Aoife's 1st Birthday

Aoife turned one on the 28th of April. It's so hard to believe that it's been a year already. She's growing so fast and has the most adorable little personality. She's happy and smiles and waves at everyone. She's crawling around fast now and just pulling up to standing on her own. It makes her nervous to stand and she starts breathing really fast and looking at me with big round eyes. Funny that the other two never had a reaction like that to standing! She loves playing with Aidan and Emmy and will play peek-a-boo with anyone - even stuffed animals! She weighs about 23 lbs and is in the 50th percentile for weight. She can say mama, dada, baby, bye-bye, toast and Aidan - much to his delight. She can sign "all done" when she's finished eating and is getting really good at drinking milk out of a cup! Amazing to think what huge strides in development happen during the first year - just incredible!
Waking up on her birthday morning:
Looking at Aidan:
Opening presents - Emmy and Aidan opened most of them:
Kisses for her new dog:
Waiting for a cupcake:
Singing "Happy Birthday" - we had to keep the cupcake out of arm's reach because she tried to touch the flame on the candle!
Blowing out the candle:
Goin' in!
She LOVED the cupcake!
We were supposed to have a joint birthday BBQ for her and Brendan since his birthday is the day after hers but it rained so we're going to try to do it this Friday!

Bourton-on-the-Water

We went to Bourton-on-the-Water on Sunday to walk around and enjoy some nice English countryside. There were tons of baby ducks and the kids were splashing in the stream. Aidan and Emmy went in briefly - they said it was freezing! We had a nice time walking around, having cream tea and eating ice cream. What could be better??

A day out with Mimi

On Monday Mary and I took the girls out sightseeing. We thought that we would go to Berkeley Castle but when we got there it was closed. We snuck onto the property - through a wide open door with no one guarding it and at least got to walk around!I looked on the GPS and found an Abbey in Wales that was only a half and hour away. It turned about to be amazing! Here are some pictures of us at Tinturn Abbey:

Visit from Mimi and Big Dan

Brendan's parents have been visiting us since last Friday. We've been having a great time sightseeing and enjoying the warm spring weather. Here are a few pictures of our outings to Blenheim Palace, Stonehenge and the Avebury Stone Circles. We've also visited some of the charming villages in the Cotswolds and gone to Tinturn Abbey in Wales. Mary and Dan took the train up to Edinburgh, Scotland on Tuesday and came back on Thursday. Tomorrow we're going to spend the weekend in London - hopefully we can keep the rain away!!
Blenheim Palace:
Emmy with Mary and Dan in front of Blenheim Palace:
Having a snack in the gardens at Blenheim Palace:
Mary with Emmy and Aoife at Blenheim Palace:
Emmy at Blenheim Palace:
Stonehenge!
Eating ice cream at Stonehenge:
Avebury Stone Circles:
Emmy climbing down into the ditch around the stone circles:

The Cliffs of Moher

We stayed in Doolin for 2 nights at the Cullinan Restaurant and Guest House. It was wonderful and I recommend it if you are ever in the area. Brendan and I had a fabulous dinner there - one of the best meals of my life!! I had monkfish - it was delicious! We visited the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren National Park while we were there. Both were beautiful! The weather was cloudy and VERY windy!! It was hard to walk against the wind at the cliffs!



The shore in Doolin:
A private castle in Doolin:
The Cliffs of Moher - gorgeous!
O'Brien's tower at the Cliffs of Moher

Me and the kids at the Cliffs - it was soooooo windy!
Brendan with Aidan and Emmy on top of O'Brien's tower:
All of us at the Cliffs of Moher: