Tap Dancers

Greta has inherited a pair of tap shoes from her cousin Zoey and loves to put on "shows" for us. On a sunny day (we try and be outside every second that the sun is shining!) we inverted our Ikea kids table and found that it made the perfect tap stage. The girls also recently watched the movie Annie...so here is our own version of tap dancing to the finale of Annie.



p.s. I know this video is not quite up to the standards of Connie Kohlhepp productions, but I am trying :)

photo shoot

Last week I had the chance to photograph this adorable two year old boy. It was fun to get behind the camera again! These are a couple of my favorites...

The "Chandler smile"

July 4th Family Trip

The girls are at summer camp at their preschool this week... so I've been catching up on some important things like reading Harry Potter :) and downloading pictures. Here are a few catch-up posts for the month of July.

July 4th
We were feeling a bit depressed about missing this American holiday so at the last minute we hopped in the car to go on a little family trip to the beach in County Waterford. This is in a small town south of Waterford city, called Tramore. We got there about 4:00 on a sunny Sunday and the beach was packed!

We stayed at a lovely little B&B that was very kid friendly. Here we are at breakfast in the morning.

On Monday, July 4, we drove to Hook lighthouse. Apparently it is the oldest, still operating, lighthouse in the world. The girls enjoyed the climb to the top.

And, just so you don't have the idea that this was some idyllic family trip, it wasn't. In fact, afterward, Jon and I decided it will be a long time before we take the kids on another trip. Here is a just a little sample of a tantrum along the way :)

Untitled from Holly Peters on Vimeo.

And 10 minutes later, zonked out!

And a much happier girl with ice cream!

We found another beautiful beach nearby. It was too cold for me to go in, but the girls didn't seem to mind!

The girls swimming in the cold Atlantic...

July 4 Beach from Holly Peters on Vimeo.

Summer!

Well, I think that summer in Ireland may have happened this past week. It lasted from July 13 to July 13. It was one glorious day! :)

The girls and I were fortunate to have a play date in the afternoon at their friend Aaron's house. They loved swimming outside in his "paddling pool", as they call it here.

Greta...

Addie...

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of all 3 looking at the same time!

Greta's Preschool Concert

Greta's Preschool Concert from Holly Peters on Vimeo.

Addie's Birthday

Addie is 3! We celebrated with a party with a few of her friends on Thursday. It was nice to do the party a day early, so we could just have a fun, relaxing day at home for her actual birthday. Here are a few photos/videos from the day.
On our way to the birthday party...

These 3 are videos... you have to click on them to play :)

Visitors!

We love having visitors because it means we get a chance to travel and see more of the country. Jon's cousins, Kerry & Karl were here last week for almost a week.

The first day trip we did was south of Dublin. We started with a scenic hike along the coast near Bray.

This is at the top of the "mountain" There is a large cross here.

Next we headed to Powerscourt. The rose garden was in full bloom.

On Friday, we drove to Northern Ireland, we left Greta at home at a friends house, so we could fit all five of us in the Polo. Jon, Kerry & Karl crossed the Carrick-a-Rede Rope bridge (if you squint you can maybe see it between the last two land pieces. Addie and I stayed away from cliff edges :)

Just some more beautiful coastal scenery, I love all the little rock islands along the coast.

Addie is always so willing to smile nicely for the camera!

Next, just a quick 5 minute drive away is the Giant's Causeway.

After the Giant's Causeway, we explored Dunluce Castle, definitely one of the most picturesque castle ruins in Ireland.

That evening we drove to the west coast town of Bundoran, in Co. Donegal. I went for a quick sunset walk just after 10 pm.

The next morning, Jon, Kerry & Karl went surfing. Here is Jon...looking good!

Addie and I played on the beach. It was probably only 60, but that didn't stop Addie from jumping in puddles and eventually going right in.

After she soaked her first set of clothes, we went back to the car to change and then had a nice little picnic on the beach.

The surfers...

Addie enjoyed all of the one on one attention, especially from Kerry!

Monday we took a picnic lunch to the Bective Abbey ruins.

Greta practices posing for the camera.

And, last but not least, one of my favorite pictures from the week... Kerry reading with the girls. Greta was ready to get on the airplane with Kerry if I would have let her :)

Happy Memorial Day!

Yesterday we explored what is quite possibly one of the world's coolest playgrounds. This playground is located at Ardgillan Castle and yes, that is the ocean that it overlooks :) And yes, I did let Addie wear that outfit in public...choosing my battles.

Greta was thrilled to do the climbing wall...just like the high ropes course at Drewstown :)

Most playgrounds here in Ireland have these cool zip lines for kids, they are fun for adults too!

A lovely picnic in the sunshine.

Sisterly love

Greta and Addie recently discovered "football" I wish I could say that they are into sports, but mostly they just like to pretend to act out a book they own called "Stacy the Soccer Fairy" It involves fairies, goblins, and magic sports objects.

Addie and Jon on the "ropes"