Oh man. I have REALLY missed blogging!! I didn’t bring my laptop with me to Ireland, which I was nervous was a total mistake since its hard to find time to sit down and write while at home with 3 needy little humans! haha And it WAS a mistake….being that I haven’t touched my blog since November!
Now we have been home from Ireland for over 2 weeks and still not a single post about our trip, Christmas, New Years, etc. etc. I hate getting behind on posting…I start to forget all the little stories that I’d want to write about so I remember forever. Then it seems so long ago that we were even IN Ireland I don’t know where to start…or how to start.
SO…I’ll just start from the beginning.
We changed up our usual departure routine this time. Traveling with 3 small kids makes you thoroughly think everything through. Our flight was at 8am on the 16th. I figured we’d have to wake up SUPER early to beat the LA traffic and get checked in on time (didn’t want to miss our flight like we did in 2014). So we opted to stay the night in the Marriott Hotel thats basically attached to LAX and just shuttle it to our terminal. It was def a genius idea. The hotel also has a service that allowed us to keep our car there for the 3 weeks we were away. Leaving at night was also kinda nice because we weren’t rushing out the door for anything…actually we had to turn around twice for things we’d forgotten. If we’d left in the morning, that wouldn’t have happened. We showered and pj’d the kids and loaded up the car. It was a sight to be seen though…we had LOTS of sh*t with us. 4 suitcases, 4 carry-ons, Yoshs backpack, Maggie’s diaper bag, My purse, double stroller, infant car seat and a partridge in a pear tree. haha
Don’t judge Ella’s headband…she loves it! haha
Our flights were great! I’m always nervous about check-in, making sure our bags are under the required weight, getting through security without having an anxiety attack and keeping the kids happy the whole way. Thankfully my little travelers made it easy!! No hassle.
Thankfully all 3 of our kids are GREAT travelers! Especially when each one has their own TV on the back of the chair in front of them. They just sat and watched movies, shows and ate the whole flight (both flights actually!). And Maggie did great too!!
When we got off the plane in JFK we waited and deboarded last. We weren’t in any rush, we had a 3.5 hour layover. We were waiting for our stroller to come up from being checked at the gate when I realized that Jamie Foxx…yes THE Jamie Foxx was also waiting for something as well. I mentioned it under my breathe to Yosh. Jamie was waiting for his car to come onto the tarmac to pick him up…he’s so famous he doesn’t have to walk through the airport!!!
Anyway…Ella had no clue who he was but she was excited to show him her suitcase. She told him that her “wheels wight up!”…and so Jamie fell into the cute little Ella spell and was chatting it up with her about suitcases and how cool her’s was compared to his! Yosh was getting totally frazzled trying to get the stroller set up and was kinda struggling. So he made a joke of it and asked Jamie if he wanted to help out and how amazing it was to travel with 3 kids. Jamie mentioned that he had been there done that with his 2 daughters. Of course I had to mention that I saw him and his daughters on The Ellen Show earlier that week and how gorgeous they were. He was a very humble nice man!!
Anyway…Yosh asked if we could get a picture with him and he said of course. Owen and Ella weren’t eager to jump into ANOTHER picture (if they only knew that this picture was cooler than any other picture they have ever taken!!). But Jamie took my phone and set up the whole selfie. He got down on one knee and said “Ok…we are going to do a serious face!”
“Ok now we are gonna do a shocked face!”
“Ok now…look away!!”
haha I was shaking from being so star struck!! He was the nicest man ever~
After our pics he walked up the hallway to meet a female (maybe his sister?!?) and grabbed her suitcase for her. Ella was walking down the same hallway and he started messing with her and not letting her get by. So Yosh said “Get him Ella!”….and what does our daughter do?? She tries to kick Jamie Foxx in the shin! Yes. Oh dear. That will be a fun story to tell her when she is grown up!
On take off from JFK Owen was pumped trying to see the Status of Liberty! He had learned all about her in the 1st grade so he was sad that the cloud coverage was so thick!
In JFK we ate dinner and camped out. The kids got to stretch out and play a bit. Maggie got to stretch out and poop a few times! And yes..the difference between baby #1 and baby #3…she is laying on the floor of an airport! On a clean blanket of course…but she had to get some stretching time too. It hard work to keep an infant in your arms for a whole 5.5 hour flight…and know that I was going to have to carry her for the next flight too!
But the flights there weren’t bad at all!! And seeing my parents at Dublin airport to greet us was one of the best feelings ever. I had just seen mom 2 weeks prior but it was different when we hugged at the airport that day. We got our rental car and headed west to Foxford.
No sooner after walking into the door of my parents new home the doorbell started…everyone was very excited to meet little Maggie. And the 24 hour travel day made it all worth it when I saw my grandmother holding the youngest of the family…they finally got to meet! And Nana was so excited to get to show her off too!
The next few days in Ireland we tried to get ourselves settled and adjusted. Being 8 hours ahead time wise is hard on kids…and even harder on adults. But we managed. The weather was terribly cold but whenever we could we’d get outside for a bit.
Firestone Cottage, Foxford.
So…let the 3 weeks of madness begin…
