Peggy the Steggy and Kilcornan Walled Garden

The sun is shining hard on the Irish Riviera (but not in our back garden until after lunch) so when Boy asked for "painting" this morning I removed the three of us onto the front driveway with paper, paint, pegs and brushes to make a couple of Peggy the Steggy stegosaur pictures, idea stolen from www.notimeforflashcards.com.

I sketched out a very rough, very non- authentic stegosaur onto yellow card then let Boy and Girl loose with the green paint. Boy immediately began lashing paint onto the ground, stones and he even made sure the whole paint pallet was an even green. Girl focused her efforts on her tights and mouth. I returned the neighbour's Avon lady's sympathetic smile with a smug grin. Check me being arty with my kids and not even having to scrub the floors afterwards. Stick that in your Avon catalogue and sell it.

Anyway Peggy the Steggy managed to catch a few splodges of paint and Boy quite enjoyed painting the clothes pegs though he got a bit frustrated trying to clip them on the dinosaur's back. Then we stuck on googly eyes and a scrap of green paper for a mouth, cut out the dino shape and boom, the dinosaurs are roaming the earth once more.

One of Boy's favourite parts of painting is washing his hands. Honestly. So that kept him busy for a while as I persuaded a rather more reluctant, very green Girl that just a light wash of hands and face wouldn't hurt.

An hour or so later we met some friends at Kilcornan walled garden in Clarinbridge with just a few green spots remaining on our clothes. Fine. And on our arms legs faces and feet. Though I've been to Kilcornan Woods, the swimming pool and surrounding green areas, for some reason I didn't even know of the existence of this really pretty and peaceful spot.

The walled garden reminded me a bit of Brigits Garden, but it is quite a bit smaller. There are paths, plenty of grass, several swinging benches dotted around as well as a lovely quiet spot by a fenced off pond and tinkling fountain complete with carved wood decorations. The highlight for Boy was a little hut which contained, of all things, a drumkit! Complete with two simple twigs for drumsticks. In fact we spent so much time between the drums, the pond and making daisy chains that we did not get to see every corner of the garden, which I feel sure holds several more secret treasures. We will definitely be coming back. Hopefully, next time I will be able to persuade Boy to wear a more manly hat.

Shopping and Galway City Museum

After a couple of beautiful days the West coast rain returned today just in time for the babies to start feeling a bit better. Girl slept the whole night for the second time in a week (the second time in her life, actually) and since we were all up by 6am and had the whole day before us we decided to visit Galway City Museum.

Despite living in Galway for over five years we had never visited the museum before. So we piled into the car and arriving a little early we headed to the Eyre Square Centre for a look around the shops.

Ahh I forget how much I love shopping in Galway. While B loves the chain stores - HMV, Game, Art & Hobby and the Early Learning Centre - I love the independent stores that line shop street. I picked up a huge bagful of craft material in Powell's and a tiny music box from Wooden Heart - though we stopped and gazed/drooled for aaages over the big wooden toys, sigikid dolls and quiet books (and their even bigger price tags). Before heading home we took a stroll around the St Nicholas market and stopped into It's Magic in the Eyre Square centre where two teenage girls were gawking at a pin screen. I've never felt older when one said "I've never seen anything like this before!" and I found myself telling her they were all the rage when I were a lass.

We did actually make it to the museum too, which was clean, quiet and pleasant if a little unremarkable. Entry is free. The exhibits (wartime, dance hall days, Irish cinema, prehistoric and medieval Galway) were interesting but not really suited to the kids, though Boy was entranced by the gigantic Macnas puppet from the 2010 arts festival parade and he did like the big hooker hanging from the ceiling. Apart from that the highlight for him was pushing coins into the somewhat empty voluntary donation boxes and going up the stairs and back down in the lift. Three times. Girl remained passively unimpressed throughout.

What was worth remarking on was the museum cafe, which was had a really beautiful brunch menu, gorgeous food well above the usual standard found throughout the county, a good cup of coffee and friendly service too. I will definitely keep an eye out for new museum exhibitions so I've an excuse to return for another plate of mezzes - it gets the thumbs up from all of us!

We don't go into the city centre very often, although we are not far away. So I don't feel too bad about the small fortune we spent. At least I should be able to craft the kids their next six pairs of shoes from all the felt and pompoms freshly packed into the art box downstairs.

Kinvara and Home Cinema

We've been planning a visit to Dunguaire Castle for months and finally got around to taking the kids there today along with one of Boy's wee girlfriends and her mammy. If only we had checked the opening times, we would have known that the castle is closed October-March.

In the end we had a great morning anyway. We took a stroll around the castle, stopping to pick up a geocache halfway round. The lower walk was easy enough for the toddlers to manage but not obvious enough to entice the throngs of tourists jamming their noses and camera lenses through the locked castle gates. It also offered a good view across the water's edge to the pretty village of Kinvara, about half a mile from the castle itself. On reflection, the babies probably had a better time scrambling over the grass and rocks than they would have if we had gone straight in to the castle.

Afterwards we took another walk around Kinvara itself and Boy and his pal had a merry old time chasing each other, blowing bubbles, and picking daisies to stick in their woolly hats (Girl was forcibly adorned too).

After deciding we needed a coffee to warm up we soon discovered that the castle is not the only part of Kinvara that closes for winter. Our favourite spot, Burren Beo was closed, as was my friend's cafe of choice. In the end we stopped into Keogh's pub. Their staff were mighty understanding about the two mischief makers - as were their other customers who happened to be friends, thank goodness for the small small world of County Galway.

On the drive home I reflected how much more fun Boy appears to have when there is another child his age to share it with. I'm hoping when Girl gets on her feet they can provide that company to each other.

This evening we tried watching a proper video all together for the first time. B lit a fire, we all got into PJs and I made popcorn and hot dogs for dinner with bottles of water (that's all the food groups, right?). We decided to shun the more predictable Disney cartoon classics for my favourite childhood film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Sorry Johnny Depp, you're cute and all that but no one could ever replace Gene Wilder in the role of Mr Wonka. That actor is one of a kind. Moreover, Oompa Loompas should not all look exactly alike - terribly racist, or at least xenophobic towards Loompaland. But enough of social politics for the insane...

We hoped at least to get to Augustus Gloop's downfall and the first Oompa Loompa chorus before one of the babies lost interest, puked, or otherwise halted the proceedings. In the end we somehow, wonderfully, managed to watch the whole thing. Girl fell asleep somewhere around Violet, you're turning violet, Violet! and Boy was utterly enraptured by the whole film. From the rippling chocolate backdrop of the opening credits he was glued to the screen. He smiled, giggled, danced and didn't seem at all bothered by the scary bits (like that freaky boat ride, anyone?) His only protest came when Mammy overquoted certain bits of the film, and sang along with a little too much gusto but to be fair, Daddy was about ready to throw his popcorn at me too. By the end Boy was happily exhausted and went down to bed with no fuss and a look of sleepy content only matched by yours truly.

We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams...

Calling Grumpy and Galway Atlantaquaria

(10th Feb, 2012 at 2:33 PM)

Started the day beautifully by making the classic mistake of mentioning Grunny to Boy. Let me set the scene: Girl in high chair munching porridge and blueberries for breakfast. Boy, having refused porridge, Shreddies, a tangerine, yoghurt and milk (and after me refusing him the meringue he asked for), happily sits colouring in some junk mail at the kitchen table. One crayon even snaps in two - whoopee! A new broken crayon for my collection! What a serene family scene. And then I make the ultimate mistake - "that's a great picture - shall we send it to Grunny?"

Three minutes later Boy is on the floor screaming, arms and legs pumping and bottom lip stuck out 3 inches. You see, In this house, if you are two, "Grunny" means Skype. Immediately. So I phone Grunny in Scotland, but she's not home. Thankfully Grumpy answers and agrees to do a quick hello on Skype. Another three minutes pass. Boy is purple in the face and sobbing and Girl is joining in the fun now too. The phone rings and Grumpy says he doesn't know the password. Aaargh. I'm not wholly convinced - it's no secret that Grumpy isn't a fan of Skype's jumpy video signal. In the end he says a few words over the speakerphone while Boy stares at it as if Grumpy's face will appear in the receiver at any moment. Finally Boy waves goodbye, which I explain to Grumpy who has become confused at the sudden silence. The tantrum is interrupted and I take the opportunity to bundle the kids into the car.

Today we are heading to Atlantaquaria in Salthill. Both kids are exhausted from all the wailing and are fast asleep by the time we get there. I take the opportunity to sit in the car for a few minutes and enjoy the peace. Soon Girl wakes up and I put her in the little pushchair and then wake up Boy. We bought an annual membership last year and it was definitely worth the money. We can pop in for a wee look any time we are in Salthill, plus I don't feel obliged to spend hours on a visit just to get my money's worth.

We meet my friend and her two kids and the boys have a great time running around together. The aquarium is very quiet so there aren't many people for them to annoy. They especially love the little submarine near the entrance, the large window where Eddie the Wreckfish and a truly giant white skate can be found, and splashing about in the starfish pool upstairs. The small babies love it too. Girl is looking all around, both at the fish and at the boys, while my friend's baby of 3 months is smiling and looking all around at the lighting. All the kids got a lot out of the visit and we all enjoy a cup of coffee in the cafe afterwards. By the time we get home both kids have passed out again, but this time it's after a morning of really good fun! Atlantaquaria is open 7 days, free for under 3s, and has fish-feeding times every day as well as special events for older children when school's out.