Lá Shona Fhéile Pádraig (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! For us it was a weekend of fun. It's a big deal here and so on St. Patty's Day, no one works, no one goes to school... just people out having a good time! Our fun started on Friday, after picking Gregory from school we went to the beach. It was a beautiful, warm sunny afternoon, so that was fun to sit and relax in the sand. We had such a good time that the next morning, Saturday we all went to the beach. Stan found a new one past Kinsale in Garrettstown. It was amazing. Other than the wind blowing a bit it was nice. The sun was out and temps were up in the high 50s and eventually hit 60! Great for March! After our trip home to Utah, we plan on coming back to this beach and many more all around Ireland.

Gregory and George went to a birthday party after our beach day, so Stan and I went on a mini date with William. We went to an AMAZING chocolate cafe. You get to choose two types of chocolate and they melt it into your drink and make you a delicious, rich cup of hot chocolate! Stan picked white and milk chocolate, and I chose a mix of dark and milk chocolate! Yum Yum! We each had an Irish scone with cream and raspberry jam. It was great.

After that, we were able to walk around Cork City Centre and see all the festivities. It gave us a good idea what to expect for Monday's celebrations! There were a million things to do and eat, and I especially loved the live traditional Irish music.

We did a good job Saturday keeping our boys busy having fun outdoors. After the missionaries left that night from dinner, all three boys fell asleep without even being asked. They curled up and went fast asleep. I looked over at Stan and said something like, well that was easy! We tucked them into bed and we were able to have a nice quiet evening. I needed to finish preparing my talk for sacrament meeting anyway, so it was perfect.

Many of these photos are from our drive out to the beach in Garrettstown which is located past Kinsale. It was a lovely sunny drive. It was fun to take a lot of photos to document it. I think Kinsale is one of the most picturesque villages that I've seen so far in Ireland.

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 Here we are at the beach! This was such a lovely beach! I cannot wait to come back when it is even warmer. Gregory, George, and I did manage to get in half way. The water was ice cold. Last October the water was warmer, but that's okay. I think I'll bring back wet suits from our trip home to Utah. I plan on swimming in the ocean all summer and fall. Wet suits will help!

We found a lizard and both the Gregory and George were able to touch and even hold it. Stan caught the lizard at first, and made sure the two oldest boys had a chance to hold the little lizard. The boys loved it. They honestly thought it was so amazing!