4th of July

Its always weird spending the 4th of July NOT in America. Its has become one of my favorite holidays over the years. The pool parties, BBQs, fireworks, day drinking, etc. It makes for GOOD times.

But since we were in Ireland and not partaking in ANY of the above listed activities…we decided to fill our last day in Foxford FULL of other activities!

And even though we were in America, we still dressed in our Red White and Blue.

And it was a good opportunity to get some good family pics in my  parents backyard as well!  Their home in Ireland “Firestone Cottage” (yes thats really their address)…its on a BEAUTIFUL piece of land. Front yard is amazing as well as the backyards view of Briade

Last family picture we took in Ireland…

Thanks again JOBY!

Nana’s favorite thing to do with the kids is to bring them to the sliding rock (when she was a kid they would get a piece of cardboard and slide down this rock…Irish playground slide! haha)

And Nana’s sliding rock from 2014..

Then I realized we hadn’t been to visit the leprechauns house in a while…that is a MUST everytime in Ireland.

All 3 kids visiting the leprechauns house…its the same house we have been visiting since Owen was Maggie’s age. Its a right of passage…just like the naked Enniscrone picture!

And now all 3 of my kiddos….

And I wanted to take this picture too…since we took one in the same spot a few years ago…

But we also went for breakfast at Bourke’s. Yes it is a PUB but they are also a Bed & Breakfast and do food in the mornings. We warned David the owner that 8 kids and 6 adults were coming in…for American pancakes and sparklers! haha  We were joking but thats exactly what David did for us…it was super cute.

Again…we almost took up the whole place! haha

From there I HAD to visit the bog. Its the place that my grandfather used to bring us to as kids. Those memories of the summers getting to ride in the tracker, bag turf, ride home and then stack it all in the shed…I still have those memories. Most homes in Ireland are going to gas or electric…so not as many people are using turf like they did before.  My cousin Alan still uses it…and still maintains the family bog. Its A LOT of work. The process takes months!  You have to cut it, stack it, dry it, bag it and transport it.  I love that he still keeps it going! He’s such an OLD MAN!

And yes…thats my foot in bog water. haha. I’m sure you are wondering WHY the HELL….WELLLLL you guys remember “Wally the Wart”? Yeah that was traumatic back in 2012…well he’s resurfacing. Yes I have a wart on my toe…again.  And Irish voodoo says to soak it in bog water 3 times will make it go away. So…I soaked, and yes brought bog water home with me. (for the record…it didn’t work!)

We then wanted to get a good picture of Nanny and her 9 great grandchildren. When we had our family party we somehow MISSED that picture!

Here are a few pictures we took over the years of Nanny and her great grandchildren…

2010

2014

2015

And now…

How the heck isn’t my Nanny aging a day?!? We are multiplying and the kids are growing up…but Mary still looks the same!!

While we had a lot of the family at Nanny’s that evening we got a group shot too…missing the people that are grumpy picture takers (hmm mm my dad)

From here I had to say goodbye to my Nanny and Aunts. I hate goodbyes. A lot.

This picture is the reason why we make these trips to Ireland. Not for the beautiful landscape…but for these people!

Our day was still not over..we headed to watch our cousin Caolan’s gaelic football match! It was cool.

Caolan is a stud and being in the stands at this youth sporting event was nuts. The language from the parents, heckling the ref’s and players…it was all just SO different than it would EVER happen in America.

We finished our day by doing our sparklers at Pontoon Lake. Watching the dad’s try to get all the sparklers lit and kids not burn eachother was comical.  American sparklers you have LOTS of time…Irish sparklers…not so much! And its hard to do them in the DARK during summer because it doesn’t get dark until after 11pm…and all our kids are in bed by then!

This visit to Pontoon was great…but ended with LOTS of tears. We were heading up to the airport EARLY the next morning, so more goodbyes. I always cry saying goodbye to my family. EVERY.TIME.

One thing I’m NOT used to is my poor kids crying because of goodbyes. This trip these kids became more than cousins…but best friends. Spending everyday together for 3 weeks really gets that bond going. All the kids were in tears…it was rough!
I think every time all 8 of them are together in Ireland we have to re-do this picture!!!

This was a VERY full last day in Foxford. Our hearts were sad to leave!