Armagh Planetarium

What a great day! We made a trip to the planetarium in Armagh, in the North. In a tightly packed site, there were workshops, demonstrations, movies, interactive games, and readings suitable for multiple ages.

The science workshops were really well done and the kids were keen to participate, particularly Declan!

Stella was called up for a demo of static electricity and was fully game for being on display.

Ronan floored us by repeating word for word the instructor's lecture on how electricity made its way through the plasma ball, into the other kid's hand, through the light bulb, into his arm, through his body, and grounded into the floor.  (Declan is there making sure all goes well)

By far the highlight for all of us was the rocket ship building and launching. What a fantastic thing it is to spend some time building and launching things without a pile of lawsuits requiring goggles and kids to stand back, instead of launching them on their own!

Stella Launching!

Lazy Day, Busy Night

Thursday, the parents had dinner in Drogheda and time at our local pub, with a pair of sitters coming to keep an eye on all 5 kids!

A great night out and some much deserved leisure time. Seamus and Chris made it home from the pub a wee later than the lasses, but not too much worse for wear.

Earlier in the day:

Ronan discovered the fun of dancing in tandem...with his shadow!

The boys with a little give-n-go

A panoramic outside our housing complex. From the beach we see the charming little town of Carlingford on the adjacent peninsula. The Cooley Mountains sit behind Carlingford, and to the right (North and East) in the distance you can see the Mourne Mountains.

Here is a google map, tilted to show our view across Dundalk Bay toward Carlingford, with the North in the distance and just the tip of Scotland above that in your upper right.

A quick electronics time out while the rain lashed down outside

Our Favourite Irish Sayings, Part 1

The melodic accents, charming rhythm, and welcoming phrases make Ireland a beautiful place to pick up some interesting new phrases. Of course, Chris' pitch changed as soon as we landed and he usually thinks he has acquired the lilt enough that he can go unnoticed as a foreigner.

Irish phrases are sometimes a challenge to interpret, particularly when paired with a thick accent or rapid speech. But real Irish language - that is another level. We have an app for the phones - strictly for fun at this point. This is a tough language, with several unique rules that make the modern English speaker challenged to inhibit overlearned responses. The diphthongs in particular are tough to encode since they contradict much of how we use vowels in modern English and many have multiple variations. For example:

ao: 3 ways to pronounce: é-ah (w/stress at the front on é), ah-ú (w/ stress at front on ah), or í

I have read on several sites that the grammar of Irish is much more sensible than English, but grammar is still a mirage when you are treading through a new language letter-by-letter.

It was exciting to see the delight on the faces of Seamus' brothers when telling us that a few Irish sports matches were being announced in Irish, on the Irish language channel.

Real Irish Language is spoken in several regions, identified with signs such as these

 Some resources suggest this is a disappearing language, but here is to the pride and stubbornness that might be required reverse this trend!






 Here are a few of our favourite phrases after the first week in Eire:

Pint of the Black

Trousers, not pants

Yer-man: your man; referring to anyone really

A barman (not bartender) in Dundalk gave Chris change and said something like: One for your right and also for your left.  Seamus did not know that one either...

We'll have to go in about 2 minutes. Now, this is a tricky one. You have to carefully read the face and posture, and consider several contextual features. We have found that this means: We'll leave some time between 5 and 45 minutes from now.

Good Craic of course refers to the vibe of the place

The Fear is that uncertain feeling about whether you will survive the day after a busy night at the pub, maybe one with too much Craic or a well intentioned barman.

How ya gettin' on: Wassup?

Windscreen not windshield. Apparently it is more porous?

Nice work - whenever you do anything, work or nice or neither

(the kids fav so far is the trunk being called the boot - Ronan and Stella cackle every time)

(Temporary) Home Schooling

Brains alive! Our adventures have been filled with plenty of exciting learning opportunities and hands-on fun.

We have been impressed by how much Stella's classrooms have socialized her to be a respectful and inquisitive pupil, without suppressing creativity and independent thinking. Hopefully that method of teaching is not itself suppressed by the institutionalization of schooling as the years go on.

We spent a few hours today finding rocks, as diverse as possible; retrieving geology books from the library in Dundalk (props to Susan for tracking down Helen in Dundalk as a guarantor so we as non-residents could get a library card!) ; and starting our scientific journal. Stella and Ronan generated 5 factors for classification and 4 main uses for the rocks they collected.  Tomorrow...shells and fossils. (Daddy is having fun geeking out!)

Sláinte!

 Home schooling! Science + Vino

Coal or Asphalt?

Ronan - jumping in and out; making the most of his 4 year old attention span!

The more things change...

Turns out traveling in Ireland allows us to keep much of our routines. Ronan is busy lego building and loving soccer, Stella and Susan have found a few places for riding lessons, Chris is still breathtakingly handsome, and Declan...growing by the day. Still, there is a different cadence and deeper appreciation when the setting changes the feel for our favourite activities. The kids have been incredibly active. Irish Dance Lessons start next week!


Riding:

Beach Soccer:

Panoramic Timeseries of Ronan

GIF of Declan kicking it into the Sea (GOOOAAALLLL!)

Ronan found a moss covered Trident

Ronan's "Beach Legos"

Declan, moments before his first unintended backflip

From our first day - Helen's loving welcome present!

The Beach!

One of the wonderful things we've discovered from living somewhere new is how we adapt, individually and collectively. Our housing situation shifted from mostly one floor living in an open concept house (LOUD!) in the countryside (200 meters to skating on the canal) to a three story townhouse sharing a wall with dear friends (WHERE ARE THE KIDS AGAIN?) in a charming cul-de-sac (200 meters from the pub). Among the many pleasures of this challenge (and really it is not), is the finding of how wonderfully refreshing it can be to waste enjoy time relaxing on a beach. Now, we are not sit-in-hot-weather-to-get-tan on a beach folks, so we are well suited to what the beach outside of "The Saltings" (the townhouse complex) offers us: adventure, discovery, room to run (and run and run), privacy, and the impressive and intellectually stimulating tide (2.5 miles out by mid-afternoon before it roars back in.

The Boys on the Beach (Tide is way out!)

Jellyfish dot the beach when the tide is out

Room to run!

Slieve Gullion Forest Park

The Cosgroves took us to the Forest Park of Sleive Gullion on the morning of 14 Feb. This magical place, in County Armagh, in The North, is the part of the highest peak in the Mourne Mountains and contains the highest passage grave in Ireland. It is the source of some wonderful Irish Legends, some of which Keela shared with Stella on the drive there and others embellished in a new book the kids received early in our visit. When you walk through the Forest Park, you feel like you are somewhere between those legends and something Tolkien dreamed. The massive trees are covered in moss and vines, the paths are steep and winding, and the stewards have made wonderful use of the natural habitat to create magic for the kids - there are wooden trools, carved and decorated fairy houses, tunnels weaved with willow, and artistic structures bringing those legends to life.

Update: Seamus sent us a nice video of our expedition

http://www.magisto.com/video/bU1BIVoQAmEvUE1pYw?c=e&l=amr1&o=a&

Stella and Keela leading the way (what a surprise)

Ronan breaking his own uphill landspeed record, with Susan and Helen on the chase

An amazing dog-shaped tunnel made of willow branches - still under construction

The troll sneezing a Ronan

A typical view from within the Forest out to the other Mountains in the Mourne Range

The Giant table with the chair knocked over as one of the legends scampered off once our two giants, Ronan and Euan, approached

The house of "The Trickster", one of many fairy homes within the park

First Day

Our first day was made infinitely easier and tons of fun, thanks to the warm welcome from Helen and Seamus and the fast and firm friendships Euan and Keela formed with Stella and Ronan. And of course, Declan is just happy to have more people available to entertain. 

Susan, Declan and Seamus

Euan, Ronan, Keela, Declan, Stella

The Annagassan Beach! 

Our home for 3 months, on the Irish Sea

Helen stocked our fridge and pantry with some Irish Favourites, including the unbelievable (and quickly consumed) KERRYGOLD butter!

Welcome to Annagassan, our home for 3 months.