summer camps

Our summer travel schedule had us in and out of town throughout the break. We let the kiddos choose a few summer camp experiences to enjoy during the interims while we were at home. I don't know that I even need to put many words to these pictures of Grace. A local music studio did a week long performance camp where a group of girls, all about Grace's age, learned and then performed (on a stage with microphones - Grace's dream come true) a medley of songs from Frozen. They held auditions and Grace got the very solo she had been hoping for. I made it clear that I would not be spending any more mulah on the experience, and she happily dug through existing articles in the house to find a blue dress and a crown (which, at a certain point in the choreography, was dramatically cast off and thrown to the floor). This girl is at home on the stage.

 These are the cute high school girls who directed the performance camp.

Eden did a two week stint of daily swim lessons. She has ever been fearless in the water and we were anxious for her to get some skills to keep her safe. She jumped in the pool every day without complaint and became instantly fond of coach Alyssa. By the end she was floating on her back and doing some swimming out on her own. She is still not 100% safe without floaties, but she has made a lot of improvement over the summer. She wore her cowgirl boots to lessons just about everyday.

While Eden was in the pool, Grant was across the greens at the tennis courts. He was in a small group with just 3 other girls. At the end of camp, the head tennis coach was giving me info about signing him up for regular lessons etc. Grant begged. Alas, soccer was already around the corner. More tennis time will have to wait. 

Eden would head from swim lessons over to watch the last half hour of tennis camp with me. She was happy to chase balls about the courts.

Grace also did a little two-day volleyball camp. This was quickly followed by league practice and assessments for the fall season. She was awarded a pair of mustached knee socks for being the best tree hugger, in other words, always in ready position. She made good friends with a girl from our ward, happy day, and was so happy practicing with coach Charlotte, the head of the volleyball program here.

Ireland: Killarney Town

Killarney Town is just a convenient mile from the Priory House. We made the walk into town almost everyday to shop for groceries or souvenirs, have lunch, and see the sights. The weekend we arrived the town was finishing up a Trad Fest (which is to say, traditional music festival). The streets and walkways were packed with people. Musicians set up in front of every other shop and pub. The cacophony was chaotic and delightful. People danced in the pubs and on the sidewalks. The skill level of musicians and dancers ran the scale, but there was always a round of applause and coins thrown into open instrument cases.

As you head into Killarney, High Street makes a 90* turn. Just off this corner is a beautiful old church. Mom and I walked through it one morning. Check out the pipes on that organ!

These celtic looking keys are found about ever 10 feet along the walkways in town.

We were also amazed by the number of enormous hydrangea bushes we passed along our walks to town. So beautiful!

I wasn't the only person who celebrated a birthday on this trip. Sara's husband, Kevin, had one as well. His fell on one of our free days. Cori and I spent a chunk of Kevin's day golfing with him and Sara at the Golf and Fishing Club of Killarney - home of the Irish Open. We only did nine holes. It was a steamy afternoon. We finished up with lunch in the club house.

David (our driver) magically showed up right when we were ready to leave. We asked him about where we might find a birthday cake on short notice. He made a couple phone calls and drove us straight to a bakery in town. Kevin did a valiant job attempting to blow out the inferno of candles that night...

One evening, we left the priory and headed the direction opposite of town. We crossed the river and walked less than a mile to the Eagleston Hotel. This hotel has a large stage which serves as a venue during the summer months for Celtic Steps. Celtic Steps is a group of professional musicians and step dancers (Irish dance), that come together during the tourist season to perform for bus loads of visitors such as ourselves. The dancers and musicians are all at the top of their fields- several of them have consecutive world championship titles they are still defending (in particular, the accordionist and two of the dancers). David Geaney, pictured below not only shares a name with our driver, but he had just won his 5th world title at the World Irish Dancing Championships weeks before taking the stage with Celtic Steps for the summer. The show was a huge treat- Gracie couldn't keep her feet still to save her life for days afterword.

Mom and Dad got each of the kids a Cairia jersey (Co. Kerry's soccer league). And just like that our enchanting week in the emerald isle was over. We were transported to the airport en mass (David had a trailer for the tour bus which we used for luggage) and we began the sad business of going our separate ways.

Our final flight didn't touch down until after midnight- which meant it was nearly 2AM when we were pulling into our garage. This is what nearly 24 hours of travel looks like on Eden, poor sweetie. We went to church that day and then began loading and going through pictures. All of us were ready to jump back on that plane and get across the pond to do it all over again.