The family "adventure" in Belfast Aug '13-'14: Not so ordinary ordinary days April

We had lots of great days during our year in Belfast - so many that I'm sure I've forgotten some. But, here are a few from the last few months of our year.

There is a great mini-golfing place just outside of Belfast, in Dundonald in front of the Ice Bowl. Pirates Adventure Golf's 2 courses are fun (although the loud canon could be done away with, if you ask me and Watson) - http://www.piratesadventuregolf.com/. We went there twice during our last couple of months. Once just Watson and I (tip: don't do this on a Sunday when the buses aren't running a normal schedule!) and once with the girls of Geneva Gardens when we piled into neighborhood cars (I stayed back with a napping Jamie). Watson still loves mini-golf, that's for sure!

Generally, we SO loved the way that the kids near us played outside all the time. It was so great to ride my bike home from work at 5:30 and come around the corner to see them all out in the street with bikes and ramps, balls, hula hoops, you name it. They also had water balloon fights, spent countless hours in the hammock, Watson got really good at jumping rope, and they made and sold loom band bracelets to neighbors. Very cute.

Selling loom bracelets

Robbie and Jamie liked to switch vehicles when they were outside.
Jamie would take Robbie's plane and Robbie would ride this gem that was handed down from us.

a BBQ!

Lots of skipping rope

Lots of chalk too - this pic was actually taken from the 2nd floor of our house.

Lots of kids in the garden! We had the largest garden, so they always played at ours... FUN!

Watson's school had an end-of-year field day. Jubin saw some of the festivities and he relayed to me that Watson was quite a champ. He won 2 first places and a 3rd place (which was only because he thought that he had won the running race because no one else was around him and then two others on the far side passed him right at the end). He is highly coordinated for a kid of his age and he was a rather fit boy by the end of the year (what with biking to and from school EVERY day and he and his friends racing each other around the whole year in the garden and street). Of course, Watson is still lamenting the egg race - apparently they used empty plastic eggs that blew right off the spoons with wind! He had been winning the race, but his egg fell off, exploded, and he was unable to put it back together in time to cross the finish line first.

Near the end of the school year (end of June in Ireland - only July and August off), each school has a fair. Botanic's fair was a mix of booths selling food and trinkets, activities for the kids (games), and kids running crazily all around. I went with Watson and he was glad to have been there, but crowds really aren't his thing and we didn't stay long. We also attended the Stranmillis Primary School fair (where Rosa and Elsa go, and the school closest to our house) - they have their fair at the local teaching college and it is much more of a "high-brow" event than Botanic's with face painting, raffles, etc...But, again, crowded!

When Kendra's parents stayed at a flat on Rugby Parade, close to Botanic Primary and just a mile from our house (https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zWSZ7uVTqmWw.krEsW1NTVevw&usp=sharing) for a week, they came for dinner and to see our digs. This was a nice experience for us, being able to share where so many memories were made with them.

Watson's very good friends, Rosa and Elsa, lived just 3 doors down from us on Geneva Gardens. Their parents, Katy and Colin, had been renting (letting here) the place for a few years, but had bought a house in Stranmillis about a year ago. Unfortunately, getting permitting approval for renovations is a very political and slow process here (goes through the City Council) and it took them a LONG time...but, finally, near the end of our visit, they decided to begin the process - with a "Grafitti Disco Party"! The kids drew all over the walls that would later be torn down or repainted. Very fun. Of course, later we found out that the walls that stayed took umpteen numbers of coats of paint in order to cover the graffiti... :)

Shortly before leaving Belfast, we made a couple of trips south of Belfast to see some natural sites that people had been telling us about all year...(https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zWSZ7uVTqmWw.kqdp6YzSWkTw&usp=sharing) We all went to Murlough Bay, which is a gorgeous beach with sand dunes that is part of the National Trust. It really was gorgeous. However, we got completely lost trying to find the beach - no signs indicating where to go, lots of dunes and paths going every which way... with Jamieson in the back-pack carrier and the blind leading the blind...Needless to say, we were all grumpy for a while, and very relieved to finally get to the Sea! The whole lack of signage is a pretty common thing in IRE/N IRE - not sure why, but geez...

Paths like this led in every direction, with no indication of where they led...

FINALLY - we found the boardwalk to the beach!

Then, Kendra added to the experiences of beauty by going with our neighbor Jane (Robbie and Nora's Mum) to the Mourne Mountains for a mountain run a few days before our move home. It was so very beautiful! But, wow - what a run. We did Hare's Gap (http://www.walkni.com/walks/454/hare-s-gap/), which has great views of the mountains and the walls (built about a 100 years ago to delineate the catchment for the drinking water reservoirs that they constructed at that time). The mist (fog) was in and out and it was COLD on the mountain, and Jane was like a gazelle (despite her not being a regular runner!), and we got a bit lost up at the top, not sure which path to take (are you noticing a pattern here?)... All in all, an amazing morning - wish that the whole family could have seen the Mourne's.

We also were sure to visit Avril right before we left. Kendra took some pix of Avril, Mutley (her dog), and Jamie playing in the garden, as well as Jamie with his play-mates. We are so lucky to have had Avril in our lives!

We both loved this form of transport!

Mara and Jamie - her Mum had another during the winter who would take Jamie's place in the fall.

Jamie SO loved the sand table.

Robbie started coming to Avril's a couple days a week near the end of our stay.

Friends! Sadly, Amber wasn't at Avril's this day - she was Jamie's other mate.
She also had an older sister (Amy) who was the same age as Watson - they
used to play when school was cancelled or we did a "date-afternoon".

Jamie loved the trampoline too - got on and off all by himself even!

Right before we departed, as Jubin and I were packing up the house, Katy and Colin and the girls took Watson to the Belfast Zoo and Birdcage for dinner. We weren't there, but want to be sure that we put this one into the memory bank here so that we can remember this special goodbye among friends.

And, shortly before we left, we visited Bob and Kath's house one last time and were FINALLY able to meet Bob's other son, Evan and family. They live in Sweden and we had made use of the grand-girls toys, books, and car seats all year, but had never overlapped in visits before. The kids were a bit shy with each other (language barrier as well), but we still had a very nice time.