Three Great Things:

1) It was sunny and over 60 degrees for the second day in a row which is a serious heat wave over here! I almost felt like laying out or something. Soak up the vitamin D while you can, lads!

2) We went swimming today at the college as a family, and it felt so good to play and splash. And to not wear 16 layers for once.

3) Over the last two days, all three kids have been mesmerized by our dvd of the 02 Les Miserables 25th anniversary concert (what parts of it I'll let them watch). All three of them have begged to watch it again and again, spurring Mindy's "Let's Have A Girl's Night In London To See It For Real!" fever which has tortured me with temptation for the last 24 hours. I think I've tamed the beast and resisted the urge, because hello, we're already doing France and Ireland. We can't blow EVERYTHING on this trip. (can we?) But I was so charmed and pleased that they were interested and absorbed in one of my favorite musicals. Maggie is slightly obsessed with Cosette, and even Spencer sat quietly and watched with full attention (he liked the guns part at the barricades). Maybe we'll see a touring company in Salt Lake or something someday. Hooray, my kids are musical lovers!

I can get really cheap tickets from here to London... stop it, Mindy! geesh.

Cliffs of Moher, Stone Forts and the Burren!

This was a day long planned and anticipated - our Barratt Bus tour of County Clare, just to the north of us here in Limerick. It was a long day on the bus - the little Indian girl behind us threw up - ew - but for once we didn't! It helped that we got our pick of seats on the bus! What great little adventurers!

The first stop was Caherconnell Stone Ring Fort. It's over 1,000 years old. Families would build stone walls in circles to protect their homes and livestock. The stones are laid without mortar between them so the wind can rush through them, allowing them to stand longer without being blown down.




This is the remains of Leamenagh Castle, one of the many owned by the powerful Butler family. Descendants of the family still live in the little house to the left of the castle, below.
Most of this tour took place on the Burren, which is a whole region where the topsoil had been scraped off the rock features by glaciers in the last ice age, revealing the "bones" of the earth underneath. One says of the Burren that it's a place "with not enough water to drown a man, not enough trees to hang him, and not enough earth to bury him." We found it so fascinating! The kids loved jumping from rock to rock, and learning about the erosion of the limestone to make underwater rivers, caves and canyons. It's a very surprising place, the Burren.
There's miles and miles of this kind of landscape - grey rock "pavements" pockmarked with mosses and wildflowers.
Here is Sophie modelling the famous Poulnabrone Tomb, thought to date back to 3800 BC!

Here we are on the west coast of Ireland, just above Doolin. They were shooting a movie here with Gerard Depardieu that day so the bus had to go around its usual spot to drop us here. The kids were in heaven with all these rocks to jump on and around!
We had lunch in the charming village of Doolin, famous as a pilgrimage town for traditional Irish music as well as its single meet market festivals in September. We were there during one of these festivals, evidently, and found the pub crowded with various versions of Singles on the Hunt. Great people watching, for those interested in the sport! I had a divine caesar salad and vegetable soup, the kids had soup and chips, and we got back onto the bus for our next stop: the celebrated Cliffs of Moher.I heard that they filmed the Cliffs of Insanity sequence here, and I believe it! They're trying to get the Cliffs into the next Wonders of the World list. They are beautiful, and quite dramatic... but for someone who's traveled the Norwegian Fjords, trained through the Alps, driven Highway 1 up Big Sur, hiked the Seven Sacred Pools to their source above Hana on Maui, and gawked at the endless majesties of Lake Powell, Yellowstone and Yosemite... the Cliffs are... nice. A little stark for my taste, I guess.
This is the view of the cliffs from the tower, below. We were so lucky that at almost every stop we made that day, the rain held off while we toured the sight, then it would pour while we drove to our next destination, then it would be clear for 10 minutes for us to run around at the next stop... yup, we were lucky. At the Cliffs we did run into some fierce wind that almost blew Spencer down the long set of stairs leading up the cliffs to the tower - I could have flown him like a kite if I'd had a bit of string to tie to his belt loops! It just added to the adventure though. And to top it off, Mom totally caved in and gave each kid two euro to spend at their own discretion. Mag picked chocolate, Soph got white chocolate (that's my girl!) and Spencer got a lollipop as big as his head! Two hours of sucking later and he hasn't made a dent. Kept him quiet and happy on the whole drive home, and now it's going to rest at the back of my cupboard until needed. All in all, a very good day.
And once again, Gary stayed home to work and to save money! :-( He probably enjoyed the peace and quiet though, especially since one of our new ward friends lent the kids some toys, including a Dora the Explorer laptop that won't stop singing, and a set of bowling pins which we set up in the long front hallway. The kids' mini soccer balls make great bowling balls and we have a lot of fun! It's definitely not quiet fun though!

I have to admire the fabric out of which the girl's uniforms are made; I think it must be some sort of polyester/titanium blend. In the 3+ weeks they've worn them almost every day, I've only had to wash Sophie's pinafore (dress) and Maggie's skirt once, and not because I saw any dirt but because I knew it had been a while and thought that surely they needed washing! The brown on brown color scheme leaves a little to be desired (why couldn't their school colors have been blue?) but this is kid-tough stuff. I need to have all my kids' clothes made out of it! Just, not all in brown.

This is the little stone church, 200 years old, that we pass when we walk to the store. It's two blocks away from our house. Very charming, and yes, that is a tree growing out of the steeple.
We love to come here and explore. Some of the tombstones are brand new, and some are so old that age and lichen have removed all traces of dates and names. Irish people tend to decorate the graves of their departed ones with all sorts of trinkets that the deceased presumably liked; we find tombstones surrounded by various kinds of flowers, framed pictures, snow globes, stuffed animals, candles, plaques, figurines... it makes a taking walk through the cemetery a fascinating experience.

Okay, my last post was obviously written late when I was tired and grumpy and had spent the entire morning in the immigration office waiting to have my new passport stamped. So to counteract the heavier topics below, here is a list of things I LOVE about Ireland!

-ruins, architecture, newness, and living in a place so rich in culture and history. The delight of never knowing when you turn a corner what you're going to see - an O'Brien watch tower on a hill in the distance; a row of Georgian townhouses with their charming doors to examine; crumbling ruins of castles to oogle; and monuments of great events that happened right there where you are standing. History is so interesting when you're living among the tangible proof of its existence.
-playing with my kids on our field trips and seeing their wonder and delight as we go to new places and try new things
-that my kids get to experience school here, making friends and learning Gaelic and having some great missionary opportunities. They're finding out a lot about who they are while we're here.
-ranch dressing. I know I can get this at home too but for some reason we are all craving it daily here! I've never made so many salads!
-just being a mom and focusing on the kids without a gazillion other distractions
-reading on my kindle (again because of the lack of said distractions)
-our daily devotionals at breakfast, usually featuring conference talks on video or Mormon Messages from LDS.org. Moving always gives me a chance to establish new routines or improve upon others.
-the smell of peat brick fires
-the Medieval Feast. The kids still talk about it daily.
-the wild swans that live on the River Shannon which flows right through the UL campus
-hearing lots of different accents and lots of different languages spoken everywhere we go
-thatched cottages (Adare!)
-aged white Irish cheddar, and chips! But not together.
-the kind people here, esp. at church
-being closer to France! One more month...
-the garden view out my back window
-having time to work with Spencer on his letters and numbers, and watching his joy as he puts everything together. I kind of missed this with Sophie; those were the dark, stressful, sleepless years that I don't remember very well.
-watching my kids build castles out of cereal boxes and milk jugs. Since we're seeing so many of real castles I thought we'd study castles as a family so we know what we're looking at. The creative outcome of said study is messy but so cool! I'd way rather have them trying to figure out how to add a curtain wall to their defensive keep using tape and fruit cartons than watching tv.
-that Gary gets to work on his research full-time!
-our taxi driver Christie who drives us to church every Sunday - and gives us a discount
-that I always see the Lord's hand in my life when big adventures like this roll around. Or maybe I'm just looking for it harder. Either way, I'm very aware of the numerous tender mercies that have blessed our life since this adventure began.


And to be fair, here are the few things I miss from home:

-my dog, as previously mentioned
-being able to call my mom and our families and friends (although skype is a helpful option)
-warm weather
-my hot-air popcorn popper. Microwave poppy just isn't the same. Also Sun Chips and Triscuits.
-having a car
-cleaning products that work. I think the ones we've tried here just spread the grease around... ugh
-Little Caesar's $5 pizza deal - such an easy meal!
-clogging and zumba, although I can do both here in my kitchen
-my full-sized fridge

Not a very long list. We are very happy here and are in no hurry to get home!

All Together, Not a Banner Day on the Limerick Public Transportation System

Is it just me or do some people who take public transportation have particularly pungent body odors? I about got knocked out today by the eau de b-o emanating from the bus as I stepped in to take my seat. Also, Spence and I unfortunately sat near some full-on Irish bad boys who were yelling obscenities, throwing french fries, tripping people, and flicking coins at people's heads. They even attacked a black man and threw him against the wall as he was trying to exit the bus. And the bus driver did nothing. Seriously? Spence and I had to have a heart to heart about how behavior like that made him feel and why Heavenly Father does not want us to treat each other that way. Having just studied the Sermon on the Mount during FHE last night, we were able to have the "turn the other cheek" and "love and pray for thine enemies" talk. But mostly I wanted to turn around and smack those boys' heads together! (temper, Mindy, temper!)

Every experience teaches us something; today I had to learn to bite my tongue and apply that great Sermon to the way I reacted to and viewed those two boys. To think about the sad lives those boys must have lead to have them turn out that way, and to pray for them (and their past, current, and future) victims. Life lessons are everywhere, I guess.

My Go-To Irish Recipe

I think I crave different things depending on where I am (or how much sleep I've gotten, or what color I'm wearing, or or or). Since being in Ireland, I've made this recipe twice and crave it fortnightly. All the ingredients are typical Irish fare, so maybe that's its magic - ham, cream, peas. Of course, it will immediately clog your arteries with its supersaturated fats... but when something tastes this good, who cares?

This is the perfect dish to make during or after watching the movie Julie and Julia. Simple ingredients, cooked in butter and cream... delish! And very fast and easy!

Farfalle Romano

4 cups farfalle, cooked according to package directions

2 T. butter

3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms

1 cup chopped prosciutto or ham

¾ cup light cream

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

½ cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. In large skillet over medium heat, melt butter; add mushrooms and prosciutto. Cook five minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add light cream; heat until almost boiling. Add peas and heat through; toss with hot pasta and cheese. 4 servings.

Lesson Learned

One of the quirks of Irish living conditions is that our water heater is not on all day. We turn it on when we need hot water for showers or laundry, then turn it off afterwards. While it is on, it also fills the radiators that heat the house. (So I guess the Irish only take hot showers in the winter when they want to warm the house?) This morning we rushed off to church without turning off our water heater. Then we went to dinner afterwards in Adare (the PERFECT Irish village!!! I want to live there!) at the house of some delightful new friends, the Kellys (David and Alex and their three girls). So we didn't get home until 7:30 tonight. When we opened the door, it was like walking in to a sauna! Which okay is not a completely bad experience as we are so often freezing cold over here, but really, this was decidedly unpleasant. Not to mention that leaving the heat on all day is very expensive! So, if you happen to be dallying in Ireland any time soon, remember to turn off your water heater or expect to melt all the chocolate you have in the house! Which was the real tragedy, after all... :-)

Tour of our House Take 2

Dashing Dublin! Or, Dashing Through Dublin!

I know it will relieve you all to know that I am finally legal - my new passport is in my hands and I have an identity again! Yay! To get that mess fixed though I had to go to Dublin (darn it). Gary held down the fort at home while I took the three-hour express bus into town for a day of Dublin delights (after a sweaty hour at the US Embassy, pouring out the tale of my innocent stupidity to the very nice people who worked there). Must mention the potato soup and the Caesar salad I had at a hotel while walking back from the Embassy - both the best I've ever had! I love Dublin!I took buses to the Embassy but walked back to the train station, hitting most of the important sights to be seen on the way. Here is me with the statue of Molly Malone. Dublin's unofficial anthem is "Molly Malone" - we heard it at Bunratty and downloaded it (along with Irish Eyes, Danny Boy and I'll Tell Me Ma) so we could fit in the next time someone broke out in song and we were expected to sing along. This statue of Molly is also known as The Tart and the Cart.
Lovely Christ Church Cathedral, the first cathedral of Ireland and over 1,000 years old.
I am fascinated by the Georgian doors all over neighborhoods in Dublin and Limerick; each building looks just the same (5 stories, red brick) but the doors are all individual. I loved picking out my favorites.
Here's the corner between the Bank of Ireland building on the left and Trinity College on the right. What a stimulating place to be educated! Not to mention the ginormous Guiness factory I passed on my way to the station - it was HUGE! The Irish are fond of their Guiness, that's for sure!
Feeding the swans at St. Stephen's Green, a lovey, tranquil patch of green and flowers by Trinity College.
Walking through the Dublin streets was constantly surprising - flowers were everywhere, and all sorts of architecture are represented. It's a very architecturally creative city, which was delightful to experience again. Rexburg is many wonderful things, but "architecturally creative" is not one of them. I was so stimulated by being surrounded with art and history at every turn.
Thank you Dublin!

Two More Pics of the Kids' First Day at School

There's Maggie in the back corner, smiling away. Just minutes later she met Laura and Baevan who have really helped her adjust to the new surroudings!
Here we have Spencer giving Sophie a hug before we left the last day. Yes, I know he is in his pajamas. Sometimes stuff like that really doesn't matter much... only I haven't let it happen since. This is because I bribe the children with a square of chocolate if they are sitting on the stairs at 8:35 (we leave for school at 8:40), dressed, backpacks packed, breakfast dishes cleaned up, beds made, rooms cleaned and morning devotional (I love you LDS.org!) and ready to go to school early. Love it - works like a charm. And I don't have to nag. Much.

Sometimes it takes every ounce of mental and physical stamina I possess to get through the kids' bedtime. I don't know what it is about that last hour of helping them do their mightly routine, but je vous assure, it about does me in every night. Maybe I should go have a Hobnob cookie spread with Nutella to help me recover...oh wait, I already did that to help me get through homework time! Hmm, looks like I may have to move on to some brie and baguette. Good thing I did me some Zumba today!

I'm surprised at how much I actually really miss my dog. Took me a while to get used to her at first, but now it's taking me a while to get used to her not being around! She's such a source of love in our home; we all miss her. Oh well - she's having a hoo-rah at Gram's house. Hopefully she'll remember us when we get back!

The Castle At Bunratty

Our favorite day in Ireland so far - our visit to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park!


Each of the four corner towers had these spiral staircases. We were fascinated by them... but very grateful for the handrails to help us up and down! In fact. when coming down one of the last staircase, Sophie said something like, "Oh Mr. Handrail, come to me and let me feel your love!"
The kids on the battlements.



Spencer really digs swords and armor, so was in his element.This is the view from the towers. Somehow pictures never do the landscape justice! You need to see the details and feel the wind blowing in your face and know that you're standing five stories in the air, on stones that have seen centuries of drama and battle, archers and courtesans, dukes and danger... we totally dig castles!

Pics of the Bunratty Folk Park and the FEAST

Here we are at the Bunratty Folk park surrounding the castle. It was like a living village and we got to stroll through the ages as we went from cottage to frame house to manor. I became slightly obsessed with the cottages, where peat fires burned with their distinctive smell and where sonsy matrons made fresh scones with eggs from the hens penned outside and butter freshly churned. Ah... treats for all the senses! This blue house below was another of my favorites, with its rose trellis and white fence. I want to move in directly!
The main thoroughfare through the town.
Lots of walking but with the help of some Butler's chocolate the kids were troopers! (Gary stayed home to work on his papers. He's been here before so it's okay.)


THE FEAST! Here we are being welcomed in the main hall, welcomed by our "butler", serenaded by lace-bodiced wenches and tights-clad lords, given lovely juice to drink and offered bread and salt as a welcome appetizer (they used salt as a preservative as well as a flavoring agent). The harpist and the violinist (who was educated at Julliard!) were excellent!
Then we moved on to the dining hall to start the feast. Loved the candlelight and the costumes - touristy, but they definitely added to the atmosphere. The girls adored the girl in blue, who had the loveliest soprano voice!
The dinner consisted of four courses: savory potato soup with soda bread, spare ribs (or honeydew melon wedges), roast chicken with sauce and veggies (excellent!), and a fruits of the forest custard for dessert. We were so happy - and so were our tummies! Spencer especially appreciated the fact that he got to use a "dagger" to eat, and nothing else. Utensils were not allowed!
We adored our server, Eamos, who was great with the kids. Appreciated his dulcet tenor tones as well!
Delightful day from start to finish!

Today I booked our trip to France online, and cut some layers in my hair. Both terrifying but strangely liberating experiences. France is going to cost us but we are taking a week to travel from the south, where Gary served his mission, then driving north through Loire (castle) country to Paris. I need to just suck it up and remember that I'm a great budget traveler and focus on the amazing things the kids are going to see - Roman ruins in Arles and Avignon, the Cote D'Azur, Chartres, Paris... it will be amazing!

And I cut my hair because you can only have boring hair for so long without absolutely going crazy. I saw my scissors in my bathroom this morning and thought, hmm, let's have some fun! I've never cut my own hair before, even simple layers, so I just picked them up and went to it. It turned out okay - I think - and even if it didn't I have three months before I see anyone I really know and that's plenty of time for my hair to grow back out! Maybe I'll do more tomorrow...or go REALLY wild and actually color it for the first time! I know, I'm such a rebel. Only not really.

In Case You're Feeling Green...

...here is an excerpt from an email I sent to a dear friend tonight, revealing a small glimpse at the flip side of our dreamy Irish experience...

"The leaves over at the college have begun to change already too,
and I'm stoked to be here in the fall. It will be beautiful, and a
huge adventure, but before you get too jealous rest assured that it's
not all shamrocks and rainbows - there are a few shadows cast by all this Irish sunshine. (ha ha, Irish sunshine... very funny, Mindy! We've seen the sun maybe three times since being here! :-)) I can tell you all about how I
burned through almost two months' salary in about three weeks setting
up house, fixing passport issues and rigging out the kids for school.
Or how it's so cold, cloudy and rainy that I'm already yearning for
flip flops and an hour or two of unalloyed sunshine. How homework takes us HOURS to complete
every day, with at least one daughter either repeatedly flopping on
the floor or dissolving into tears. Or how my Sophie still persists
in absolutely melting down every time I drop her off for school. It's
nothing new - she did it every day last year until I gave in and
bribed her with candy every day to go willingly. I'd better roll out
the Cadbury train to do the same this year because it's kind of
annoying.

And Maggie's stressed out because in school they deal in cursive (which she hasn't used since the 3rd grade), the metric system, in-class Catholic prayers twice daily, and military time so she sometimes feels totally clueless - a new thing for her. And yesterday teacher chewed her out in front of the
other students because she didn't do a homework assignment. She
was completely mortified and came home and sobbed for an hour. Having
always been a pleaser and one of the top kids in her class, she was
so crushed. She misunderstood the assignment and did the wrong one
and got called out for it. I could think of a better way for her
teacher, who otherwise has been great for her so far, to have dealt
with the situation but it did provide a good opportunity to have the
whole "we fall down so we learn to pick ourselves up" and
"what can we learn from this experience" talk with her. So
yes, if comfort retards growth, I think this will be a banner
semester for Clan Larsen!"

Is there anything more fabulous, especially to a bunch of young kids, than eating a n0-untensil feast in an honest-t0-goodness medieval castle, waited on by wenches and butlers in full regalia and being serenaded by wandering troubadours? Obviously we don't think so. Throw in a folk village with thatched cottages, peat fires, farm animals, castle playgrounds, and fresh scones and you have, as Maggie called it, "the best day ever!" Sorry Dad, this just even beat out the Zoo/Hires/Swimming Best Day Ever. It was that fun. The delight of exploring a real castle with joyous, eager children was almost unparalleled and unalloyed!

In Which Sophie Does a Dance, Spencer Makes a Face and Maggie Gives a Colorful Tour of our House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CarhQzJSUTQ

I could wish that it didn't cost us almost $45 to get our family to and from church (the buses here don't run on Sunday mornings so we have to use a taxi) but it could be so much worse. At least there is a branch in town, and not in the next county over!

Sophie bore her testimony today, as did Gary and I. She also insisted on fasting with us, and did great. She is such a trooper!

An American, LDS family with small children has moved in two houses down. Seriously, what are the odds? We are so lucky and so excited to have them near us in this predominantly student-populated area! They came over for dinner tonight and are absolutely delightful - the dad is getting his degree from UL like Gary, ony in music, so we have lots in common. Again, blessings and blessings! And now I have someone to talk to, go to the park with, and swap baby sitting! Yay!

First School Report

So both girls came through their first two days of school relatively unscathed. In fact, Maggie came walking out on Day 1 surrounded by a group of chatty new friends - hooray! And bless her teacher who had the foresight to ask for volunteers for students to show Maggie around during the first few weeks of school. Three little girls raised their hands - Mags was thrilled. Just what we needed to get her into the new routine. Sophie by nature makes friends easily too, and came home reporting on three new ones. I still break out in a sweat when I drop them off at the crowded playground in the mornings, feeling their anxiety probably more than they do as they undertake this big new adventure. Breathe, Mindy, breathe - they'll be fine!

They do have much more homework here though than in the States, and to Maggie's dismay, all writing is done in cursive. Since she learned cursive but hasn't used it since the third grade, this made homework the first night very slow-going, with much wailing and moaning. They laugh though at the way their teachers replace the "th" sound with the "t" sound, and how they pronounce the word forty as "farty". Potty humor, I know, but whatever gets a laugh.

Maggie was also slightly dismayed that all schools here are Catholic, so everyone but her knows these set prayers with which they start and end the day. We've talked about it and agree that it's such a great way to learn about other religions, and about our own in the process as we compare and contrast the two faiths... only she doesn't like the idea of everyone knowing something that she doesn't. :-) I told her she'll pick it up quick, if she wanted to. It's been a great springboard for discussion though on things like prayer traditions, faith, living the gospel and how best to talk about what we believe.

Sophie just smiles and follows along with whatever, but she's learning too. Her schoolwork is very challenging as I think they put her in a higher grade than she would have been in at home, which worries me... but we can keep up, with a little hard work and some tutoring at home. She'll be fine.