The Irish Taruns

An amazing year!

2012-01-30T10:20:00.002-06:00

It's been quite the amazing year for us. I still can't believe our baby is 1. Harris has brought such joy to our lives this year. We are blessed to have such a happy, easy-going baby. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store. I really hope we have a happy, easy-going toddler!! Below are some pictures from this month.

We celebrated with a colorful rainbow party for our little Irishman. We were joined at our home by friends and family on a beautiful sunny day. Thank you to everyone who helped us commemorate Harris's first year!

11 months

2012-01-26T10:30:00.000-06:00

Here it is. 11 months! I'm so way behind still! Harris has had a terrible stomach bug (is there any other kind?) for a week, and we're attempting to get ready for the big 1-year bash! Anyway, see below for Harris's 11th month.

Christmas

2012-01-26T10:26:00.002-06:00

I'm definitely behind in my blogging. I suppose that's what the holidays do to you. As far as firsts go, Harris's first Christmas was about as good as it gets. We spent the week going to Houston, back to Austin and eventually to San Antonio celebrating with family and friends. He got quite overwhelmed by the end, but that's what first Christmases are about!

Merry Christmas!

Thing 1 & Thing 2

2012-01-01T22:51:00.000-06:00

December has been crazy busy with lots of celebrating! We've had Christmas parties, family gatherings, house renovations, birthdays, and then Christmas itself! One of my favorite celebrations this month was a baby shower I was able to host for my very good friend, Nicole. I've known Nicole since our nerdy days in high school Chemistry class. We've travelled together, lived together and and laughed (a lot) together. She's also my favorite expat-expert as she's been living as an expat in Norway for nearly ten years. Nicole recently announced she was pregnant with twin girls and I just couldn't pass up the excuse to throw a "Thing 1 and Thing 2" themed shower during her holiday visit to the U.S. Thank you Nicole for letting me be a part of this celebration!

Winter is here...sort of.

2011-12-21T17:38:00.002-06:00

It's finally a bit chilly!

Santa's On HIs Way

2011-12-15T21:34:00.000-06:00

10 months!

2011-12-01T15:52:00.001-06:00

We made it to 10 months! We're slowly getting settled and Harris is having a blast exploring the house and getting into everything!

Harris has been looking less and less like a baby and more and more like a toddler. Scary. He's definitely starting to show some toddler attitude, expressing his opinions about everything. The negative expressions aren't always cute, but having someone clap for you when you bring out the yogurt is pretty fantastic. This month Harris is starting to gain confidence with pulling up. He's even been attempting to say dog. It comes out "daaaag". And he says it continuously as he chases TJ and Mackenzie around the house or when he wants you to let them back inside so he can chase them some more. He's also saying da-da which makes Richard pretty excited.

It's been another busy month. There were lots of visitors: Etta & Cosmas, Chelsea & Joe and Charlie all got to spend time with Harris. We attended my cousin Greta's wedding in Round Rock. We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday this month. The whole family gathered in Houston for a mustache and margarita themed bash. We also celebrated Harris's first Halloween and Thanksgiving. Both were fun, family and friend filled. Harris is glad to be able to boast that the Horns have never lost to the Aggies in his lifetime. It was a busy month, but a fun one. We're, of course, looking forward to our little guy's first Christmas and another busy month!

9 months!

2011-10-27T20:02:00.003-05:00

This has been a crazy month for Harris. An international move and jet lag has kept us pretty busy. He's met lots of new people and been to his first Texas football game, all while mastering pulling himself up and waving bye-bye.

First Tailgate

2011-10-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

Richard's back in Ireland for a few weeks. And we're definitely missing him. But we have had lots to distract us. Harris had his first tailgate and first football game. It was a lot of excitement and he handled it pretty well. 95,000 cheering fans were a bit scary at the start, but soon Harris learned to clap along and be a good Longhorn.

Howdy Folks! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas

2011-10-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

Okay, let's not talk about the game this year. It wasn't any fun. Nothing fun about it. But being outside in the beautiful sunshine, watching good friends make fools of themselves on the Midway and, of course, the endless fried snacks was as great as ever. This year's favorite fried food was again the Fried Frito Pie - delish!

Hello Texas!

2011-10-27T17:04:00.001-05:00

Leaving Ireland was hard, but we're so glad to be back in Texas. Harris was awesome on the plane, as usual. We were on planes for nearly 12 hours and Harris just laughed and played. He didn't however sleep much. So he was quite sleepy once we landed in Texas, but we feel pretty lucky to have such an easy traveler. The day we landed it had been 101 in Austin, but the temperatures have been steadily dropping since then. We binged a bit on Mexican food and barbeque. It has started to feel like home again thanks to a little football and lots of queso. Now if we can just get moved into our house!

Goodbye Ireland

2011-09-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

As an expat, you can easily get in the rut of complaining about your new residence. Living in a different country is a new experience around every corner and not all of them are positive. Also, even little inconveniences can seem huge when you are far from familiar faces and customs. I'm definitely guilty of doing my fair share of expat complaining. But the truth is, I wouldn't trade a day of it. Okay, maybe I'd be alright losing a couple of the snowed/iced-in days while being 8 months pregnant. But even those challenging days provided an opportunity to experience a different way of life than what I have always known. Moving to Ireland has been a traveling opportunity, an adventure for the early years of my marriage, and, I hope, most of all a growing experience.

There are things I won't miss. The cold, biting wind of winter being at the top of the list. The unjustifiably high cost of living is a close second. However, Ireland has given me such great memories. I will never forget my first visit to my Irish cousins and seeing the house and countryside where my great-great grandmother Alice grew up. I am thankful that my grandmother and great-grandmother managed to maintain relationships through the generations with "the old country" though neither of them ever had the opportunity to make the trip back themselves.

A part of my heart will always be in the rocky fields and sheep-filled hills of Connemara. The love-inspired chapel at Kylemore Abbey stands out as well. I will never forget our delicious seafood dinners on the Cork coast in Kinsale or the Kerry creamery Murphy's ice cream in Dingle. I loved living mythology at Giants Causeway, seeing ancient wisdom at Newgrange and bog-jumping with the mummies in Wicklow. And even though I never got the chance to play the great links courses of Ireland, just seeing them is enough to inspire me to keep learning the frustrating game.

Of course there are the little things that make Ireland irresistible to visitors worldwide. There is the velvety black stuff flowing freely at all of the hundreds of tiny character-filled pubs, little old men in mismatched tweed suits, and the never-wanting-for-conversation people who welcome all visitors with open arms. It is all these things, great and small, that I will remember and cherish about my time in Ireland. Ireland isn't a large place, but it is full of beautiful places, unforgettable people and many histories. As much as we got to do and see and the people we got to know and love, I will always feel there is more of Ireland to discover.

And, of course, Ireland is where Harris was born. Without our Irish adventure we wouldn't have been blessed with such a joyful child. So Ireland will always be a part of us. We will always be the Irish Taruns.

Sláinte, Ireland!

8 Months!

2011-09-27T02:28:00.000-05:00

As we finish up our final days here in Ireland, I have to stop and wonder where all the time has gone. Harris is 8 months today. This month has been a lot of fun. Harris never stops clapping. Never. He proved what a great tiny traveller he is once again, this time in Italy and London. Harris has really gotten mobile, crawling just about anywhere he wants to and pulling up on anything he can find. He's definitely testing the definition of the word "no" as he crawls about our less-than-baby-proofed late 1800s home. We are all looking forward to being in a baby-safe home back in Texas.

Arthur's Day

2011-09-22T15:27:00.002-05:00

To Arthur! We celebrated our last Arthur's Day in Ireland at a local pub. If you're reading this in the US, it's not too late for you to celebrate. Get to a pub by 17:59 (5:59pm) today (September 22) and raise a pint of Guinness to Arthur Guinness himself.

What do Italian babies eat?

2011-09-22T15:19:00.003-05:00

I spent a good 20 minutes in the baby food aisle of our local grocery store while in Italy exploring all the options. They had the usual assortment of purees - vegetables, fruits and meats. But then they had a few unique offerings. Some of the baby food I thought was adorable, some a little funny and some downright surprising. I photographed my favorites.

Yes, that is horse.

Baby olive oil

an assortment of baby cheese purees

also an assortment of fish purees

and many variety of pasta!

A Birthday in Tuscany

2011-09-22T15:11:00.000-05:00

Richard had a birthday this month. And he wanted to celebrate in Italy. So after our last-minute London trip, we headed to Tuscany. It was a lovely week of sunshine and pretty scenery and good food as well. Harris is such a good traveler and even put up with the bumpy streets of Florence for a day. Richard got to have his bistec florentine - a specialty cut of beef from the region. And I really enjoyed each and every little "caught in history" town the region offers.

View of San Gimignano

Siena Duomo

Florence Market

Florence Duomo

Richard's birthday dinner at the villa

Buon Compleano Richard!

Pisa on the way to the airport

Truffles everywhere! - I actually got truffled-out the last day.

Last Minute London

2011-09-17T11:37:00.001-05:00

London's just a quick 1-hour hop away, and one of my favorite places to visit. We couldn't resist just one more trip when our friends in Norway invited us to meet them for one last London visit. We visited the British Museum one more time - Richard got to see the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon room for the first time. We got to do a little tea time at Harrod's - yummy scones! And we took in a show. Rock of Ages just opened in London's West End. If you haven't seen it, it's been on Broadway for awhile and is fantastic. I'd highly recommend it for a night of good fun. Other than that, we just enjoyed one of our favorite places and some of our favorite people. Oh! And Harris started crawling on our last night in London.

Gameday in London!

Look Harris - Big Ben!

The Wicklow Way

2011-09-01T08:20:00.000-05:00

It's often called the garden of Ireland with it's lush valleys, blooming bogs and stunning waterfalls. County Wicklow rarely disappoints. We had to get back there one more time before our departure. With a car rented for the weekend visit to County Cavan to see the ancestral home again, we were able to squeeze in one more drive through the Sally Gap, do a little bog jumping, get in a quick Avoca shop and hit a food festival in Dun Laoghaire. It was a fantastic generally sunny day with only a bit of rain while we were shopping. It was perhaps a bit too windy for us, especially Harris at the lookout over Lough Tay, but he handled it with a smile.

Dun Laoghaire coast

Mackenzie in "time-out" because of excessive barking at festival goers

Lough Tay overlook

Wicklow always delivers with the "Sheep in the Road" picture

Gorgeous purple flowers in the bog

Sally Gap Drive

Bog Jumping

The Bog Scared Mackenzie

Bog Baby

Mackenzie doing her impression of a sheep

View of Dublin

7 months!

2011-08-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

I find it absolutely impossible that I have a 7-month-old. We've had a fun month. Harris is getting quite mobile. He's not exactly crawling yet, but still manages to get around quite well through various combinations of lurching, sliding, rolling and just plain wiggling. He is eating a huge variety of foods now and likes everything except broccoli. Zucchini is probably the favorite with applesauce being a close second. He got the top two teeth in with only a little fussiness. He is still our super sleeper and has lately become quite the babbler when he isn't just laughing. With only a month left in Ireland now we've been busy getting in as much cool weather park-time as possible. I've heard there's something of a heat wave in Texas. :)

Mackenzie trying her hardest to be good

Go Barca!

Barcelona fan

Is it time for football yet?

Getting ready for football season

Harris with the Irish cousins

The Lyons home - Harris's Irish great-great-great grandmother, Alice, was born in this house!

Checking in on Tiny in County Cavan

London for the Weekend

2011-08-09T08:37:00.000-05:00

"We didn't start the fire, it was always burning since the world's been turning." - Billy Joel.

London is burning, riots are spreading and all the politicians are coming home from vacations abroad. It really seems that the UK should consider staggering their leaders' vacations. Despite the riots and fires, which are in areas of London several miles away from where we were, Richard, Harris and I all had a lovely long weekend in London. Harris and I did a bit of shopping while Richard worked a couple of days. Harris got to visit the Texas Embassy in Trafalgar Square while we got to have a Lone Star. And we got to spend a day with our friends Sarah and David who have recently moved to London. All in all, it was a perfect break.

Harris got to try out all sorts of high chairs which is a totally new experience for him since we still use the bumbo seat on the floor for feeding at home and hardly any restaurants in Dublin have highchairs. He loved being at the table with us and we loved it too. The Stokke Tripp Trapp was his favorite by far and we have been considering buying it once we move back to Texas. We all three may have been convinced despite it's price tag. Harris really loved all the travel adventure. It was a nice distraction from the two top front teeth that are working their way out. As usual, train travel is by far his favorite mode of trasportation. And Harris added 3 or four more pubs to his list. This will definitely be the hardest for Richard to give up when we move home. Pub culture, especially being able to take your kids to the pub during the day, is something we definitely enjoy and indulge in over here.

Harris is 6 Months

2011-07-29T05:00:00.002-05:00

Wednesday Harris reached 6 months. He weighs a little over 17 pounds now. The big accomplishment this month is sitting. He's all about sitting. Now that he has this new perspective on the world, he prefers it to any other. When he's not sitting he's inch-worming on the ground, trying to get his knees under him, creeping along an inch at a time toward his favorite toy or Mackenzie. Mackenzie enthralls him. Every time she darts by and give him a quick kiss, he looks straight at me and squeals.

Sunny Day

2011-07-15T04:53:00.003-05:00

Ireland does get sunshine. See? I have proof. Mackenzie Grace, Harris and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon in Palmerston Gardens Wednesday. It was a warm 70 degrees. Makes me think I'm not going to be able to handle the 100+ temps in Texas. I will miss my Irish summers.

Look how hot Mackenzie thinks it is. Goodness is she in for a shock in October. I'm guessing it will still be in the 80s in Austin.

Happy Bastille Day

2011-07-14T08:39:00.001-05:00

To continue all my baking this week, and in honor of Bastille Day, I decided to make a French Apple Tart. I used a recipe from Epicurious.com found here. It turned out very pretty just as I hoped and tasted equally delicious. So Happy Bastille Day!

Double-Stuffed Sugar Overload

2011-07-12T16:43:00.002-05:00

So, I was feeling pretty awesome about sticking to my diet for a whole three days so I decided to make these ridiculous overindulgent cookie bars. I found the recipe here because of my favorite iPad app Zite, which is contantly throwing new cooking and food blogs my way. I've had the recipe saved for awhile and was secretly hoping I'd never get to it. I mean who really needs a double-stuffed Oreo inside a brownie, on top of a chocolate chip cookie. No one. No one needs that. But guess what arrived in Ireland?

That's right. Ireland has had the Oreo since sometime in the 90s. But until rather recently (I only discovered them today), they haven't had the double-stuffed variety. So to celebrate the arrival of the double-stuffed Oreo and, of course, sticking to my diet for just short of half a week, below is the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar. The only adjustment I made was to substitute my chocolate chip cookie recipe. Other than that I followed it exactly.

And the verdict is: yummy, but I think I'd rather just have the cookie, Oreo and brown all separate. And maybe not worth the diet busting. And don't worry, I only ate one and sent the rest to Richard's coworkers. Hopefully that will be my chocolate fix for the rest of July.

Irish Pies

2011-07-12T13:50:00.001-05:00

"How American", an Irish friend told Siobhan, when she told her of our Saturday pie making plans. And American it is, but this one had an Irish twist - rhubarb! It seems counter intuitive to put the sour vegetable in a pie. But here's the secret: loads and loads of sugar. We scoured the internet, and by this I mean we chose the first entry in google when you search "rhubarb pie recipe". This one here. It was incredibly straight forward. We learned a lot about rhubarb. For instance, did you know the leaves are toxic? We carefully washed our hands after trimming them. We also learned there is field-grown rhubarb which will be pink and light green stalks, and then there was the hot house rhubarb which will be bright pink/red all the way through. We had the field-grown kind. This is why our rhubarb pie was not the lovely red color we had expected. But it tasted nice all the same.

Even though it was pretty delicious, we were disappointed in the color of our pie. So on Sunday we decided to use the rest of our rhubarb to make rhubarb and strawberry pie. Again we used Google entry number 1 found here. And wouldn't you know it, adding strawberries made it downright fantastic as well as a lovely red color. So we ended up with slightly too much pie, but it was a lot of fun making our Irish pies.

Recipes:

Rhubarb Pie from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 1/3 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust.
Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound fresh rhubarb, chopped
2 pints fresh strawberries
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add strawberries and chopped rhubarb. Toss with sugar and flour and let stand for 30 minutes.
Pour filling into pie crust. Dot top with butter, and cover with top crust. Seal edges of top and bottom crust with water.
Apply yolk to top of pie, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut small holes in top to let steam escape.
Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown. Cool on rack.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-08T08:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday America!

Food, Food, Food, France

2011-07-08T08:05:00.001-05:00

I've been saying I'd write this post forever. But honestly, there was just so much great food on our France trip that I've been dreading writing about all of it. The food was so good that I basically went on a minor hunger strike on our return. I know how this sounds. Go ahead, roll your eyes. But nothing tasted worth eating when we got back to Ireland. I really enjoyed the French food. This isn't news, everyone loves French food. But you forget, especially living in a place like Ireland. Don't get me wrong, Ireland has it's foodie highlights. But there is no comparison. When you travel in France, there is some fantastic dish to be discovered around every corner. From the markets to Michelin-starred amazingness, below are some of our highlights.

I've posted about our French markets visits. In fact, if you visit regularly you probably have noticed we check out a ton of markets everywhere we go. While, the Borough Market in London is still my favorite and the ones in Rome were hard to beat, there wasn't a single subpar market we visited in France, even in the tiny town of Villefranche-Sur-Mer. We got to cook from the market a couple of times. It was the first time I cooked white asparagus and I thought it turned out well. But beyond the food, what I really enjoyed is the experience. The culture of daily market shopping is so wonderful for many reasons. You get to know your vendors who very often grow or produce their product themselves. You get the freshest available food. And for a great bonus you are usually cutting down on your carbon footprint by cutting out all the transportation and packaging. This bit of European culture is definitely something I wish would catch on in the States. It is slowly taking hold in many urban areas. Farmers markets are plentiful now in the States, but I think many Americans would balk at the idea of heading to a market every day for the dinner's produce, much less standing in line every evening your for dinner baguette. Such a shame!

Ahh, bread. I'm not someone who needs bread with every meal, and I really could live without it all together...unless I lived in France. My dad would make sure he had a baguette (an entire one most days!) to snack on throughout the day. Even though I wasn't that bad, I think I consumed more bread in France than I typically do in a year. I don't know what it is about it, but I'm a bread fiend when in France.

There are things that I love and will eat even poor quality version of - anything chocolate. And there are things that I love and will only eat the best of - pastries. I love pastries. But the calories just aren't worth it to me if it's not pretty fantastic. It's a good thing Paris is a divine walking city because I ate pastries and patisserie every darn day. Almond croissants, chocolate croissants, pain au chocolate, vanilla, coffee and chocolate eclairs, choux, fruit tarts and plenty more that I can not name. I usually had more than one pastry each morning for breakfast and a small tart or other delight in the afternoon. I feel the need to mention though that I did lose over 5 pounds on the trip - so at least it proves all that walking was doing something! You can read about my favorite pastry here.

And not to leave chocolate out, Paris had some amazing chocolate. We had Angelina's hot chocolate which I thought was the best. Their pastries seemed just okay to me. Genin's had to-die-for chocolate. I mean that. It would be worth considerable risk to your life to eat there. In fact, the patisserie was delicious there as well. I had an amazing triple min-eclair on top of a delicate cake that was perfection. I tried a few other places, but ran out of time getting to all the chocolate places. Oh, my stomach is growling and I just remembered the macaroons at Ladurée. This is not some great secret, but they were amazing and definitely my favorite of all the macaroons we sampled. Vanilla was by far my favorite. The simplicity of flavor and the perfect texture couldn't be beat.

Whew. That is a lot already and I haven't even gotten to the restaurants. Having the little guy with us now presented challenges in dining out, of course. Luckily my parents joined us for the trip so we were able to get a couple of date nights in. And we went to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon for lunch and took Harris with us. My favorite was definitely Robuchon. The dishes were inventive and fun, tasted fantastic and gorgeous to look at. I loved my main of quail stuffed with foie gras - no words. And the rest was equally delish. I also really enjoyed Les Bouquinistes by Guy Savoy. We chose this restaurant over a few others on our list largely because it had pomme anna which I have made at home, but never had at a restaurant. Needless to say my rustic version was put to shame by the dish at Guy Savoy. The only thing that tried to spoil our evening was that the restaurant was nearly full of Americans - it didn't feel quite like a Paris date night surrounded by English speakers! But we remedied that by heading to a great cafe recommended to us by one of Richard's coworkers in the Paris office, Le Palette. It was a perfect end to the evening exploring St Germain. One of the better meals we had was at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Beaune, Le Bénaton. Again, we took Harris, so we reserved a table for as soon as the doors opened, 7pm I believe. It was a typical slow French meal and Harris made it nearly through dessert. We had excellent service and a great meal. The rest of our restaurant dining was definitely more pedestrian. My favorites were L'Aparté in Villefranche-Sur-Mer even with our dinner being cut short due to an rainstorm. The highlight there was the three-vegetable mousse. It is now on my list of something to attempt to replicate. Auberge Provencale in Cannes was a repeat for us. We went the first time in 2007 completely by chance. It claims to be the oldest restaurant in Cannes and I would not argue with anyone who said it was the best. It really might be my favorite restaurant overall in all our European travels. Other honorable mentions are Au Rocher de Cancale in Paris and Le Petit Paradis and Bistro Bourguignon, both in Beaune. The last had this wonderful seared scallops and grilled prawns dish. Ohh la la! Overall the best food was probably in Beaune.

Ooh, speaking of Beaune. Beaune is the Burgundy region of France and among other things (wine) it's known for mustard as well. I fell in love with tarragon mustard. It is so yummy and I can think of so many sandwiches that it would go well on! Can you believe I forgot to buy some to bring home?! Ah, oh well. I must search for it in an import store soon.

So there it is. Our food in France. I know I'm leaving out some amazing finds. And I wish I had been better about taking pictures of all the food. I guess we were too busy eating it most of the time!

Best Friends

2011-06-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

Mackenzie always gives Harris morning kisses first thing. But other than that, she keeps a safe distance. She has turned out to be a fantastic dog-sister. Harris though has been trying to get Mackenzie's attention for a couple of weeks now. He is really showing interest in the white blur that roams around. Last week he pulled her hair a bit hard and she has been a little wary. Today though she created a game of "catch me if you can" with Harris. While he was in his Bumbo seat watching me cook dinner, she would run up to him repeatedly and just let him barely touch her, then dart away. Harris laughed so hard. I wish I had been faster with the video camera. This video was just the very end of the game.

5 months!

2011-06-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

This month Harris has really made progress in the hand-eye coordination game. He can grab objects and gets most of them to his mouth for gnawing on. He can nearly sit on his own. He loves trying new food purees. So far, he's tried out apples, pears, sweet potatoes, bananas and peas. He belly crawls a couple of feet before getting exhausted. And he flips both stomach to back and back to stomach. He loves his bath time and he really loves to chat.

What should I do with my last 100 days in Ireland?

2011-06-22T07:53:00.003-05:00

We're moving back to Texas. It's official. We planned it perfect in my opinion. We'll be back in October, just as the awful heat will hopefully subside. Don't worry Texas, I promise I'll bring the rain back with me and the drought will end. But that is 100 days from today. And with that realisation, I suddenly feel panicked. Only 100 days left in Ireland?! I thought I had pretty much covered Ireland. Ring of Kerry - check. Connemara - love it, check. Blarney - check. Cliffs of Moher - check. Giants Causeway - amazing, check. Guinness Brewery - are you kidding, check 22 times. Okay, I've done just about everything a tourist could hope for in Ireland and definitely some of the less-touristy awesome things as well. But, there must be more. We tell ourselves we'll come back to visit. This isn't goodbye forever we say. But who knows when that will be. There's so much more of the world to see and there's that new travel-complicating addition to our life, Harris. So, the reality is, this might be goodbye for a very long time. So, what is my "Last 100 Days in Ireland Bucket List"? I think I want to hit my favorites one more time before I go and there's still a few things on my wish list that we never got around to. So here's my list in no particular order:

1. Howth on a sunny Sunday for the market and a pint at the Bloody Stream
2. Drive through Connemara with moody skies
3. Eat lots and lots of delicious salmon, smoked and otherwise
4. Ditto on the Irish mature cheddar
5. Have a bad-80s music dance session late night at the Barge (with no dance floor)
6. Watch some Irish rugby, football or Gaelic football at a non-Dublin pub
7. See a rugby match live
8. Visit Cavan again to see my Irish family
9. Spend a weekend eating the best seafood in Kinsale
10. Eat a Sloppy Joe at Honest to Goodness cafe
11. See a play at the Abbey or Gaeity theaters
12. See the new baby gorilla at the Dublin Zoo
13. Eat Murphy's Ice Cream on a hot day (hot for Dublin so 70F)
14. Stroll along the canal
15. National Botanical Gardens
16. Sally Gap in County Wicklow
17. Play golf
18. Giants Causeway at sunset
19. Go to the horse races
20. Stay in Ashford Castle

Now, who thinks there will be enough sunny days in Ireland in the next 100 days in order for me to fulfill my wish list? Hmmm, I'd better get started.

Beach Day

2011-06-22T07:47:00.000-05:00

Nice Day in Nice

2011-06-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

Paradise á la Mer

2011-06-20T08:10:00.000-05:00

We finally returned to gorgeous bougainvillea-filled Villefranche-Sur-Mer and the French Riviera. Richard and I travelled throughout the area two years ago with our friend, Annette. I've been wanting to return ever since. We ate delicious provencal food, drank chilled rosé in the warm sun and swam in the Mediterranean. It was divine. Even the bit off flash flooding in this 300-days-of-sun area couldn't spoil the atmosphere. I'm already planning my next trip back.

The view from our rented apartment

Tired baby

Slowing Down in Beaune

2011-06-17T06:56:00.001-05:00

After Paris, we took the train from Gare Lyon to Dijon, then transfered to a residential train for the the short 17 minute ride to Beaune. Beaune is the heart of Burgundy wine country. We spent 3 days at the Le Cep Hotel and really enjoyed this very small town. There are only about 5 hotels in the entire town. This was a perfect change from bustling Paris. We got to enjoy great food, wine and a really great market. It is definitely a tourist town, but not in a tacky-souvenir-shop way. It is full of lovely reasonably-priced restaurants, a few Michelin-starred restaurants, and tons and tons of wine-related tasting and shopping opportunities. I think we probably enjoyed our favorite meals of the trip in Beaune. I'm still working on my France food post with details of all the face-stuffing we did. We had lovely weather and just enjoyed being together with no particular itinerary. Up to this point, we really hadn't seen Richard much on the vacation as he worked most of the time in the Paris office. My parents got to do a great wine tour in which they were escorted to several vineyards and toured a few cellars all while dining on fabulous meals. Richard & I settled for doing a couple of tastings in town and Harris mostly enjoyed being out of the pram more than he had in Paris.

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

2011-06-17T06:00:00.003-05:00

The doc gave us the go ahead to start some solid food in the hopes that it helps end Harris reflux. He has been on Zantac for about a month and that defintely helped with the pain. But now that we've done a week or so of solids, eating just 2-4 ounces a day, I can say it is already helping with keeping the reflux down. And besides that, Harris loves it. So far we've done apples, sweet potatoes and pears. I think pears might be his favorite, but he gets excited at each new taste. Next up I'm making carrot puree, then peas. So we'll see if he still likes them as we move on to the green stuff.

More Paris

2011-06-09T05:04:00.036-05:00

Paris already seems like a lifetime ago as I sit here surrounded by the freshly folded vacation laundry and finally empty suitcases. *Sigh* Someday I will return. I more or less completed my Paris bucket list while there. There were several stores I didn't make it to, but there were an equal number of great boutiques discovered to fill their spots. I made it to most patisseries on the list and had a Michelin-starred meal. My highlight was simply strolling through the Marais with Harris in the pram, people watching and ducking into cafes or shops for a new find. Harris was a great ice breaker everywhere we went. I managed to have a few short exchanges in French successfully. And I had the best pastry in the world. Paris = Fab!

French Open

2011-06-05T03:04:00.001-05:00

Our timing for the trip was largely planned around getting to the French Open this year. It has long been a goal to see the event, and I'm very glad to say we made it. Getting tickets was a bit of a challenge, but in the end turned out to be rather easy. They release evening tickets at 5pm the day before to purchase online. This basically let's you in for the last match on all the courts during the first week. They are €25 each, I believe. You can then queue for tickets into the stadiums, centre court, etc. They resell the seats of those tickets holders who have left for the day. We took Harris, so we decided not to queue for seats as it was too warm for him to be in the sunny stadium that long. And there was plenty of tennis to be seen around the outer courts since it was the first week. It was great nonetheless. Now I just need to make it to the Australian Open and I will complete the set!

This isn't the greatest photo, but I wanted to post a photo of the French Open employees. They have the most adorable uniforms. So stylish, so French!

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Location:Paris, France

Paris Museums with a baby

2011-06-05T02:47:00.001-05:00

Paris of course has art museums like no other city in the world. Orsay, Rodin, Orangerie, and the Louvre are the obvious ones. They are also one of the most crowded places with lines reaching around buildings in the hit summer sun. You can buy your tickets ahead of time online, but this isn't always practical, especially with a young child whose schedule isn't always in sync with an itinerary. But Paris museums are one place where having a baby is actually a major advantage (at least in some ways). Have no fear of the long lines and hour long waits. If you are visiting with a baby you can walk right up to the handicap entrance. Not only is this a time saver, but as I have already mentioned in earlier posts, Harris doesn't handle any amount of heat well, so it saves from having a very fussy baby.

Once inside every museum is different in terms of ease of access with a stroller. Musee d'Orsay was excellent. There were ramps and elevators to just about every exhibit. And at least one bathroom had a changing table.

The Louvre is such a large museum and in an old building so it is obviously not going to be as stroller friendly. There are elevators to access everything, but they are not always in the best places for seeing the highlights in an efficient way. If possible it would be best to plan out your route through the museum ahead of time. There is an okay cafe. And there are changing tables in the bathrooms. However, they are crowded bathrooms to begin with and the tables are tucked into the entrance doorway niche so it makes it a difficult spot since generally the line is out the door. There are bathrooms inside the exhibit halls that wouldn't have as bad of lines. Also, not all entrances are handicap/stroller friendly. The main, pyramid entrance is and as previously mentioned you can skip the queue and go straight to the security check. You are then escorted down to the main level via an attendant operated lift.

Musee Orangerie is small museum and the only museum that actually made me turn in the stroller even though they all listed this as a rule on the website. The other museums' websites said there was a free stroller rental, but that your own wasn't allowed in for security reasons. Orangerie offered me a carrier, but we had brought our own Ergobaby carrier. it is a small museum and you only need an hour to do it, so this isn't a big deal. There isn't a cafe. There is a nice bathroom with a changing table and plenty of room.

Overall I thought the museums we went to were baby friendly. We traveled a bit before the huge tourist season and it was already extremely crowded at the Louvre. Orsay had long entrance lines, but was not too crowded inside and Orangerie had only a short security line and was very enjoyable inside. I will say that I think the crowds at the Louvre could be a problem if you have a more mobile baby who isn't happy being trapped in a stroller as it can be quite chaotic. This wouldn't be as much of an issue during the lighter travel seasons.

I hope this helps someone planning a trip to Paris with a young family. There is a lot of negative information out there about Paris not being baby-friendly. There are definitely challenges, but the museums weren't one of them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Paris, France

Buttery, flaky, delicious slice of heaven

2011-06-01T02:30:00.001-05:00

I plan on a writing an entire post about the food we've sampled while in France. But I couldn't wait to post about this delicious pastry we found. It was in a patisserie recommended to us, Viennoiseries de St. Medard in the 6th. On the last day on Paris, Richard stopped in to make sure we tried them. He picked up two croissant-type options. One, was the recommended chocolate and almond croissant. Chocolate and almond being just about my two favorite flavors to find in a sweet, this was très magnifique. It was chocolate filling on the edges and a gooey almond filling center, topped with sliced almonds. Perfect, right? Then in came time for the second one. I'm sure this one has an actual name, but Richard couldn't remember what it was called and he just pointed to it when ordering so it may remain a mystery forever. It appeared on the outside to be an odd-shaped almond croissant. The first bite was delicious, but it just tasted like a perfect croissant: flaky, buttery, yummy. The second bite is was inspired this dedicated post. Inside this perfect croissant was a impossibly light, airy, moist almond cake layer. The cake layer tasted like a better version of my favorite recipe almond white cake. My mouth is watering even while I write about it, YUM! My only regret is not finding this sooner since I only had one and was forced to share it with Richard. So thank you so much LH! The recommendation was life altering.

See the divine cake layer? Sigh.

Location:Boulevard Princesse Grâce de Monaco,Villefranche-sur-Mer,France

Paris Markets

2011-05-25T03:12:00.003-05:00

Markets are an essential part of Paris life and we had the pleasure of visiting several Sunday morning. We began the day at the lle-de-Cite flower market. But on Sunday it turns into a live bird market. There were hundreds of birds from canaries and finches to more unusual birds that I didn't recognize. There was a bird of whatever color you could desire and some beautiful antique-style cages as well.

Next we enjoyed great roasted chicken and zucchini gratin in Le Marche des Enfants Rouges, the city's oldest food market. And to end our market excursion, we strolled through the bustling market near the Bastille. I only wish we had time to visit more of them, like maybe the one with the vintage handbags!

Location:Paris, France

Versailles

2011-05-23T01:05:00.001-05:00

We took a perfectly sunny day to go to Versailles and were able to enjoy it the way I imagine the tragically fated French royalty once did. Versailles is one of those places you visit and really get a feel for how things once were. Strolling through the palace's many rooms, you can almost see the young Marie Antoinette going about her daily life. The gardens and palace are truly excess and grandeur at their best. My favorite, though, was Petit Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet. About a mile from Versailles, accessible by either walking the great gardens or taking a petit train, sits Marie Antoinette's smaller, cozier palace that she used to escape the business of Versailles. Also on the estate is a working farm that has been completely restored to run as it would have in her time. Marie Antoinette would oversee production of the farm herself and loved to throw rural parties where she would serve food grown in the gardens and cream from the dairy. It is a beautiful retreat and anyone can see why it was so dear to her.

Versailles with a baby thoughts: you are not allowed to take your stroller inside Versailles palace or any of the other buildings. This was clear on their website. It is easy and quick to check your stroller or any other small bag at the entrance. We used an Ergobaby baby carrier and it worked great except that Harris is a particularly hot-natured baby and it was a warm day. There was a decent breeze flowing through the palace, but it was crowded and stuffy. Harris had enough of being hot after about an hour which was only about half through the palace. After the palace, you may collect your stroller for the gardens. We did not do this as we wanted to do the other buildings, but this was a mistake! The other buildings also have an easy stroller check with no additionally queuing. There is quite a bit of walking around the grounds, even if you take the petit train out to Petit Trianon and Grand Trianon. The stroller would have made everyone much more comfortable. An even better option on a warm day would have been to rent a little golf cart which you can drive to all the other palaces and around the grounds. They were all rented when we arrived. I believe it was around €30/first 2 hours, plus additional for more time but I can't remember. This would not only have been a slightly cooler option to the queuing in the sun of the petit train, but also much faster. There is too much to see at Versailles so any time spent waiting in lines is wasted time. Even without kids the cart seemed like it would be the way to go.

Location:Versailles, France

Un bébé dans Paris!

2011-05-17T04:25:00.022-05:00

After combing the interwebs for all the information possible
on taking a baby to Paris, it is finally upon us. From all my research, my final conclusion is that there are tons of babies in Paris, so how hard can it be, right? Only time will tell whether this conclusion will hold. For now, it is just lovely to be in Paris! We will be spending a week in the capitol city and then we'll be heading to Burgundy and the French Riviera. I'm both dreading the new hassles and looking forward to the new fun of traveling with a child. In a future post I will tell all that I have learned! In the mean time, c'est Paris!

Easter

2011-05-13T17:09:00.007-05:00

We had a really lovely Easter, sharing the holiday with our few friends that didn't abandon Dublin for warmer shores. With Easter falling late on the calendar this year, it ran right up against the May bank holiday. So the majority of Europe had two back to back 3-day weekends. This made Dublin more or less a ghost town with loads offolks taking advantage of the holidays. But we enjoyed a quieter Dublin and had a great time with friends. I'd like to make special note of the amazing sangria we had at Mindy's house. Only one word: AMAZING!!!

Happy Easter!

4 months

2011-05-13T16:55:00.010-05:00

This month Harris has learned how much fun it is to grab his toes. He is also loving kicking his toys on his gym. He wiggles all around, and can't sit still. His favorite activity is the doorway bouncer and laughing, laughing, laughing. We feel so blessed to have such a happy baby!

Martha Stewart Easter Project

2011-04-20T05:01:00.000-05:00

I recently happened across the Martha Stewart Easter Egg app and downloaded it mostly for the gorgeous pictures. However they ended up inspiring me. So Richard, Siobhan and I spent the day decorating eggs. I was mostly pleased with the results. I usually find Martha Stewart projects are much more complicated in practice than they are presented. This time though, I was able to recreate several of the techniques without many of the recommended supplies. Ireland's crafting supplies are limited, we mostly used what we could find around the house. Below are our results. Everyone had their own style. Richard ignored Martha, and decided to create our likenesses on eggs.

Siobhan's ladybug

What an Egghead!

Go Ireland!

3 months

2011-04-19T08:49:00.020-05:00

3 months! Everyone says how time flies, but I can't believe we're already at 3 months. Harris is working on rolling over, thinking about grabbing toys and is getting really great at holding his head up 90 degrees during tummy time. He has started using the bumbo seat and enjoying the new view of us working in the kitchen.

Poppys and Tulips

2011-04-18T08:34:00.000-05:00

Poppy just left after a long eight days of golf in Northern Ireland. And lucky for us, he stayed a couple of days to visit with Harris and unwind. We got to enjoy one of our favorite Sunday in Dublin activities, market day at Howth. This is also the best time of year in the squares of Dublin with the beautiful tulips blooming. Harris also got to visit Temple Bar with his Poppy to share a Guinness and their love of fine headwear.

TJ in the bluebonnets

2011-04-18T07:28:00.000-05:00

TJ has been continuing his miraculous recovery back in Houston. He's been taking long walks, sunbathing by the pool and enjoying the bluebonnets. I'm jealous!

Best thing about Texas...Food!

2011-03-30T09:56:00.000-05:00

When people ask us what we miss most living in Ireland the answer is always food, cheap food, Mexican food, Southern food, but always food. We got it all this trip, but the two favorites were Franklin's BBQ and Ranch 616. They are two very different restaurants, but both very Texan.

Franklin's BBQ was all the rage in the Trailer Food trend that hit Austin a little over a year ago. And when we were last visiting, Richard got to sample it. Back in October, Richard had to arrive at the trailer at 10:45 am, waiting in line 15 minutes before it opened and he was still at risk of them running out before his turn. I never got to try it, but was looking forward to it after hearing Richard's rave reviews. As fate would have it, Franklin's opened up a brick and mortar location in the old Ben's Longbranch BBQ on East 9th the day we arrived in town. Ben's had been a favorite of ours so it was nice to see the location back in BBQ-action. They've spruced the place up and have plans to build a new pit that would allow them to be open for dinner as well as lunch. But for now, Austinites patiently wait in line for what is certainly the best BBQ outside of Lockhart.

Our friends Ashley and Andy joined us at Franklins.After waiting nearly half an hour in line we were one of the last people to get served. I'm so glad I got to try it. It is definitely my go-to place for BBQ in Austin now. The brisket is melt-in-your-mouth, but everything was delicious. Something unique: the espresso barbecue sauce. It was surprisingly yummy.

We were one of the last people to get brisket that day. And thank goodness, it's delicious!

Ranch 616 always amazes me with how delicious everything on their menu is. I would describe the style as Southern gourmet with a Cajun kick. To me it's completely Austin. I tried something new this time and got the "chicken" fried beef tenderloin. On one hand, it offends me to fry such a delcious cut of beef. On the other hand, what isn't improved by frying it? It was delicious and Ranch 616 did it just right. The batter was perfectly cripsy with tender beef cooked just right. I got it served over goat cheese mashed potatoes instead of the buttermilk mash it's offered with. I'm sure the buttermilk mash is delish, but the goat cheese was divine! Richard and I also had the silver coin margaritas on the rocks. Amazing, amazing! I do miss margaritas!

Bluebonnets

2011-03-30T08:54:00.001-05:00

Without a doubt this is my favorite time of year in Texas. October comes a close second. But March brings warm weather and blooming wildflowers. As we boarded the plane I hoped we would see bluebonnets even though mid-March is a bit early for them, especially with the very cold winter Texas had. However, as we drove Highway 71 toward Austin, there were plenty of early blooms. In some patches there was the beautiful blue blankets that make families pull over on the side of the highway, risking limb and life, for the annual "kids in the bluebonnets" photo. Luckily for us, my dad carefully cultivated a few bluebonnets in his front garden a few years ago and they now faithfully pop up spring after spring. So having already subjected Harris to his bluebonnet photo, we simply enjoyed the pop of color all the way to Austin.

We later joined Lindsey and Caroline at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin for some bluebonnet time. We had so much fun!

Location:Austin, Texas

2 months!

2011-03-27T16:44:00.000-05:00

Harris has been growing and growing. At 2 months, he weighed in at 12.5 pounds. He's been working on his tummy time and he's been laughing at everything, especially his mom. He's still a great sleeper. We are having so much fun.

Meeting Lola & Lolo

2011-03-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

One of Harris's first Texas visitors...Lola & Lolo! We are so glad you got to meet Harris.

At home in Austin

2011-03-24T17:28:00.001-05:00

We got to stay at a friend's place on Lake Travis since SXSW was in town and the hipsters had taken up all the available lodging in town. The condo has been newly renovated and it looks fantastic. It was great that it was available last minute and that we were able to enjoy the gorgeous lake. Other than enjoying the views, we crammed in as many visits as time would allow and really made the rounds. I think we almost stayed in Austin too long though since it started to feel like home again. I will miss Dublin when we are back for good, but Austin will always be home.

First campus visit

at DKR-Memorial Stadium

Game watching, too bad the Horns lost

Location:Austin, texas

I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could

2011-03-23T21:56:00.001-05:00

"I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could." - that quote has a whole new meaning for us as we arrived in Houston with a barely 6-week-old Harris. I think that qualifies as "as fast as I could."

After our last minute dash to the US embassy in Dublin to obtain Harris's first passport, we purchased our flights to the US. We got the go ahead from the pediatrician to fly, so there was only one question left. How would little 6 week-old Harris fly?

We are relieved to report, he did great. His eyes opened really wide when our ears popped, but other than that, we didn't hear a peep on the long 7 and half hour flight. He was a little sick of flying by the time our Newark layover was over, but settled down in time for take-off after getting a full tummy. I have to say this really is great age to fly. I know it will only be getting more difficult as he becomes more and more aware of the world around him. I will update everyone on his "perfect traveller" status after our summer trips to Europe. Right now, we're just crossing our fingers that the flight back to Dublin is as uneventful as the flight to Texas.

Perfect Traveller

I can't recommend this Kidco Peapod travel "crib" enough!

We had a really busy first weekend. There was a rehearsal dinner, wedding and Harris's baptism. I'm so glad we got to attend Amanda and Bradley's beautiful wedding. The weather was great for their pretty outdoor ceremony and the reception at the Houston Museum of Natural Science was outstanding. It is such a great venue. We even got to tour the butterfly center. And the best part was Harris got to hang out with his Lola and Lolo, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Dylan and his cousins, Thalia and Carys while we attended the wedding.

The baptism was a nice ceremony given by Rev. Stuart Bates at the church I grew up in, St. Francis Episcopal. And we were extremely blessed to have everyone there.

Next up, Austin!

Cocktail hour under the dinosaur

Chelsea designed most of the graphics and paper goods

Reception in the main lobby

Mr. & Mrs. Bradley Gunter

Lots of bikes in this wedding

Everyone but Charlie

WindaChen

WindaBerg

So happy for Bradley and Amanda!

The Embassy

2011-03-03T11:06:00.000-06:00

Waiting in line for security

Harris getting officially recognized as a US citizen

Outside the embassy, finally!

Monday we had our first adventure at the US Embassy. We've never needed to go during our two years here. But we all had to go in person to report Harris's birth as a US citizen born abroad and apply for his social security number and passport. Our appointment was at 1pm, and it took just under 2 hours even though we were first in line. The hardest part was probably getting an acceptable passport photo of Harris. It is extremely trying to get a photo of a newborn with his eyes open, looking into the camera with both ears visible and a neutral expression. Extremely trying! The woman who helped us at the embassy told us his photo was great and she seemed genuinely impressed. I just heard back from the embassy that the passport is in the mail which is great news since we're flying to Texas for a wedding next Thursday!

One month!

2011-02-23T16:52:00.000-06:00

It seems like Harris has always been here, so I really can't believe we're marking one-month on the calendar. It's been an exciting, tiring, fun-filled month. Harris is getting the hang of the basics. And we're getting the hang of Harris. Below are some pictures from the first month of our parenthood adventure.