From there, we went to Sage’s ballet performance of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She has been dancing at Stephanie Parrott’s school of dance in Burton. Sage did a great job as a snowflake and a butterfly. I wad really impressed with all the performers and the quality of the production.

This morning I awoke late to find that the girls had taken Derby out for his morning business and made breakfast including strawberry juice fresh from our own garden. They also made me a pair of shorts decorated with hand, foot, and even paw prints. A very nice way to start the day!

A happy Father’s Day to all the other fathers out there!

They use these tiny little bats.

River’s coach mentioned to me recently how much they will miss having her on the team next year.  We are sure proud of her and have enjoyed watching her play.

There was another match scheduled for today, but it was cancelled due to rain.  River was pretty disappointed, but I have to say I wasn’t looking forward to watching in the downpour.

The hammock came out of storage and was strung between the climbing frame.

Dandelion season is over now, but we did our share of seed dispersal.

The great swathes of yellow rapeseed were the most spectacular feature of the landscape during April.  I had trouble capturing the brilliance of the colours and it’s effect on the landscape with the camera, but we did find a footpath through a field, returning home covered in a dust of yellow pollen.

The flowers are almost entirely past now and the seed pods have started to swell.  The wheat grains are starting to ripen now, too.  It is a beautiful landscape here.

Happy birthday, Grana! Many happy returms of the day!

We did enjoy a short walk through a meadow to the littoral zone and found some beautiful clifftop views.

Derby and the girls romped through the long grass on the the way back.

Further along the coast, we finally found the elusive beaches.  It was fortunate that we had gotten the wetsuits earlier in the week since the heat at the Dublin Zoo was dissipated by the cool ocean breeze and the chilly water.

River braved the waters, Sage dug in the sand, and Derby ate shells.  We later found coffee and ice cream and headed on to Malahide for dinner.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable visit to the zoo.  The weather was perfect and we got to see the animals before the crowds turned up on Sunday afternoon.  As we were leaving there was a queue waiting to enter that went all the way out to the street and around the corner.

River carried the camera and took an enormous number of pictures.  I’ve winnowed them down somewhat and posted a few of them here.

I think these birds were just passing through, but the photographs are amazing:

All the primates were interesting to watch and we could have spent even more time observing them if we hadn’t wanted to see other things as well.  This young orang-utan jumped up on it’s sleeping mother and started a wrestling match.

A robin, european-style.

Apparently, Sage makes this face for other people, too.  I thought maybe I was the only one?

Among other things, we went to Chatsworth House, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and a spectacular estate.  We’ve been meaning to visit for a while, so it was nice to have a chance to explore.  I particularly enjoyed the gardens, which were varied and extensive.

The maze was a highlight.  The kids took turns leading the group through the twists and turns and dead ends.  I could have spent quite a bit more time exploring, but the rain sent us into the house, which is also amazing.  The house is, often literally, covered in artwork.

There is still more I’d like to see at Chatsworth and the kids were disappointed not to play at the adventure playground and farmyard.  We may try to head back again soon.

But our big adventure while Gail and Dave were here was a trip to Ireland.  We rented a minivan so we could all fit in one vehicle and took the ferry from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin.  The ferry was pretty comfortable, though a bit crowded and a group of rugby supporters drank and sang songs while wearing pink wigs and other accessories most of the journey.  It was slightly irritating, but it does seem like there generally isn’t enough public singing in the world, and it was overall pretty entertaining.

We stayed at a hotel about half an hour from Dublin.  I chose it primarily because it allowed pets and, since it had been an estate house, there was some pasture land that we could wander around with Derby off the lead.

It worked out reasonably well and the kids enjoyed the swimming pool.  We had forgotten swimming costumes so we picked some up at a local department store.  Actually, they had cheap wetsuits, so we decided to get those figuring that most of the outdoor swimming in England requires a wetsuit since it never really gets very hot.  They’ll probably be pretty nice to have at Puffer’s Pond, too.

The next day, we decided to go to Glendalough in County Wicklow on the recommendation of our charming waitress at breakfast.  Irish hospitality is no myth!  She was so cheerful and pleasant and really made us feel welcome.

Glendalough, or “Valley of Two Lakes”, is located in a beautiful glacial valley just south of Dublin.  The drive through the rolling countryside was gorgeous.  We explored the ruins of the settlement that flourished in Glendalough from the 6th century until the 14th century when it was destroyed by English soldiers.

Sage is standing in the window of a church dating from about the 12th century to give a sense of the scale.  There were a number of other buildings on the site that at one point supported a large monastery.  The valley settlement has been a place of pilgrimage for over a thousand years.

Glendalough is also well know for it’s recreation and walking is a favorite pastime.  We set out with Derby to explore some of the trails.

It was a perfectly beautiful day!  Actually, the weather was amazing the whole weekend and really, most of the month of April couldn’t honestly be complained about.  It was kind of strange not having crappy weather to discuss in order to make conversation with folk.

Sage climbed up into a tree while River took pictures.  I’ve found it pretty much impossible to take decent pictures while walking with Derby on the lead, so it was nice to have a volunteer to document the walk.

We spent most of Sunday at the Dublin Zoo, which was amazing, but will have to be the subject of a separate post.  Actually, River took about 250 pictures and I haven’t had a chance to go through them yet…

On Sunday, we toured the Guiness brewery.  We are in Ireland, right?

Somehow there is nothing more quintessentially Irish than Guinness.   I imagine there is probably an Irish pub in every city in the world, but I think they save the best stuff for the Irish.  The brewery has changed quite a bit since Molly and I visited in, maybe, 1994?  The self-guided tour was interesting, but lacking in detail.  I’d have liked quite a bit more information.  But the Gravity Bar at the end is pretty amazing, featuring a pint and a view of the entire city.

Afterwards, Gail and Dave and I toured the Jameson whiskey distillery, which was very interesting.  I’m not a huge whiskey drinker myself, but I learned quite a bit, and as they say, a little knowledge can go a long way sometimes.   There was even a tasting at the end, comparing American, Scottish, and Irish whiskeys.  Overall, I highly recommend the tour.

Then we headed back to the ferry.  Sage and I spent quite a bit of time watching the cranes load this container ship at the dock while we were waiting to depart.  One of Sage’s many ambitions when she grows up is to become a truck crane driver, so she had a special interest.

Watching the colorful containers and cranes moving systematically back and forth had a soothing rhythm in the bright sunshine.  And a packet of Sage’s favorite salt and vinegar crisps certainly helps, too.

Containerisation has had a major impact on globalization.  There’s even a book about it: The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger.  Inspired by this book, the BBC is following The Box on it’s journey around the world.  But just aesthetically, I can’t help but find this industrial landscape beautiful.

Goodbye Ireland!

We had a great weekend and I’m sure we’ll come back to visit again someday.

It is sometimes hard to believe how grown up she has become.  Nine years have gone quickly, and it is a pleasure to watch her grow and change.

She had a couple of friends over for a birthday dinner and some games.

I think they had a nice time.

A few days after her birthday, we went with a some other friends to Alton Towers, our local theme park.

River went on all the scariest rides, including “Air”

and “Oblivion”.  She had a brilliant time!

Historically a mixture of Roman and Germanic cultures, the province of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol has a complicated history, passing from Austrian control to Italy after World War I.  More recently, the region has gained some autonomy under the Italian constitution.  The practical effects, for us, of these complicated historical contortions was that there was an interesting mixture of Germanic and Italian culture.  For instance, all public signs are posted in both languages.  Not really speaking any of either German or Italian, I was never quite clear which language to use when trying to communicate with people.

We stayed at this hotel in Versciaco/Vierschach.  We were very happy with the hotel.  It was clean and comfortable with almost a Scandinavian decor.  Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

There was an indoor pool that connected to an outdoor pool through these sliding glass doors.  We generally played in the pool après ski.  There was also a game room and a cinema for the kids.

Perhaps my favorite part of the hotel was the food, which was superb.  Even better, though, I didn’t cook any of it.  For a whole week.  Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking, but it was great to have a holiday.  The kids loved it too, especially the Italian noodle soup which they devoured every night.   Exercising all day certainly left us with good appetites, though several nights Sage was so tired she didn’t want any dessert.

We found some time to relax in between ski and swim expeditions, though there was never quite enough time in the day.

Frequent buses ran from Versciaco/Vierschach to San Candido/Innichen.  We made several trips there to stock up on supplies and once to try the ski slopes just outside of the village.  This rococo cupola graced the top of a church in the main square of the town.

The skiing was great!  The weather was sunny and warm all week and though the snow at the bottom of the mountain was slushy by the end of the day, it was in great condition again by morning.  There was even several of inches of fresh snowfall a few nights.

The view from the top of the mountain was stunning.  The Dolomites could possibly be the most beautiful mountains in the world, as the climber Reinhold Messner claims.

The kids picked up skiing pretty quickly.  River had been once at Blandford in Massachusetts several years ago, but Sage had never tried it before.

We showed them the basic idea and then they joined the ski school each morning for a couple hours while Molly and I explored the mountain.  They soon made it up to the top where there where a number of nice, suitable runs.   By the end of the week, we had all gotten much better.  River even went down some of the most difficult black routes.  Then it was time for a break:

It was a wonderful holiday and we’re all looking forward to skiing in Vermont next winter!

Derby (pronounced “Darby”) is a Springer Spaniel and is about 11 weeks old.  He’s of the field breed rather than the show lineage of springer spaniels.  We had a great time meeting Derby and his mum and his brothers and sisters.  They were all really beautiful.  His dad’s name is Bushie.   Derby is really cute and is settling into his new family really well, though we didn’t sleep particularly well last night.

He really likes to play with River.  She is so good with him!