Ella's Appointment

Ella weighs 26 pounds (60th percentile); she's 32.75 inches tall (80th percentile); and her head is 18.5 inches around (60th percentile). She received 3 shots and a prescription for antibiotics for her chest congestion.

1000 Words

Ella is 18 Months Today!!!

Ella's new words (plus a few which should have been on the last list):

up, down, off, on, wait, mine, no, bird, raining, arm, foot, hand, bear, yucky, mmm, yummy, shirt, rock, camera

Songs: Twinkle, Twinkle, Bob the Builder, ABCs, Happy Birthday, Wheels on the Bus

*This brings the total to 60! Her check-up is tomorrow, so we'll see how much she's grown.

**and I forgot ball, so now we're at 61
***and I forgot ouch, so now we're at 62
****and I forgot flower, so now we're up to 63
*****and I forgot night night, so now we're up to 64
******AND I forgot morning and go, so NOW we're up to 66!

Cliffs of Moher

It was about an hour and a half drive to the Cliffs through beautiful weather. We passed about 10 castles or castle-like-things on the way. The Cliffs were totally clear- no fog- and the crowds were not bad at all. We walked around looking at the waves crashing onto the rocks. This was Ella's day to do everything by herself. She didn't want to be held, she only wanted to walk. We climbed a million stairs and Ella learned to go up stairs one at a time. Slowly. VERY slowly. It probably took us an hour to get to O'Brien's tower, but once we did Ella was running in circles chasing birds. I held her up to see the ocean and she kept yelling, "Water! Water!" and when she saw the birds circling below she became really excited and yelled, "Deet deet! Deet deet!" (That's Ellanese for 'bird.') Ella walked the whole way down, only stopping a couple of times to dance in circles.

Cahir and Cashel

We started off heading for Cashel, but Ella fell asleep right before we got there so we opted to drive on a little farther to Cahir to see the castle. This castle was much more intact than the Adare castle we'd seen previously. This was a very hands on kind of place with stairs to climb, towers to explore, and cannons to touch (and sit on for a photo op!). Jacob really liked climbing on everything and pretending to shoot the bad guys with the cannons. When Jacob saw a picture of the castle under seige, he became very concerned and asked a million questions about exactly which guys were the bad guys and why were they shooting those cannons and why are the bad guys trying to get into the castle. After being assured that no bad guys were going to shoot him with a cannon, he seemed okay.
Afterwards, we headed back to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel. Klif and Jordan opted to walk around town a bit while we went in. This place was amazing! The church was huge and had tons of carvings everywhere. The whole compound is situated on top of a huge hill so the views down to the countryside were beautiful. This is where we got to answer all of Jacob's questions about dead people and cemetaries. It was a little awkward. Then he wanted to know the names on every single head stone we passed which made for some weird glances from some of the other tourists.
We met back up with Klif and Jordan for dinner at Ryan's Daughter. I had the shepard's pie, Kris had the lamb stew, and Jacob and Ella gobbled down peas and carrots. Then it was back to Adare...

Pictures:
http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr28/kris_the_ta/Cahir%20and%20Cashel/

We're Home!!!

We're back in California!!! The rest of the Ireland photos and stories will be posted soon... once we get some rest! This is Jake and Ella just after arriving at LAX. Jacob fell asleep 30 minutes prior to landing and Ella had been asleep for 2.5 hours. They had woken up that morning at 4:15 AM Ireland time and this is about 2:30 PM LA time. (If you're trying to do the math, that's about 18 hours.)

The Dingle Peninsula

We actually managed to wake up on time this morning... except Jacob. He woke up a little to get out of bed, fell back asleep, awoke to get dressed, fell back asleep, and then, finally, awoke to get into the car. We headed towards the Dingle Peninsula for a scenic drive and a bit of exploration. We passed through Tralee and many other postcard-pretty towns and stopped for lunch at a bit of a tourist trap. While there, Ella fell in love with a stuffed cow and began kissing and hugging it repeatedly. It was too cute to pass up so the cow came with us.
Once in Dingle, we walked around a bit checking out the shops and quenching the kids' never-ceasing thirst for milk. The church had Henry Clarke stained glass windows so I went inside and checked it out while everyone else stayed out of the rain. They were really beautiful- like a Klimt painting.
We headed out to the Slea Head Drive. It was beautiful, but nerve wracking! The road was very VERY tight and as crooked as a politician. The coastal views were spectacular and there was a ring fort, famine houses, and several scenic viewing spots. The bad news was that it was raining and really windy. We let Jacob out about every other stop to try to keep him at least a little dry. This bothered him to no end because there were rocks to be climbed and puddles to be jumped in.
Post famine, the Slea Head has become virtually uninhabited, so our search for a bathroom was a bit tough. We'd read in the guide book that the town, Ballyferriter, had a museum and an old church so we pulled over once we got into town. Unfortunately, the museum was closed and Ella began peeing all over me. We walked across the street to the church, but only found a nun praying alone and no restroom. We walked back to the other side of the street and started looking into shops, but they were all closed. Finally, we found a pub that was sort of open and went in. Ella got changed, Jake found a potty, and Kris and Klif had a pint of Guiness. We drove back to the Villas and Jake, Ella, and Kris all were fast asleep.

Pictures:

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm4/jessica_c_rhodes/Dingle/

Limerick

With a plan to get going by 9:00, we failed miserably by not even waking up until 9:45. We rushed around, trying to get out the door so that we could take the Angela's Ashes tour of Limerick at 11:00. Once in the car, however, we became thoroughly confused and didn't arrive in Arthur's Quay until nearly noon. We went to the Tourist Information Office and found out that there wouldn't even be a tour today because the tour leader was sick. It was beginning to really rain so we opted to head to the Hunt Museum to eat lunch and stay dry.
Klif and Jordan went walking while we went through the museum. It's a small museum, but the artifacts are pretty amazing. My head can't wrap around how old these things are! After the museum we still had the rest of the afternoon ahead of us so we walked to St. Mary's Cathedral. It was really raining hard so we ducked inside the entryway to dry out a bit. Klif and I went inside and took pictures of the cathedral while Jordan and Kris stayed with the stroller. Ella had fallen asleep on the way over so we wanted to let her get some rest (after all, she DID wake up about 5 times the night before!).
It was only 3:00 so we decided to look for the Grange Stone Circle out in the countryside. And then we got lost... there was a lot of driving, a lot of turning around, and a lot of confusion. Eventually we got to Lough Gur, but it was closed. Klif, Kris, the kids, and I got out to walk around but quickly chickened out since it was freezing cold, windy, and raining really hard. On the way back to Adare, we spotted an old church and stopped to check it out. Kris, Jacob, and I went tromping around in the mud and wet grass and looked at the old cemetery and an old steeple. It was really interesting, but it felt a little dangerous since it was not a preserved site. Afterwards, we headed back to the Villas for dinner.

Pictures: http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm4/jessica_c_rhodes/Limerick/

Adare

For our first Ireland outing, we're checking out the village of Adare. Ella is bright-eyed and bushy tailed, but Jacob won't wake up. We dress him in his sleep, move him downstairs while sleeping, and leave him on a chair while everyone else gets ready to go. Once loaded up, we stop by the Manor house. We walk around a bit, looking at the entry hall, the dining hall, and the grounds. The grounds crew were working on the geometrical gardens so we had to cut the visit short. Next was a quick drive by of the ruined Augustinian Priory. It's on the Manor grounds, but isn't open to the public. Next we stopped by the Trinitarian Abbey and walked around. There is school in session so there wasn't much we could see, so we headed to the Adare Heritage Centre. Klif and Jordan opted to walk around town while we took a tour of Adare Castle. It was really interesting. Unfortunately, this tour seemed to correspond with Ella's nap time so Kris and I had to take turns taking her away from the tour group so other people could hear. Ella picked up three more words: rock, walk, and camera. Yell these at the top of your voice repeatedly for an idea of our tour. Jacob, on the other hand, kept quiet but decided to take his entire tour while jumping. Once we returned to the Heritage Centre, we met up with Klif and Jordan and headed back to the Villas. Then we all took naps except for Jacob who watched movies all afternoon.

Pictures: http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm4/jessica_c_rhodes/Adare/

Day 1- LAX to DUB to SNN

September 6th and 7th:

We were taken to the airport by wonderful friends, Brooke, Michelle, and Miles (plus baby Lincoln!) and had no problems checking in. The plane was 45 minutes late, but the kids were easily entertained watching airplanes. Jacob was really happy that we were going on a green plane since it's his favorite color. The kiddos were decked out in new pajamas and everyone oohed and ahhed over how cute they were. The kids were really good on the flight with only a few short bouts of crying from Ella. Once asleep, Ella was placed in a weird cardboard box that they called a bassinette. She was too long by about 4 inches, so her sleep was fitful. Jacob fell asleep with a blanket over his head because he thought that the inflight movie, Prince Caspian, was "too sad."

Once in Dublin, we speed walked to get to our plane and took a 30 minute flight to Shannon. Kris and Klif picked up the rental car and Klif very quickly figured out driving a stick with the left hand. We were all terrified, but impressed. On the way from the airport to Adare, we saw at least 5 castles or castle like things and lots of cows. Once at the Manor House, we were greeted by a doorman who Jacob thought was Sir Topamhat from Thomas the Tank Engine. The Manor is amazing! The entryway alone was breathtaking. Jacob was confused by the fireplace and asked why the people were camping inside. Ella picked up a new word (in addition to the words I left off her previous word list). Unfortunately that word is "booger" and she uses it to show everyone the boogers she's pulled out of her nose.

We went to The Villas where we were staying and were all amazed at all the niceties. We have three bedrooms, four baths, five TVs, a full kitchen, dining room, sun room, patio, sitting room, washer/dryer, and a dishwasher. It's better than anywhere we've ever lived so we're trying to figure out how to come up with the 643 Euros per night we'd need to stay here forever. Ella had a hard time getting to sleep but after around 12:30, she was out for the night. Jacob, on the other hand went right to sleep, but woke up at 1:00 asking if it was dinner time yet. He got into bed with us, but remained awake so at 2:30 I (Jessica) got up with him and made him breakfast. He must have been starving because he ate two bowls of cereal and half a banana. We watched some TV and he began to get sleepy so he and I curled up in front of our fake fireplace and went to sleep around 4:30. Jordan was awake by 8:00 so I moved Jacob back into bed with Kris.

Pictures:

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm4/jessica_c_rhodes/Airport%20and%20Adare/

Ella's Words

Ella’s Words as of 9/6/08:

Mommy, Daddy, Mawmaw (Grandma), Jayji (Jacob), Momo (Tomo), Kaykay (Kate), Awa (Ella), baby

Tee (teeth), eye, no (nose), mowf (mouth), hay (hair), eay (ear), beebee (belly button)

Hat, shoe

Thegue (thank you), bessoo (bless you), he go (here you go), no, bye bye, hi, uh oh, whoa, yay

Water, joo (juice), maok (milk), nack (snack), by (bite)

Animal noises: meow, woof woof (also what she calls all dogs), rawr, ooh ooh (also what she calls all monkeys), bunny, deet deet (also what she calls all birds), cow, moo

Boxes

Ireland!

Tomorrow we head to Ireland and her 40 shades of green. We have our suitcases packed and are finalizing our snack list for the grocery store. Klif and Jordan arrived safely and we're all really excited! The only existing challenge will be getting some sleep tonight! Oh, and my camera came in the mail yesterday so we're set.

Pictures! But not with our camera...

A friend of a friend is a photographer so I asked her to take some beach pictures of us before we leave California. We have a million pictures on CD so here is a sampling of the fabulous work that she does. Like what you see? Contact Susan Emrich : )

Progress

Both bedrooms upstairs are done-- carpet is shampooed, closets are cleaned out, baseboards are wiped down-- and the bathroom is starting to shape up. We threw out an entire trashcan full of half-used soaps and lotions and medicines. It was pretty cathartic. Our remaining toiletries are packed in travel bags, ready to be thrown into our suitcase for Ireland. The kitchen is being emptied and shuttled to our friends. The livingroom is nearly devoid of furniture and is home to a cardboard box fort. If I had my camera, I'd take a picture : )