how to read. *When moving to Ireland for four months, be sure to take: valid passports, Taco Bell taco seasoning, legos, a Kindle or IPad, and good walking shoes. And don't miss the Medieval Feast at Bunratty Castle, Killarney, the Burren, the Chateau D'Usse, and the top of the Eiffel Tower! (Yes, I know those last two are in France.) And don't tear your Achilles the day before you leave. *Eating dinner in a castle was cool, but spending the night in one was even better! *Getting back into academic lingo after being on the creative side of University life for ten years is painful, but the PhD is a worthy goal. *You don't have to be an adult to appreciate the musical Les Miserables. *Starting the day with a Mormon Message and scripture time at breakfast totally changes our morning dynamic! Bribery doesn't hurt either. *Ireland's weather is nasty but it's people are just lovely. *San Diego, Aspen Grove, Ireland, France and Maui in one year = one very lucky family *We have had so many amazing adventures, both in faraway lands an in our own backyard. We thank the Lord for these experiences, and for having wonderful friends and family like you! Merry Christmas! Love, The Larsens http://www.rexburglarsens.blogspot.com/
How terrible that this is our last week in Ireland! I'm really quite depressed about it. Firstly, I hate goodbyes. Secondly, we've been SO happy here. Looking through this blog, I relive what we've seen and done and it awes me a bit. Bunratty, the Burren, Dublin, Killarney, Kerry, Dingle, Adare, Carcassonne, Nimes, Paris... did we really just do that? Holy cow!
I will miss my kitchen here, my electric kettle and the sofa where I read with Spence every day. I love that I did Zumba dozens of times right in front of the mini fridge. (I won't miss the mini fridge though! or all the black and white - so hard to keep clean!) I'll miss the basil growing in my window, and the view of the garden out the sliding glass doors. I'll miss the kids' cosy bedroom with the beds all pushed together, Spencer and Liesl's giggles as they hunted for "ghostes" in their play, and snacks of panda toast, white cheddar and muesli (not all at once). This house has more than filled our needs and has been the backdrop of some of the happiest times our family has ever had. Hard thinking that in another week, it will be empty, or someone else will be living here, using these plates and chairs and looking out my windows.
I'll miss the walk to the college, through avenues of trees which changed from green to gold to gone during our stay here. The pool at the Rec center. The big field where we played soccer and watched rugby and had picnics on the hills. I'll miss the beautiful river and its tranquil, scenic pathways and ruins. About a month ago Maggie planted an acorn in a pot that we placed in our kitchen window. It sprouted and we planted the graceful little seedling by the wooden throne along the river walk - someday we'll come see it again!
We gave Christy, our regular Sunday taxi driver, some frosted sugar cookies, and a book of Mormon with a picture of our family in it with all our contact information. I totally choked up as he drove us to church for the last time last Sunday! He's been good to us as well. Always on time, chatty, and kind. He showed up with boxes of chocolates for the kids as well. Good people here.
I'll miss Heather and the Botts - I almost feel bad leaving them here in this neighborhood full of students and transient renters. I'm sure they'll make more friends and do all kinds of good around the area, but, I know I'd be heartbroken if they left us! :-) Thanks Heather for all the good talks, outings, and recipe- and child-swapping. And for being a true friend!
I will NOT miss walking or biking to the grocery store, and taking the bus to get downtown. Can't wait to get my lovely car back!!!
I've been very happy here, enjoying the simple life of just keeping house and being Mom. Spence and I have gotten so close that I almost don't want to send him to preschool when we get back - what will I do without my little buddy? The girls have learned so much from school, and Gary's been stretched in all kinds of new ways. How have I grown you ask? My epiphanies include realizing that I needed to watch my everyday tone and make sure it is positive and happy. I need to keep working on not treating motherhood responsibilities as a chore and to do them better than I have been. I need to increase the humor and axe the grumpiness. And have FUN with my kids and husband as a priority to keeping a family together and happy. We've upped our family scriptural and spiritual dialog, and have set good habits that we are determined to continue. Amazing what time and absence of distractions will do for self-awareness! Plus let's be honest - I just really don't want to have to go back to my house and unpack everything. Moving is very near the top of my "Least Favorite Things to Do" list.
A few years ago, I made a list of things I wanted to do before I died; among the "see the grandchildren" and "be to my kids' marriages" (hopefully not in that order), on the list was "visit Paris again" and "have one last trip to Maui." Since we were at the top of the Eiffel tower just over a month ago, and will be in Maui in about two weeks, guess I need to find some new dreams and fast! I've had so many dreams come true, so many wonderful (and stressful, and crazy, and growth-inducing) things happen to us. And I am very grateful.
While we've been here we haven't been lucky enough to have family come take advantage of our extra bedroom (what were all of you thinking?) but we did have some friends make the journey. Plus we've made a few new friends along the way!
Above is Joseph Kroupa (Esq.), an old BYU PAC crony, who brought his aunt and his brother over for dinner. We offered them a night on our sofas (probably the most uncomfortable sofas in the entire world) but they were too busy staying in castles and catching their first class flights (the aunt works for Delta) to do more than dine and dash. Still, we were delighted to have a chance to see Joe again! We were all good pals back in the folk dance days. This is Spencer with his BF Liesl Botts. I can't believe I don't have a good pic of the Botts family yet; they live two houses away and we see them every day. I'll work on that. They've been so good to us and I count my blessings a hundred times a day for their presence in our lives! This is the David and Alex Kelly family, one of the first to befriend us at church. David is one of fifteen Kelly children; his father and mother are basically the patriarch and matriarch of the branch, at least a third of whom are their offspring. Alex is English, has a lovely accent and lovelier hair, and is an AMAZING illustrator. I saw her portfolio and was astounded at what she does. Her kids are Emma, Leah and Eva Greatcheeks. Eva's the one on my lap, who has the munchiest cheeks in the world, tends to scratch your face when frustrated, and who cries when her parents tell her to say goodbye to us. I love them all! We ate at their house out in Ballygary and they ate at ours; the distance between the two is unfortunately too far to bridge often during the week but they were very good to us. Most of the time we got rides home form church, it was them.
I need to get a picture of the Extons as well; their daughter Saorise (pronounced Seer-sha) is in Sophie's class and their son Odhrin (Orin) is in Maggie's. (He's kind of her crush as well; I approve because he's a very good boy! and because her version of having a crush is that they chase each other during big break playing tag.) They've been so good to us as well; knowing that we were strangers in a strange land, they invited us over for dinner, drove us to a farmer's market downtown one Saturday, and had the kids over for birthday parties. What a gift they've been to us. Thanks Geraldine and Chris!
The following are Mindy's Highly Subjective and Possibly Erroneous Observations about life in Ireland vs. USA:
Things Ireland Does Better:
-Recycling. I'm not sure if it's legislated or what, but everyone here has two rubbish bins, one regular and one for recyclables, and you have to wash out anything that can be recycled and put it in the appropriate container. Also, bags at the store cost money, encouraging the purchase and reuse of the durable fabric grocery bags. A pain at first, especially when you've left yours at home, but you get used to it quickly. It makes sense. -Squash. In the USA most fruit beverages come either fresh or frozen, but here it comes either fresh or in "squash" form, which is in a room-temperature bottle of concentrated syrup that you just add to water. Some of it is actually quite healthy as well. It's nice in that it's one less thing I have to try to fit in my freezer. -shopping cart returns. You have to insert a one-euro coin in to free a shopping cart, ensuring that you return it to get your coin back. Makes sense - the grocery store doesn't have to pay someone to round up loose carts. -switches on the electrical sockets - makes it so much easier to not waste power! You have to turn on the socket for it to provide electricity. Very handy. -electric kettles - love them! Need one at home.
Things I Like Better in the USA:
-Food - it has taste! Irish food we found to be heavy and bland. We heard a joke that Irish food was bad English food. It's kind of true. I don't really understand their passion for soda bread, flavorless scones, and pig products. Even their salt and vanilla flavoring is substantially weaker. That's why we really didn't eat out much... luckily I found some of my favorite Himalayan salt at a specialty food store! -Cleaning supplies. Irish window cleaner leaves amazing, greasy streaks, as does the counter cleaner we bought. -Laundry! To this day I don't understand how people (mostly the older generation) in a cold, rainy country would ever choose to line-dry their laundry. Even when presented with the option of a dryer. Nope, it still baffles me. Every penny I spend on drying my clothes is a penny well spent in my humble opinion! -Disposals! Get them, use them, love them Ireland! -hot water heaters always on so I don't have to wait for a warm shower. Also, our heating systems keep houses much warmer, even if they are more expensive. I'm not a big fan of radiators. -how they bag your groceries for you at the grocery store, and even take them out to you car for you free of charge! Lovely! -Parental and technological involvement in the school system. In the USA, parents are invited, encouraged, almost begged to be involved in their children's academic experience. In Ireland, you drop your kid off and then parents are pushed out the door. The State has them until 2:40 every day. And no email addresses or online progress reports are to be had to facilitate parent-teacher communications. As far as I know, official parent teacher conferences are not a regular thing here. I like knowing, and participating in, what's going on in my children's classrooms. Overall, I think my kids' schools in Idaho (to and from which they happily get bussed each day) are better than their school in Ireland, academically and organization-wise. I do love that they get to go to school here though, just for the sake of experience! -Cleaning supplies. Three wipedowns later and my windows are still streaky here in Ireland. -Not a great fan of socialism. I don't mean to criticize a system I don't fully understand, but from what I've seen, it does not make a happier, cleaner, more educated or content population. Seriously, the country's bankrupt yet everyone still insists on their age 60 retirement age, 6 months paid maternity leave and two months of vacation every year? And the nationalized medical care has really high co-pays even for a basic doctor's visit (50 euro) and we were warned by tons of people to avoid the hospitals at all costs. My friend had ovarian cysts (she thinks) but had to wait 4 months to see a specialist and to get an x-ray. BUT, as I said, I don't know all the details I've only seen a small sampling. I'm just, not impressed with what I have seen.
Just Different: -Proportion. In Ireland everything is on a smaller scale - the cars, the houses, the kitchen appliances, the fast food serving sizes. Due to the latter possibly, the people are in general more slender as well -really hugely obese people are not numerous here (that I've seen). If you see a large person walking around here, chances are it's an American tourist. This issue of scale is in the "Different" category because there are pros and cons. The pros - less impact on the environment, I suppose. The cons, everything is so much smaller! How do people do their food storage here? and feed large families without going to the store every other day? -school uniforms. I'm ambivalent about them. On one hand it makes it so easy to dress the kids every day, but they still get clothes dirty when they put on their play clothes after school so laundry hasn't gone down much. -Religion in schools. All Irish public schools are under the patronage of the Catholic church, and daily prayers, hymns and lessons are to be found in every class. This I personally really like, because it's been such a springboard for religious discussion in our family, but I'd imagine that if we were atheist or Muslim or something somewhat radical, all the in-class prayers, greetings and music might worry me.
I cry like a baby from the minute Scrooge buys that outrageous turkey to the final "I'm going to have Christmas dinner with my family." Watching this movie ushers in my holiday spirit and is one of my favorite traditions. Is it because I grew up singing these songs so they are all embedded in my idealized childhood psyche? Is it because the Scrooge is perfect, the music jolly and the energy infectious? Is it because I love the themes of redemption and joyful living?
YES!
Let the holidays begin, and God bless us, every one!
(Elders Horlacher and Singleton, Gary, me, and Natalie)
Excerpt from a letter to my grandmother, Nanny:
We had a delayed Thanksgiving here in the Emerald Isle. They don't have a Thanksgiving holiday so on Thursday Gary and the girls had to go off to classes! But we had arranged to have a big Thanksgiving feast today (Saturday) to celebrate, on a day when all the dads and kids could be here. I cooked, baked and watched Christmas movies like It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol with the kids for two days to prepare, then we had the other two American families who are here, and the missionaries, over to eat. The kids made turkeys out of construction paper and wrote things they're thankful for on the feathers while we put the finishing touches on the meal Then we sat down and ate. (Mag and Soph and good friend Heather Botts by the food) Since I was in charge of the food assignments, I made sure we had all the essentials: turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes (only without the marshmallows because they don't have them here), green bean casserole (but not as good as Natalie's), jello salad, salad, stuffing, and rolls. Everyone brought a dessert too: I made Lindsey's amazing frosted sugar cookies, and the other families brought pumpkin cake and apple pie. They had to have their mom mail them a can of pumpkin and a yellow cake mix from the States to make the pumpkin cake, since you can't get either over here and they really wanted to make that recipe. And I thought I was the only one emotionally attached to the food I ate... :-)
(Maggie, Sophie, Liesl, and Spencer. And Afton's arms)
Somebody also brought some mince pies, as it seems to be such a culturally prevalent food - you see mince pie everywhere in Ireland. We all tried it, and it was... okay. Not really what I wanted to fill up the remaining vacant corners of my stomach with though, especially when I could stuff another sugar cookie down there. We all had a little nibble and called it good.
After dinner, which took about two hours, and dessert, which took about another hour, we sat around and talked. We considered playing games but ended up just sitting around and chatting - we had 11 adults and 6 very well behaved kids there and it was a really fun, diverse group of people to talk to. Eventually one of our friends, Collin, who is here at the University of Limerick getting a Master's in Music, pulled out his mandolin and his concertina (like an accordion) and played some Irish tunes for us while the little kids jumped around and danced. It was really fun. Eventually we slowly cleaned up, divided the leftovers, and one family left to go to a Rugby match while another stayed here with us to watch movies and lay on the carpet to digest all the food we just ate. Altogether it was a lovely day. Not quite up to the par of luxury and culinary excellence that always prevails at the Hunter Extended Family shindigs, but considering the resources we had, I think we did pretty well. Wish we could have been at your house though! Love you Nanny!
*being a mother. Sometimes, when I'm in the right mood, I get a thrill when I hear my kids call me "mommy." If I am half to them what my mother is to me, being a mother is a pretty darn amazing thing. I am a mommy - wow! I love my kids!
*my amazing grandmother Nanny who has always made me feel special, loved and appreciated. She is the most thoughtful, service-oriented person I know! Love you Nanny!
*the wheel. Seriously, think about it - wheels allowed my plane to take off and land to get us to Europe. Wheels helped me get to the store and back again in less than an hour on the bike. They also propels the stroller I use to wheel my groceries home when I have to walk. And there are four of the blessed things on my wonderful minivan at home! Can't wait to drive you again, powder puff!
*tender mercies. So many of them, blessing my life constantly. Finding this place to live and renters to take our home in Idaho. Having another LDS family with kids two houses away. Friends to talk to, email, love, empathize. Obedience from my kids. And I know I always talk about getting to and from church here, but seriously, sometimes it's the small tender mercies, like getting a ride home (two weeks in a row now!) or the weather being fine for the tenth Sunday in a row, which make me feel loved from on high. Or at least noticed.
*Head tickles. Especially when I have a migraine.
*Late night movies with my hubby!
*The Internet. It makes it possible for me to run our business from Europe! and keep up this personal history online so if my computer crashes (as it did yesterday) all this is still here! and is an easy way to do devotionals in the morning - thank you Mormon Messages and LDS.org.
*My body. It may be getting squidgy around the edges, and my hair and clothes lack somewhat in the style department, but my body is healthy and functional and does what I need it to do. I had back issues for a month or so last spring, which made me realize how lucky I am that I can use both my legs and arms and head however I want. I can see and hear, I can talk, I can walk and run and drive and dance. My body is great! Health is a blessing!
*An AMAZING father for my children. I really think Gary is one of the best dads out there. He is fun, creative, willing, involved, caring, hilarious. He makes up fun games (blanket tag) and builds things (snow forts, cardboard slides) that I would never think of, and the kids adore him. So do I. Love you hub - you're awesome!
I thought I'd give an update on our kids, long overdue, with an eye to personal growth and accomplishments. Starting with my young padawan, Spencer. Spence has had a banner three months. He has gone from being barely able to scratch out a letter or two to counting, writing, and sounding out four letter words! Almost all owed to Starfall.com and the Leap Frog videos. Okay, I've helped a little, but it's mostly him. His favorite thing as we walk to and from the grocery store together is for me to give him words to sound out and spell, or basic math problems to unravel. When he accomplishes each task successfully, his joy is unalloyed and delightful! We are loving being together during the day, and he keeps us all in hysterics with his funny faces, voices, and physical comedy. He also loves playing with his BF Liesl Botts, a little American girl just his age who lives two houses away. They play so well, making forts or running around looking for "ghostes" and fighting imaginary monsters with Spencer's collection of swords. We will miss her when we go back to the States! I was a little worried about Sophie going into first class here in Ireland; most of the kids in her class have had two years of almost full-time instruction, whereas she had only had one year of half-day kindergarten to prepare her for this fall. However, she has flourished in Mr. Kinnerk's First Class, jumping right in and doing very well! She is the first one to get her homework out every afternoon after their post-school snack, methodically laying out each subject then ticking it off in her homework journal when completed. She is organized and disciplined and a very hard worker. She wakes up happy, makes friends wherever she goes, keeps her room and drawers neat and tidy, sings in her sleep (sometimes in Gaelic!) and while she does dishes, and is by far my best eater, trying everything I make and liking most of it. Her kind ways and loving heart bring us joy every day, and we are so proud of how lovely, intelligently, and sweetly she is growing up! Maggie is our family drama queen. Gifted with beauty, brains and charm, she always excels at school, made friends fairly easily, and has enjoyed our sightseeing around Europe, discovering new passions for history and art. She has had a self-defining fall, comparing the Catholic faith she learns about at school to our LDS beliefs and learning what makes us different in faith and lifestyle. Her brain is amazing, very absorbent and analytical - after watching The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe one night she pointed out that Christ left the church to Peter, just as Aslan left the throne to Peter, and how Lucy and Susan were like Mary and Martha, respectively. What do you expect though from a girl who had memorized all the state capitals and the 13 articles of faith, and read all the Harry Potter books, by the end of second grade! So stinkin' smart. She's had some challenges here though; starting a new school in a new country is never exactly a cake walk, and there's nobody her age in her class at church. Eating healthily has also always been her Waterloo, and we decided to hit the bad habit hard this year. Maybe not the best timing as she had so many other new things to get used to, but, there comes a time. So she's struggled through mealtime after mealtime of crying, grumbling, and whining. Still not making much progress, but here she is (almost) willingly eating a fish stick for dinner one night. Baby steps.
In Ireland, trees like this are called Fairy Trees. It is illegal to cut them down - the running legend is that there was one on the property used to build the DeLorean factory. They cut down the tree to build the factory. Two years later the company declared bankruptcy. Never cut down a Fairy tree, friends! :-) Frankly, if I were a fairy, this is precisely the kind of tree I'd choose for home - gnarled, curvy, limbs with moss cushions growing up them and cushy little dells in which to hide from big nasty humans. Very charming and homelike. Good choice Tinker Bell!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
For our family home evening last night we had the lesson of the airplane and if it goes even one degree off target it ends up somewhere totally different than its end goal. I asked my kids where we as a family wanted to end up (thinking, you know, the celestial kingdom), and without hesitation both Maggie and Sophie said "Maui." 'nuff said.
For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.
I've watched this about 400 times by now. The four of them together have redefined an already legendary song. When Alfie Boe comes in and takes it up a key... words fail. Just watch. Again and again and again! :-)
Fastest return home from church ever! What usually is a 1.5-2 hour ordeal through rain and bus changes and grumpiness was a sleek, relatively quick 1 hour jaunt through mild clouds and on-time buses! Hooray! We got out of church on time, had a nice brisk walk to bus stop #1, and the bus pulled up a mere minute or so later. Then we got off and ran to catch our connection, which turned out to be the same bus driver (he switched routes downtown) who remembered us and didn't make us pay the 6 euro normally charged to get back on the bus, which left moments later and got us home in record time. Tender mercies! It's the little things, especially when you're trying to get three (four) hungry, tired kids home for dinner.
In honor of the Grand Hunter Tradition of making up a song to accompany the trip ("we left Brook and Josh, the first day at Conoco - da na na na na - Just getting some gas, and very anxious to go"), we came up with the following alternate lyrics to the song "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz. Feel free to sing along!
We made our plans plans plans plans to take our family to France France France France We only took two pairs of pants pants pants pants just make sure to wash your hands hands hands hands
And we drove on and on and on and we drove on and on and on
I wave my hands up in the air sometimes saying ay-oh, it's Chenonceau! I like to stay in a chateau at night and then ay-oh, sun's up so let's go
'Cause we can drive this car to the left and right we can see all France and it's dynamite!
It could rain all day We couldn't sleep at night but we had the time of our very lives
Chateau D'usse was cool cool cool saw art and ruins like in school Always looking for some food food food food Steak frites and Pizza Hut are good good good good
Cause we drove on and on and on Yeah we drove on and on and on
I wave my hands up in the air sometimes saying ay-oh, it's Chenonceau! I like to stay in a chateau at night and then ay-oh, sun's up so let's go
'Cause we can drive this car to the left and right we can see all France and it's dynamite!
We hit Carcasonne and it rained all day Climbed some stairs at Nimes The gladiator way
Through some lovely landscapes, Only puked a couple of times. Up the Eiffel Tower Maggie was scared. We went to the bathroom and I I I felt it swaying and I I I did not want to fall, did not want to fall,
That's why I put my hands in the air
I throw my hands up in the air sometimes saying ay-oh, it's Chenonceau! I like to stay in a chateau at night and then ay-oh, sun's up so let's go
'Cause we can drive this car to the left and right we can see all France and it's dynamite!
Louis the 14th, Marie Antoinette they're all dead right now but we won't forget... FRANCE
This was another day where we didn't even want to sleep in. We jumped out of bed at 7:30, packed up our backpacks, and downed a fab breakfast (the typical croissant, baguette, bread, hot chocolate, and oranges - free with the stay!) in the little hotel breakfast room. Gary and the kids stashed our suitcases in our rental car in the garage where it was parked while I settled the bill, and then we were off on the metro! Stop #1 and ultimate goal of the whole trip: the top of the Eiffel Tower. Of all of us, only Gary had been to the very top before. It was a highly anticipated quest!
Some clouds filled the sky, but no rain like yesterday (mercifully). Gary taught the kids a pigeon kicking game (yes, we're animal lovers) and ran them around a bit while I waited in the line, which was much shorter than I'd been lead to expect. We waited for a total of maybe half an hour before stepping into the elevators.
I admit, I got a little vertigo as the elevator went higher and higher, and the supports around us grew slimmer and slimmer. It was thrilling though. And when we got out, in spite of the wind and clouds, a lovely view awaited us! This is the view down the Seine towards Notre Dame, clear in the distance. And below, you can follow the biggest, curving road over to the Arc de Triomphe.
On our trip, it was foreordained policy that if we came across free toilets of any kind, the whole family would use them. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, guess what? There were free toilets! So we all availed ourselves of their use. And yes, when you're sitting there 1,000 feet off the ground, you CAN feel the sway of the building in the wind. Kinda trippy.
Next we descended the Tower and grabbed a chocolate crepe to keep up our blood sugar (that was my favorite excuse) and while I was ordering it, Gary took this video of Spence. It's one of my favorite clips of our trip, and captures Spen all over:
Here's Soph at the Arc de Triomphe, in the Place d'Etoile. Can you tell why they call it the Place of the Star? Look below for a clue (thank you Wikipedia): I think I counted 12 major boulevards opening up to this famous circle, including the Champs Elysses, one of the most celebrated boulevards in the World. That's the biggie you can see from the top left to the bottom right. We were SO proud of our kids - they did some major walking today! They walked from the Eiffel Tower, to the Arc de Triomphe, where we sat and ate an early lunch (baguettes, cheese, drinkable yogurt and fruit again) while watching the passersby (nuns, protestors, chic shoppers) on the Champs Elysses. There Sophie taught us a song in Gaelic, to the tune of the Farmer in the Dell, that sounds like "Ta ma la va te" repeated. Spencer proceeded to sing this tune down the entire stretch of the Champs Elysses while alternately walking and riding on Gary's shoulders. American kids, in Paris, singing in Gaelic - I love it!
We kept thinking that we'd hop on to a bus or metro when the kids had had it, but they just kept on going so so did we! The motivation was getting to the Tuileries Gardens ice cream stands. Along the way, we saw shimmering metal reflectors they've hung from all the trees along the Champs Elysses to make the whole place shimmer; insane lines at the Abercrombie and Fitch flag store (was Jedward there signing copies of the A&F catalogs or something?); and moped-pulled open carriages at the Place de la Concorde.
We found the kids' playground in the Tuileries Gardens (never had a reason to go there before now) and let the kids go crazy for an hour - somehow, no matter how tired they are, if there's a playground wham! off they go. They enjoyed it though. Sophie made a slew of little french amies - no surprise as she is kind and social. But then it was time to move our now-achy feet on a few hundred meters to the Louvre, above. Alas, this is as close as we got to the Mona Lisa - it was taken in our breakfast room in our Paris hotel. Upon consideration of our time, energy and budget limitations, we decided not to enter the mammoth museum. Tired kids + acres of museum to run through = guaranteed meltdowns. So we betook ourselves to the underground shopping center beneath the Louvre, where the kids and I got ice cream (see Spence below) and Happy Meals while Gary ran to the Virgin Megastore for some big boy happy time. He came back with dvds of our favorite French movies, La Gloire de Mon Pere and the Chateau de ma Mere. Great idea!
We paid our 5 euros to use the bathroom there, and compensated for not going into the museum by going to its bookstore. The kids all picked out the postcard version of their favorite art work there, and I bought a Louvre coffee table book to go with the ones I'd purchased at Versailles and of the Loire castles. The kids have since used these as their "textbooks" when they play school at home. That, and the statue galleries open to view from the escalators, was all we saw of the Louvre, however. Still, a very successful day on the whole! Even their ice cream is pretty! The kids playing on the inverted underground pyramids beneath the Louvre. We emerged from underground to make a pilgrimage to our favorite patisserie on the Fauborg St. Honore across from the Cour Carre of the Louvre. It has amazing food, bread, and pastries! We had one last, long, lingering picnic on the courtyard by the Palais Royale, gazing up at the Louvre and savoring our last Parisian baguette and camembert, orangina and pastries while watching a variety of young (and old) men doing rollerblade demonstrations.
Then we took the metro back to the Gare de l'Est, got in our car, paid the exorbitant fee to get it out of the garage ($60 for 28 hours? seriously?) and... got stuck in traffic up the Rue St. Denis for the next two hours trying to make our way to our Beauvais hotel by the airport.
I had never taken a tour of Paris' Little India quarter before, and the saris in the store windows were absolutely lovely, but after it had taken us almost an hour and a half to go 4 kilometers we were all going bonkers! After some accidental wrong turns and strange commands from the GPS, we were ready to just get out and walk. But eventually we made it to our hotel, slept well, got up early, returned our rental car, and boarded our plane to go back to Ireland. Ta da - all done. And what a ride it was! I love my husband and my kids! Thanks lads for a great time!!!
Gary and I (Mindy Hunter Larsen) have been married for 19 years now, and have survived 15 moves, 3 (almost 4)post-high school degrees (BYU, UCLA, UL), three kids, stressful job switches, a catering business, four trips to Europe, being robbed in Charlotte, NC, and approximately 2,293 stinky diapers. (Mostly Spencer's... he was one poopy little dude!) We are hanging in there and enjoying every minute of our wonderful life in spite of the chaos! Gary is a professor at BYU-Idaho and I run the household and teach dance in our clogging studio. It's in our barn behind the house - very Idaho. We love it here! Even the winters are fun because the kids love playing in (and eating!!!) the snow.
This is his little corner of campus where he spent most of his days:
The mosaic in his building:
Last day of school in Ireland. :-( Maggie's and Sophie's friends were all so cute - gave them big hugs again and again as we walked down through the parking lot to cross the street to go to our house. I wish I'd had my video camera!
We do love British Airways... and in-seat video players!
