Killiney Hill and A New Baby Group (!)

Yesterday Kara came over and we took a drive up to Killiney Hill. This is 10-15 minutes from us and is a very iconic outlook with a massive obelisk that you can see from pretty much everywhere. This hill has been the scene in movies and music videos, etc. Turns out, the surrounding park is really beautiful too with walking trails throughout and a really great playground (something you really take notice of, once you have a toddler) "Ooo, that's a great playground..." or "Nope, don't go there...playground sucks" =) You suddenly have this "rating" system that you never were aware of, prior to child, but it seems to be innate. You know what a "good" one is and you know what a "bad" one is. Before, I took notice when there was a playground, but that was really where the notice-taking ended.
Anywho.....Kara and I had a lovely afternoon. Sadly Norah fell asleep in the car on the way there (after talking all morning about going to the park) and slept for the entire 2 hours that we walked, only to wake up, as I was putting her back in the car seat. It felt so cruel. Last thing she knew, I was putting her IN the car seat, then I'm picking her up, buckling her BACK into the car seat saying we're leaving the park. Poor thing.

View South to Bray Head. Just below on the right is Enya's Castle (and below that, behind the trees) is Bono's house.

 Looking out toward the Wicklow Mountains. These houses here have incrredible views!

Kara and Rory. He's such a little trooper. Only 7 weeks old, went on a nearly 2 hour walk - slept the entire time, all the while having pink eye.

 The Obelisk

 Kara. And the Obelisk.

 Norah in the stroller - sleeping through it all.

And then today I took Norah to a new baby group in Blackrock (5 minute bus ride from us and where I lonnnng to live). I heard about another parent/baby group at a Presbyterian Church that's free AND I found out, started by a mom from the States. She's from Indiana and her husband is a lecturer in Mathematics at UCD (where Wayne goes). It's very unstructured (unlike our other one on Tuesdays) and the parents get to have coffee and cookies. Here's Norah before we left - super cute in her little skinny jeans.

 And as she says, "Dis is my NEW blue shirt mommy".

 And here's the playroom at the group. I arrived early so it was only Norah and the child of the woman who runs it. The mom's name is Brooke (the American) and her little one is Pearl (so adorable). They received a grant to hold this baby group so they were able to buy all new toys and they set them all up as little stations. I kid you not, 20 minutes into it, there were 25 toddlers and their parents. It's very sweet but complete bedlam.

When it was in full-swing, it really was mayhem. I felt schizophrenic and Norah (of course) deemed every single toy in the entire gym as "hers" so we had a lot of battles with other children trying to play with "her" toys. The GALL of those kids. Playing her HER slide and touching HER cars....=) Having an almost-two-year-old is awesome. I got to have a good chat with Brooke though (in between running to help children that Norah was ripping toys away from) and we'll definitely go back. All I kept hearing was "NO BOY! That's MY car! That's NOT very nice!" (a car the other child was originally playing with but one she had taken ownership of...) So...I was slightly embarrassed but I just kept pretending I didn't know who she was and eventually it was time to go.  =)