Ireland in the rain

We are at Ballina on the west coast of Ireland in light rain. Our next stop going south is Galway on Galway Bay and then to night we are booked for 3 nights at Milltown Mal Bay, the ancestral home of the Mullinses.
After a catastrophic end to our time in NY, we are still anxious to know if Amanda caught her flight and is home safely. The shuttle to the airport (which the conceirge said would take about half an hour took one and three-quarter hours). We had a good flight on Aer Lingus but we were tired when we got to Dublin - picked up the car and got lost. We asked a man for directions and we have realised since that he was probably the Archbishop. Brigid Moynihan's B & B was a marvellous old terraced house, very pleasant - Brigid (a little vague) assured us we would find a B & B in Sligo on the west coast - NO bother. We drove through lush green countryside up to the Giants Causeway through Northern Island (Londonderry, Coloraine). The causeway is an extraordinary sight. Then we pushed on to Sligo, where every B & B was booked out because (1) it is the Bank Holiday weekend - the first long weekend after the long winter and (2) a lady from Sligo was being buried and willed her body to the University, so everyone from the Uni came up for the funeraland stayed in B & Bs!! After some wild situations (one where we ended up at a castle which took guests and Ray wouldn't go in because he feared the cost, then we tried to book ourselves into a truck stop and they were out, then also considered sleeping in the car), a kindly B & B owner phoned a friend and we got a bed on a farm just north of Knock with Joan and Sean - spotless with a large loop-pile wallhanging of John Paul II and our other guest was Fr Dan, an American of Irish roots. We are moving south today. Missing everyone and hope Solomon, Gill, Judy and the troops in Washington are all well. Much love, Mum

New York

I see most have caught up with the news that Solomon Steven Belcher arrived on 24 April - 9 lb. Gill was induced but the cord was in a difficult position, so fairly quickly the doc. decided on a caesar. Gill is still in hospital recovering but Solomon is well. Judy is flying back on a delayed ticket on Sunday and Peter is coping except that nobody is able to do Lizzie's hair...
To say NY is a buzz is an understatement. We only walk a short walk to the Metro (tube) and the first morning we crushed in like sardines - an announcement being made all the time "Do not put wallets in your back pocket - hold your handbags infront of you". We bought a 2 day Grayline all loops tour in Australia so we set off atop on Monday a double-decker bus with a ytour commentator and drive through the mesh of downtown NY - the taxis (only 4 per cent of people in Manhatten own caRS), THE BUSES, THE VANS, AND people . wE SAW ALL THE SITES, sEINFELD'S SOUP KITCHEN, THE aPOLLO THEATRE, WHERE lENNON WAS SHOT, ETC. wE CHANGED TO A MOTORIZED OLD TRAM TO TOUR bROOKLYN AND THEN ON tUESDAY, WE DID THE UPTOWN tour around museums, beautiful buildings, Central Park, Fifth Ave. Then we went at night on a night loop - the lights and activity in Times Square is mind-boggling. Tomorrow we go to Ireland and Amanda goes home via Sydney. I am on a time limit here. It was great to hear from you all and especially Ivy's message. Don't know how we will go finding internet in Ireland. No many cafes for it in NY. Much love to everyone, Great-granma and Great-0grandad

Probably last blog from Washington

Great to hear from you, Jim - blogging is a challenge!!! and great to contact, Leo - no penguins at the zoo, but I did watch the "March of the Penguins" on the plane on the way over - great show.... Desley and Mark, Peter now says the birds at the zoo DO fly south for the winter (and he's sticking to that story!)
Well, we are heading for New York tomorrow. There is still NO baby. Gill is to be induced on Monday - Sunday Aust. time - but Judy's time is running out. At the moment, she and Peter are trying to organise an extension for a couple of days, which will mean a more expensive fare back but also they would have to pay more money on the trip over which Judy has already made....so it is still in the melting pot. Peter has arranged to finish work at 4.0pm next week and the kids are back to school on Monday.
Amanda has succumbed to a bad head cold. She has been invaluable with the driving and entertaining and showering the children. Ray and I have not driven and we could not have done without her. However, as Jasper, Freyja and Kobi will attest, the kids are all worn out!! She ran a boot camp 2 days ago and the kids are still recovering. There is to be a dance exhibition this evening. We have a photo of a rain dance on the back deck, and it has been raining since then.
Ray and I have had 2 return visits to the Smithsonian, but the highlight of our week was being taken to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse, which is advertised as an Australian experience. On the menu is Toowoomba Pasta, Cyclone fettucini, Prime Minister's ribs, Kookaburra wings....However, the food was not at all like Australian fare. We did have a good laugh and did let them know we were genuine Aussies.
Yesterday we had a day at the movies, after mild panic getting lost. Amanda and Nathan saw Benchwarmers, which we hear was grose. Clare, Lizzie and I saw The Wild. As a Disney film it was loud and pretty ordinary, except that the lion cub who is the star was called RYAN and the giraffe, who was the beautiful friend was BRIDGET. Hope to find an internet cafe in New York, but the photos may well stop. We are going up on the Greyhound bus - just under 5 hours. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gill and Phil and Madge, and Judy and the support team in Canberra. Much love, Mum/Granma/Pat

A day at the National Zoo

Today is Wednesday here. On Monday there were plans for a golf game with Peter, Nathan and Ray, but we woke to fine rain and so the golf was cancelled, so we relaxed with a karoke set which the kids got for Christmas. I got a score of 86 - eat your heart out Kamal!!
Yesterday (refreshed) we hit the National Zoo set in 163 acres of wooded land in the heart of the city (or I should say downtown). The brochure said there were 2800 animals, but after 2 hours and some serious foot-slogging, we had seen 1 seal, a colony of turtles, and some mekong-delta cat-fish (infront of which we are pictured). We took a cut lunch and Amanda queued for coffee - after half an hour, Ray went looking for her. After another half an hour I felt sure both Amanda and Ray were being held hostage, but soon after we did get our coffee.
However, the second half of the afternoon was much better. We saw some hippo, elephants and a baby one born in captivity, a giraffe, some praire dogs, monkeys and their kin, and at a distance the panda bears (You can see Amanda indicating our view of the pandas). That really does not make 2,800 animals, but on some fenced areas the notice read "This animal may be pregnant and so is probably resting in its den"....However, the country walk was beautiful and we had some laughs.
No baby as yet. Poor Gill went to the doctor yesterday and will go again on Friday, with a possible induction next Monday if nothing has happened by then. Judy is due to return Wednesday of next week, and we are due to go to New York on Sunday. Thinking of you all in Australia, Much love, Mum/Granma/Pat

Easter Sunday Washington

Happy Easter to our readers!! Happy Birthday Desley!! We have not even tried phoning Australia....blogging is challenge enough. Great photos of our favourite animals - the Easter bunny from Gladstone and Hamish...Great to hear from you Stu and Jane, and can smell you here Desley with your Chanel No 5.....
Yesterday we set off for Potomac Mills, which is a massive shopping outlet at reduced prices. There is accommodation available around it, and I needed to book in for a month. The shops were huge. The challenge was also to continue to convert to Aussie dollars. The car was several bags heavier on the return trip, but I was most controlled. Grandad has a Washington redskins cap, and Amanda now has to buy a new suitcase. We returned home for Nathan to play baseball - they won with a picture attached (I hope).
Today after Mass and bloating ourselves with chocolate, Ray, Amanda and I went to Arlington Cemetery - a profound experience with the graves of Robert E Lee, John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Audie Murphy and the Unknown soldier - plus soldiers from all the wars back to the independence war - and a memorial with faces of all the men and women killed in Iraq. The guard is changed every half and hour at the grave at the unknown soldier. It was a worthwhile experience.
On returning home, Amanda, Peter and the kids went bike-riding. Much love, Mum/Granma/Pat

Washington Good Friday

Good Friday is different in Washington. It is a working day. There is a newspaper and all. Very few easter eggs in the shops. No hot cross buns!! Peter has taken the day off, and he and Judy do not have television from Holy Thursday night until after the Good Friday liturgy, so there is a game of "Life" going on in the lounge - with some serious casualties. We are going to the Basilicia for the Good Friday liturgy, on Peter's suggestion to see the downtown (you don't say "city" here) central church.
Peter and Judy's house is great - 3 storeys - a basement, where Nathan is sleeping while we are here - with room there for a number of beds or a playroom and a laundry. There are 2 full bathrooms and 2 half bathrooms (as is described) - half bathrooms have only a toilet and a washbasin. The main floor has 2 lounges, dinning room, kitchen and half bathroom, and leads onto a double garage. The top floor has the 2 full bathrooms and 4 bedrooms. The only problem is when one is putting in washing in the laundry and remembers some article of clothing in the bedrooms, one has to run up from the basement to the main floor and then again on up to the top floor and back again...
The weather is particularly mild - Brisbane - short sleeves and shorts today. The mild weather has brought out all the flowering trees, which I find magic.
Marie, we did get your email. I was concerned you were not getting the blogs...glad to hear Mum is OK.
Desley, the photos come from Amanda's digital, the Disney photos are on our $20 K-mart camera and haven't been developed. The photos and blogs may not be so regular when we get to New York!!! Hope you all have a Happy Easter, and hope it all goes well in Brisbane, Ben. Much love, Mum/Granma/Pat

Smithsonian

Yesterday we DID make it to the Smithsonian museums. You can imagine a massive sweep at the centre of Washington from Capitol Hill (the seat of government), through the mall which is massive to the Washington memorial and on again in a line through reflecting pools, World War II memorial to the Lincolm memorial. The mall, which runs for several street blocks and is a street block wide at least, is skirted on either side by the Smithsonian museums - each subject has its own building - starting with a castle, which housed the original Smithsonian. One building is devoted to American culture (here you can see Seinfeld's puffy shirt/ Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz's red shoes/ the dresses worn by the First Ladies at the Presidents' Inaugurations throughout history/ the flag which draped the Pentagon to hide the damage of 9/11/ Prince's yellow gold guitar and on and on - floor and floor of it). Then there is the Natural History Museum, the Sculpture museum, Air and Space Museum, Art Gallery, the Postal museum and a number of others. In this huge mall there is a merry-go-round, an ice skating rink in winter, beautiful flower gardens and food courts, PLUS thousands of people of all ages, some on bikes, skates...school expeditions, tourists... It was a great day, but we did not do it justice. We will have to go again. Also possibly on display there now are Ray's distance glasses. He lost them.

We also have hit the shopping centers - mind-boggling, especially when you try to convert American dollars to Australian, and realise that the bargain is not really so. All is well here. The kids are on holiday today. We went this morning to the school to see Nathan in a passion play. He was Simon the Cyrene. It was very good and he played his part well. No other news - notably about babies. Much love, Mum

Our trip to the Smithsonian did not eventuate, as I (Granmother) did not wake up until 10.30am....so we had a slow day at home!! Amanda is taking softball practice after school on the common behind and between the houses. The weather is just beautiful and the trees are blossoming in different pinks. Tried to capture Peter and Judy's street today, and we compared it with the same area at Christmas time.
Judy has arrived in Sydney and phoned as she was about to board her flight to Canberra, so now we await some other exciting news.
To-morrow we hope to hit the Smithsonian museums, although we did find the local shopping centre today and Amanda and Ray found clothes they are planning to buy. I bought only licorice. Great to receive your photo, Mark and Desley. Where was dear Hamish?? I almost bought a recipe book today with foods for dogs. You asked if the children have American accents...Lizzie has a little roll. Ya'll have a nice day....Much love, Granma

A day mixing with George W

Washington was beautiful today - warm and fresh. The tulips are everywhere and cherry blossoms and trees breaking out in the first green of spring. We went to the city with Peter and Judy and Nathan, who had a doctor's appointment. After 4 consultations of differing opinion we got to the White House. A man was whipper snipping out the front, but we thought he was a bit fat for George W. We visited all the memorials, the Washington memorial (which we found out only tonight we could have riden to the top of), the Lincolm memorial and the World War II memorial, which is magnificent - only opened in 2004. We tried to find retail outlets, but to no avail, so we returned home.
Nathan had a baseball game this evening and went off looking like Babe Ruth. Judy left for Australia, so we are now on our own (except for Peter!!) Tomorrow we hope to take on the Smithsonian Museums. I tried to post this on the blog and it ended up in comments, so I'm trying again. Much love, Mum Happy Birthday to Nick for 11th!!!

Grands now in Washington DC

We have ARRIVED on the blog and in Washington. We had a good flight over - left Brisbane over one hour late and also spent some time on the tarmac in Sydney - because of strong winds in Sydney resulting in the use of only one run-way. We found our shuttle in LA with little difficulty and our hotel at Anaheim, to which the shuttle took us. The hotel room was not ready so we checked our the entrance to Disneyland. On return the room was still not ready and we both fell asleep in the motel lobby.
Our day at Disneyland was a great adventure - finding where everything was, even with a map! We road the fire engine, steam train, the monorail, the Mickey tram and had a jungle cruise which was gorgeous - lots of animated fake animales, elephants, snakes, fish, crocodiles etc all so realistic and moving. We also took the Peter Pan boat flight over London at night - it was beautiful souring through the stars - all simulated of course. The Grand Parade twice a day had lots of Disney characters dancing and playing. They also had a fantasmic show over the water on the lake in colour, followed by fireworks - both of which were magic.
The flight to Washington has been good - lots of queues at the airport and lots of security. We had to remove shoes, belts, coats, etc. On the Brisbane to Sydney flight I souvenired 2 packets of sugar and put them in the pages of the book I was reading. At Sydney airport we were called aside and an "interrogator" went through our bags!! On discovering the sugar he asked, "What is in these packets marked sugar?" To which I replied "sugar"...he then said "Why are you hiding it in a book?" I then began to explain to him about my 97 year-old mother in the nursing home and he fairly quickly said, "Move on!"
Peter, Judy and the 3 kids were at the airport to meet us and all look well, have a great house and we are learning the oddities of taps, etc in USA. Poor Amanda did not have a good flight - was held up for hours at LA then on arriving here at Washington, the luggage did not get to the carousal for an hour and a half after the flight. However, this morning in a crisp -1 day with clear skies and warm sun, tulips in the gardens, and all having had a good night's sleep, some preparation is on for driving lessons in which I have chosen not to be involved. Much love, Mum

Both of our ports are packed! Received 2 cards from Cairns wishing us well!!

Also read the comments on this blog from Nic and Bec, Desley and Mark,
and Judy and Marie.

Should have asked Amanda who picked up her tickets today to put a photo on the blogspot.