Norah's Nana comes to Dublin with Snow

Well, despite the freezing rain, gail-force winds and SNOW from days 1 and 2, things have gotten better. We've walked in some serious rain showers but for the most part, the skies have ceased dumping for the times we've been out. Despite Dublin not behaving as we had hoped, it has been incredible to have Wayne's mom here. Due to the weather, we've spent a lot more time in Dun Laoghaire than hoped but that's been nice in its own way too. We've shown mum our favorite stores and cafes, several times over. She cleared one store, (Shaw's) out of their entire wool collection after returning a 3rd time. ha!

 Nana arrives at the Dublin Airport (are they advertising a movie?)

 Nana brought Polly Pockets for Norah and she was over the moon! (Polly Pockets are teeny tiny dolls with little rubber outfits and they're awesome.)

 "Nana, will you play Polly Pockets with me??"

 Nana brought presents for Norah, made her this brown sweater and brought gifts from Aunt Rosie, Oma Dykstra and Aunt Joyce. This is one well-dressed kiddo.

 Fish & Chips in Howth in the POURING rain and snow. Dublin has NOT put its best foot-forward when it comes to weather but we finally had a break after about 5 days.

This last weekend we drove out to the Wicklow Mountains and ventured to Glendalough. We thought it might be risky given how rainy it had been in Dublin but halfway there we realized our rain, was their snow. It was beautiful to see the Irish countryside covered in blankets of white - something pretty rare in Dublin. So, while it wasn't what we had hoped (an extraordinarily warm, sunny January day) - it was beautiful in another way.

 First time seeing snow in Ireland - which ended up making for a beautiful trip to Glendalough (a monastic heritage site from 500 AD).

Hot chocolate with Nana at Glendalough

There's been no shortage of cuddle-time with Nana

On Monday we took Norah to school so Nana could see

I'm not above having the two year old do the vacuuming. If she's willing...I'll take it. "You missed a spot"

Trying to help her stay still long enough to take a picture in the sweater Nana made for her! (Skinny jeans and Parisian girl shirt courtesy of Aunt Rosie!!)

This was so hilarious - the three of them all playing (intensely!), this game on Facebook where you search for items like a scavenger hunt. I have no clue what it is but it had them all yelling at the screen for half an hour. Norah really held her own too.

 

This morning we finally had clear skies so we went in to Dublin City Centre. We took the train for the first time and took Nana to the Archaeology museum (bog bodies and ancient celtic artifacts), Bewley's cafe on Grafton Street, and Temple Bar. It was -5 degrees Celsius (23 F) so we didn't spend much time meandering. We walked quickly and spent lots of time ducking into stores with sales going on. =) This is when Norah was napping and Wayne was at school so we were free to peruse, guilt-free.

Nana on the Ha'Penny Bridge

This weekend we'll rent a car again and head out to the Wild West of Ireland. We've booked a night at a Bed & Breakfast in Clifden, Co. Galway and hope to do lots of exploring from there.