I wish I had time to do those things..

"What do you want to do this afternoon?" I asked B. He knew immediately. "I want to go to the library then the beach!" He exclaimed. The beach. Again. Well, at least the weather was conducive to swimming - as opposed to seeking shelter and a hot cup of liquid. We packed up towels, snorkel and digging equipment and we were off. We got home shortly before hubby returned from work. He peered at my face. "Were you at the beach today?" He asked. I touched my cheek self-consciously. "Yes. Why?" He sighed. "I wish I had time to go to the beach. By the way. You have sand and sunscreen all over your face

."

La plage? Aujourd'hui? Mais il fait frooooooiiiiiiid!

"Tu m'avais promis qu'on irait à la plage aujourd'hui," me répète B pour énième fois. "Oui, je l'admets. Mais tu n'as pas remarqué que le ciel est gris?" "Si. Et alors?" "Et il fait froid en plus. Je porte un manteau." "Toi, oui. Moi, non. On peut y aller maintenant?" "Tu es vraiment certain de vouloir aller nager aujourd'hui?" "Certain certain." "Bon, d'accord alors. Nous allons à la plage!" "YOUPI!!!!!!!"

Whose idea was this anyhow?

B wanted a cat. "I really want a cat," he told me. "I really like cats." I wasn't impressed. We have two dogs and a fish. That seems like enough, non? Apparently not. The requests for a cat, sometimes even accompanied by the word "please", continued for well over a year. Finally, B's father caved. It became my job to get a cat. From the SPCA. If we had to get a cat, I wanted a female. Actually, I really didn't want a cat but... sigh... Anyhow, we ended up with an extremely well-tempered male that gets along with our dogs; is friendly and talkative; and generally well-mannered. The trouble is that the cat is a sensitive sort of fellow and he's had the runs for a week. And he vomits regularly. Oh. Yeah. And he's got an inflamed scrotum. Guess who gets to clean up the litter box? And the vomit? And administer the antibiotics. I think I need to change my job description...

On fait quoi aujourd'hui?

La réponse est inévitablement la même : B veut aller à la plage. Je me plains. "Il fait trop froid aujourd'hui!" B hausse les épaules. "Ne t'en fait pas, maman. Tu n'as qu'à faire comme d'habitude. Tu restes allongée à ne rien faire et je vais me baigner. Si tu apportes ton livre, tu ne remarqueras même pas que l'eau est glaciale."

Cloud chasing and Big Sur

The River Inn in Big Sur has always been a favourite destination of mine. Perhaps there is more to Big Sur than the River Inn but we sure as heck have never explored that far and this day was no different. We arrived on the day of the World Cup finals and the restaurant was packed. Well, the restaurant is ALWAYS packed. The food is decent, not great, but the service is slow. I think they may have more people in charge of seating you than actual servers. But it's popular, by virtue of its location just beyond the clouds of Highway One. People do get hungry from taking so many breathtaking pictures as they drive along the coast. Plus, it's overcast all the way until you break through into brilliant sunshine at the River Inn. There's something magical about the sun sparkling through the big trees and, well, you just have to stop. When we finally drove back to the hotel, I had to take B to the pool. I'd promised and besides, we could see the pool from the hallway window each time we exited the room so B was NOT about to forget the pool existed. He wanted me to jump in but, given that there were approximately 20 kids in the very shallow pool and that they were playing a very active game of tag, I figured this was an experience best left to the children. B had a blast up until the moment he needed to use the facilities. After that, it was a mad rush back to the room. There's nothing like a good round of exercise to polish off the day right!

À Monterey!!!

Réveil plus ou moins matinal à Monterey. L'hôtel nous offre le petit déjeuner et celui-ci est fantastique! Il y en a pour tous les gouts. Je me régale avec une omelette toute fraiche. Mon mari aussi. B, pour sa part, choisi deux oeufs au plat mais ce qui lui plait le plus sont les beignes, dont un à la vanille. Il les aime tellement qu'il ne veut même pas partager! Une fois rassasiés, nous nous dirigeons vers le centre-ville, histoire d'explorer un peu. Je suis déçue de découvrir que mon magasin préféré, qui vendait des savons et des bougies, a fermé ses portes l'année dernière. Mais bon, la vie continue. Nous embarquons dans la voiture pour faire 17-mile drive. Là, c'est toujours une découverte, peu importe si on l'a fait une fois ou cent. B, qui était tout petit la dernière fois que nous avons visité, veut prendre un tas de photos. Il met même les pieds dans l'eau. Je ne le comprends pas très bien. L'eau est glaciale! Nous nous arrêtons à Pebble Beach pour déjeuner et pour prendre d'autres photos mais là, nous commençons tous à trainer la patte. Nous rentrons à l'hôtel et tout le monde se couche de bonne heure. Demain, Big Sur!

We're in Vancouver! (Are we there yet?)

All things considered, especially after a 5 hour flight in front of a screen that didn't work, I was thinking... yeah, Vancouver would be a lovely destination. And it was sunny when we landed - not a cloud in the sky! But it was not to be. We had another flight to catch and a long hike through the airport maze to get to the U.S. destination gates. I squealed when I saw our gate: San Francisco! We were going to San Francisco!!! By the time we landed, it was after 10 pm, local time. We headed to the car rental agency where the line up was short but lengthy and, of course, we were attended to by a trainee. A very pleasant trainee but a trainee. By 11 pm, we were ready to go. "Don't worry," hubby said. "It's only an hour and a half to Monterey." I think my eyes rolled to the back of my head. B and I were asleep before we even left the city. I woke up as we drove past the Denny's in Monterey. My husband is the best :)

Vite, vite, on REPREND l'avion!

Quelle folie! Sans m'y attendre, et sans savoir ma destination non plus, je me retrouve à l'aéroport avec B et mon mari. Mon mari, lui, sait où nous allons car il a tout organisé de A à Z. Mais moi, je n'ai pas mon sac de voyage, puisque je croyais que nous partions en voiture. Il faut alors que j'achète un sac à dos ("Chic!" s'écrie B. "Un nouveau sac d'école pour moi!") afin de faire un échange de biens entre la valise et ce dont j'aurais besoin en avion. Ce n'est qu'une fois arrivés dans l'avion que j'apprends que nous allons à Vancouver et que Vancouver n'est PAS notre dernière destination. Ouf. Cinq heures de vol et plus... Oh et mince! J'ai oublié mes bijoux dans la valise au lieu de les mettre dans le sac de voyage. Doigts croisés qu'ils arriveront à destination...

Wait! I thought we were going for a long car ride?

"Would you like to go back to Hope Lake Lodge this weekend?" Hubby asked me. "Sure," I said. As soon as he told me he'd made the reservations, I started packing for the three of us. "I'll pick you up between 11 am and noon on Friday," hubby told me. "I'd like to beat traffic if we can." I agreed but when he arrived on Friday, I wasn't quite ready. B hadn't finished his lunch and I still had some chores to do. I wasn't concerned: after all, a drive is a drive is a drive. A few minutes either way won't make a difference. Hubby grumbled but we managed to pile into the car only 15 minutes behind schedule. We drove down the 400, over to the 407 and onto the 427. "Wait a second!" I cried. "Why are you going this way?" He gave me some lame story about preferring the QEW - news to me - but then a couple of texts chimed in on my phone and I got distracted. The next time I looked up, we were at the airport. Wait. The airport? Yup. "Surprise!" Hubby chimed in. "What?" B cried. "I can't watch my movie anymore?" Apparently not. "So... where are we going?" I asked. "It's a surprise!" Hubby told me. And he asked me to stay with the luggage while he checked us in. Well wow...

Notre dernière journée en Irlande

B n'arrêtait pas de tousser et le ciel, d'un gris menaçant, ne promettait rien de bon. J'avais prévu une balade à Dublin avec un guide mais notre groupe n'était pas très enthousiaste: j'ai annulé. Mais que faire à la place? J'ai pensé qu'une visite au musée des sciences pourrait être intéressant mais nous avons été obligés de constater que celui-ci n'ouvrait ses portes qu'à midi. Bon, pas de soucis. Direction le "Fashion Loft". Le site web nous avait donné l'impression (fausse) qu'il s'agissait de tout un immeuble qui contenait des créations irlandaises. Pas du tout: il n'y avait qu'une boutique, cachée au dernier étage. Je n'avais toujours pas trouvé de souvenir qui me rappellerait l'Irlande à tous les coups, ce fut donc notre prochaine mission. Enfin, après un arrêt dans un restaurant du quartier, le Porterhouse. Tout le monde (sauf moi et B) commanda une bière. B se contenta de lait, puisque le lait au chocolat n'existe apparemment pas en Irlande. Mon cidre était parfait. Rassasiés, nous fîmes un détour au musée des sciences qui, à cette heure-là, devait être ouvert. En fait non. "Et si on faisait une balade en Écosse?" Suggéra mon mari. Et hop, direction le port. Les traversiers en avaient fini pour la journée. Heureusement, d'ailleurs car le trajet entre Dublin et l'Écosse dure plus de trois heures. Cependant, les deux grands enfants qui nous accompagnaient trouvèrent une solution à leur trop plein de bagages. Ils prirent des billets pour le lendemain matin car, alors que nous retournions au Canada, ils avaient prévu de continuer leur périple en Écosse. Retour à l'hôtel à temps pour le match de foot entre la Belgique (pour qui les 2 grands s'étaient maquillés) et l'autre équipe qui, malheureusement, a gagné le match. Mais puisque c'est mon blog, je ne parle que de la Belgique ;)

Bunratty Castle and Limerick

After a hearty Irish breakfast - our first since we arrived - we piled into the car and headed toward Bunratty castle. Given the torrential rain and clouds, the scenery took a bit of a beating. Still, we got to see cows, looking remarkably like oversized goats, chewing on grass on the sides of hills and amazing vistas. Bunratty was damp but the rain took a bit of a holiday when we arrived. B raced from one cottage to the next, barely staying in because "they smelled bad". I think they were burning peat in the fireplaces. The castle was interesting, with entire rooms laid out as they might have been a few centuries ago, with period furniture and dishes and, on occasion, costumes. After we climbed down from the ramparts, we visited the rest of the village. Unfortunately,most of the cottages were empty of occupants. Even the barnyard lacked animals. Two dogs were in the kennel but they were sleeping. B and I watched a lady in period costume put together an apple pie. B desperately wanted to help so she allowed him to pinch the edges of the crust. Afterward, we were, of course, hungry for apple pie so we headed to the tea shop and bought a slice. It was MASSIVE! We made a pitstop at the mill, for a member of our party who happens to be a mill enthusiast, and B explored the playground before we got back to the car. Limerick was only 15 minutes away and we found a likely place to eat within minutes. "I'll have the Guinness pie for lunch," hubby told the waitress. "And a pint of Guinness as well." "I'm sorry," she told him. "We don't have any Guinness." Hubby was puzzled. "If you're serving Guinness pie, there has to be Guinness beer on the premises." The waitress shook her head. "Oh, no, sir. Guinness is a food." Hubby tried to tell her about the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin but this may or may not have been wasted breath. In any case, his Guinness pie was good. We stopped at a large department store before heading home and picked up a couple of pairs of shorts for B as I hadn't packed enough and then we drove back "home" to Dublin. We were all so pooped that we didn't even bother leaving the hotel for dinner!

En route pour la côte ouest!

À cinq dans la voiture, pourtant assez grande, c'était un peu serré. Il faut dire que B n'arrêtait pas de tousser et, avec ses coudes super pointus, il aiguillait ses voisins. Le grand frère de B décida de s'asseoir au milieu histoire de réduire le nombre de commentaires. Une belle visite à la distillerie Jameson près de Cork et tout ce petit monde s'est retrouvé de meilleure humeur. Après un bon petit repas, direction le chateau Blarney. Nous avons tous grimpé jusqu'au sommet mais je fut la seule à embrasser la pierre. Le chateau et ses terres étaient ravissants mais il fallait repartir. Prochain arrêt? Dingle. Nous sommes arrivés tard et là fut mon seul regret: nous n'avons pas eu le temps d'explorer la ville ni ses alentours. Je crois qu'il nous faudra une autre visite un de ces jours, histoire de voir la côte en plus de détails...

The Guinness Storehouse

My 23 year old couldn't stop beaming: he was finally standing inside the mecca, as far as he's concerned, of beer. His girlfriend was in complete agreement. My husband was in complete agreement. B found the place a hoot, with its interactive displays, advertisements and speaking mirrors. I settled for taking pictures and passing off my free glass of Guinness to the highest bidder. Okay, okay, so I gave it to the 23 year old. After enjoying the paraphernalia in the store, we headed out to the Temple Bar area to see the sights and maybe get some Irish grub. This picturesque, cobblestoned area certainly offered us a lot of choices - but no hot dogs for B. He had to settle for his umpteenth dish of plain pasta, poor kid. We turned in early, given that the next day would see the start of our whirlwind tour of Ireland's west coast...

Knowth et la prison de Dublin

La programmation du jour était loin d'impressionner le mari de Simone. B non plus n'appréciait guère. "Si je comprends bien," fit le mari, "Tu nous fais voir des pierres néolithiques suivi par des pierres de prison?" Il fallait bien que j'avoue. "Oui. Mais Knowth est à la campagne alors ce sera vert et joli. La prison est en ville et il y aura plein d'histoires à apprendre." "Ça risque pas d'être amusant..." Bon et bah moi, ça m'a plus. Et puis nah.

W5 and the failed visit to Tollymore Forest Park

We checked out of the hotel, packed our bags into the car and headed out to the W5 museum before making the drive from Belfast back to Dublin. B immediately took to this place. He raced around the main floor, trying all the hands-on exhibits then we climbed the stairs to the next level where he found kid heaven. While he played at all the stations, even attempting a go at the 3 and under section, his focus stayed mostly on the ball and water play area. In fact, there was an inordinate number of boys playing there... The rest of the museum was equally successful, save for the Titanic exhibit which failed to attract either hubby or B. On the way out of the museum, we HAD to stop at the kid trap: two bouncy castles, one with a ginormous slide. We drove to Tollymore Forest Park, hailed for its beauty and family friendly trails - and stepping stone waterfall. Except that the parking attendant erroneously told us that no, they didn't have a waterfall. Okay, so it's not a tall one but the stepping stones kind of create a waterfall and... Never mind. The point is that we drove off without seeing this place and that's a shame. Instead we stopped off at Newcastle, hoping to find a bite to eat. We strolled along the street on this sunny day and bifurcated to the beach where locals and or / tourists were sunbathing and swimming. Let's keep things in perspective: hubby and I were wearing pants, shirts and jackets and we were NOT warm. B tried to join in but started shivering after a few seconds. Luckily, we found a nice pub where I bet (hypothetically) on a 50-1 horse that WON! Yeah... That's the fish that got away for sure...

Le Titanic? Pas très fascinant pour les petits...

En fait, la visite au musée du Titanic de Belfast, où l'engin a été construit, n'a pas réussi à enthousiasmer B et son père. J'aurais bien aimé, si je n'avais pas eu à chasser mon fils. Le musée est très bien fait pourtant mais bon... Heureusement, j'avais également prévu de l'escalade ainsi qu'un parcours aérien. Là, le fiston a apprécié. Le mari, par contre, a fait demi-tour. Pas même question d'enfiler un casque! L'escalade s'est plutôt bien passée mais le petit avait la trouille pour le parcours aérien - ce qui ne l'a pas empêché de le réussir! Il est vraiment top, celui-là! Nous avons suivi nos sorties par un repas dans un restaurant au centre de Belfast qui n'était pas très bon mais qui a permis au mari de soulager ses peines avec une bière bien méritée et à B et à moi de nous régaler avec de la crème glacée. Un peu de shopping puis retour à la chambre d'hôtel. Le mari, épuisée par nos périples s'est couché de bonne heure. B et moi en avons profité pour faire un tour à la piscine. Je ne m'attendais pas à nager mais l'eau était bonne, la piscine était propre et peu profonde. B et moi nous sommes amusés comme des petits fous! Pour couronner notre soirée, le film "The Addams Family" jouait à la télé. Super!

After a good night's rest (and then some...)

We slept for close to 19 hours. Okay so I didn't sleep for close to 19 hours. Neither did B. But after a long transatlantic flight with little room in the seat and people regularly hitting his arm, hubby was wiped. In the morning, we hopped in our rental car, said our prayers (first time driving on the left side) and drove from Dublin to Belfast. I admired the bilingual signs (English and Irish) all the way to northern Ireland where the Irish portion "disappeared". We drove around after dropping our luggage off at the hotel, looking for the Ulster museum. Many Irish locations do not list their building's number so plugging in addresses into the GPS then negotiating one-way street systems can be challenging. We drove up to a police car, told them our predicament and... they told us to follow them! They brought us straight to the museum! B and I thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the museum. Hubby a little less - museums are not his thing. We then hurried back to the hotel as we were meeting a Black Taxi Tour driver there for noon. Between the number of police cars at the sites we visited, the fact that the sites we visited consisted solely of murals, the teen who repeatedly hit our closed cab windows as we sat listening to our driver and the lengthy explanations of The Troubles (does Ireland not have a history beyond the political?), we felt anxious to get out of Belfast. So we drove to the Giant's Causeway and that revived us. If you ever get the chance? Go see the causeway; go down the hill to walk on it; take pictures; experience the wonder. As we drove away from the Causeway's parking lot, a police car pulled us over. The police officer approached our vehicle and wanted to know whether we'd been drinking - because we were driving very much to the left. Hubby explained that no, we had not been drinking but, as it was his first experience driving on the left side of the road, he had a tendency to drive a little too close to the ditch. The officer laughed, jotted directions to a nearby restaurant on the back of her business card and told us to email her to let her know how we'd fared! Too much!