day out with the visitors

we had a fun day yesterday, well, fun for most of us, it started quite rough i imagine for my husband, who woke up with the mother of all hangovers.... and staying in bed wasn't an option because there was still more tidying and cleaning to be done than i could manage before the visitors arrived! my baby belly had calmed down considerably, which was good news because i don't know how i'd have managed showing them around otherwise!

we picked my parents and their friends up from the station and had coffee and biscuits here, and they had a little look around the garden and house (with the usual comments from the guys about how much less sturdy and 'proper' houses in ireland are built... they were knocking on the plasterboard walls and comparing the window frames and width of the stairs to home. i'm starting to feel like we live in a cardboard house!). Then we headed to Skerries for a 'walk around the head' and a drink. then we went to the Mills to have a look at the Farmers Market and for some coffee and cake/their homemade soda bread, then on to Ardgillan Castle. The ladies loved it, the guys are way unfit and not used to walking... my mum was telling me when they went around dublin the women were mostly walking ahead, leasurely, chatting, and every now and then stopping to see could they still see the guys in the distance, and then letting them catch up! we left them behind as we explored the walled gardens, they are always a big hit with my female realitves, who get excited to see plants they have at home all labeled and categorised, and to see some of them grow to twice the size, and others that they keep indoors grow happily outside.

We had dinner in the stoop, which everybody loved, and we all got to chat and rest some more (outings with 'older' people involve an awful lot of breaks and sitting down and stopping...). eventually we dropped them back to the train station and they all got on the train, it's kind of cute watching your parents on public transport if they drive everywhere at home, we could tell they were excited and nervous, making sure it's the right train twice, then all heading off down the compartment looking for seats together... i'm glad they get to travel like this is in a foreign country, i know it gave me lots of confidence, travelling and realising i could do it. who knows they might take another trip abroad, go to paris or prague for a long weekend, now that they know they can manage!

P and I were completely exhausted by the time we got home! especially P with the remnants of his hangover...