Giants Causeway

Well, we headed out this morning about 9:30... Uncle Thomas, Aunt Hazel, Esther, Lisa, Phil and me. We drove up the coast road to Giants Causeway. It was a beautiful drive but a little hazy so I didn't take a lot of pictures (besides I have a lot from last time!) Giants Causeway was wonderful as always! I even remembered to take the bottle for Jaden's 1st birthday and through it in the sea. It will be interesting to see if anyone picks it up.

After our visit to the causeway, we went to Bushmills Inn for an early birthday lunch. We took the shorter way home. No sea, but still a beautiful drive.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures.

I finally got to see Uncle Sammy...

Esther and I finally ventured out to find Uncle Sammy's home in Ballymena. She has figured out that I am not much help with directions! He is doing pretty good. It is sad that him and Gretta do not live in the same home so he does not get to see her much. I did have him record a little something for Grandma (3 1/2 minutes!) Then he was walking us out and fell. I felt so bad that I was not able to stop him. There were four nurses that came quickly to help him up and make sure that he was OK.

After we returned from Uncle Sammy's I went back up to visit with Aunt Christine again. She was happy that I came back for another visit. I tried to get her to do a message for Grandma but she said it would be to emotional.

Lisa and Phil get in tonight around 8:00. I am in charge of dinner so we are ordering pizza!!

I am very excited about going to Giants Causeway tomorrow! Uncle Thomas and Aunt Hazel will be going with us so it will be a full van! We are planning to leave early morning and have lunch up there and then get home so Uncle Thomas can have his nap.

Uncle Thomas and his afternoon snack...

It's raining today...

Well, today I got up a little late so I skipped my walk. Turns out it was raining anyway. Esther and I had lunch with one of her friends and then we went to Antrim to do a little shopping at an outlet mall. Jenny - you would have loved it! I only bought one thing so it was a much cheaper trip than our last trip to the outlet mall!! Which by the way... had a SUBWAY in it!! For the record, Esther hasn't let me take her to Subway yet. I am not sure that I will be able to get her there either!

Aunt Hazel made shepherds pie for supper and we will have bannofee pie later (at least I will anyway!!)

Tomorrow night Lisa and Phil will arrive. We are planning a trip up to the Northern Coast, to Giants Causeway, on Saturday and then back to Belfast for a Belfast Giants Hockey Game! I am very excited for that! Too bad I didn't bring my jersey with me that Esther gave me last time I was here!

Belfast

Today Esther and I went into Belfast shopping.

Ballyclare, Northern Ireland

Hello Everyone! I finally have pictures of Ballyclare to share with all of you! Uncle Thomas said he was about to send out a search party since I was gone for an hour and a half!! It is a wonderful, sunshiny day so I was really enjoying it! He was napping anyway so I wasn't missing much at home. I hope you enjoy the pix! Jenny and Judy - I will meet you at Subway tomorrow!

Snacks for Grandma...

I picked up a few things for Grandma. Think this will hold her a while?! Not to worry though, she is not getting it all at once. I told her that I would keep it at my house and I would take her some every now and then. Although that Caramel Cadbury egg I had today was REALLY good!!!

My morning walks...

This park is located right behind Uncle Thomas and Aunt Hazel's. Every morning I have been getting up and going for walks. About the time I am getting back, they are coming downstairs.

Aunt Christine

Today I went up and spent the morning with Aunt Christine. We had a nice visit and went through some of her old photo albums. I thought the picture of Grandma, Grandpa and the boys (for those of you that don't know... my dad is the one on the front right). Aunt Christine thought this was taken about 1958.

She wanted to take me out for "tea" so we went to a diner down the road. We walked inside and I thought I recognized a man sitting at the table and it turned out to be my cousin Brian and his wife Edith. They are supposed to call tomorrow to arrange a time when I can go and visit at their house with them. Brian also said that he would take me to see Uncle Sammy soon.

I did a little shopping in Ballyclare but didn't find anything good to buy. I did get Grandma some chocolate!!! Esther will be home again tomorrow night so we will be able to go into Belfast and do some serious shopping!

Last night Esther and I went to the Odyssey in Belfast last night to see a movie. You wouldn't believe the theatre we were in! It was recliners for the seats! Good thing the movie wasn't bad or we could have easily fallen asleep.

Uncle Thomas and Aunt Hazel just had family photos done over Christmas. This was my favorite picture of them. Their family picture turned out really nice also.

Today Esther and I walked over to Ballyclare and then we had lunch. Aunt Hazel made lamb. Yes I ate it. It wasn't bad. Esther had to head

back to work so I won't see her again until Tuesday night.

Today Uncle Sammy is supposed to be out and about with Brian so he was going to bring him down for a visit. It is 3:00 and I haven't seen them yet so hopefully they will be here soon. If I don't see Aunt Christine today, I will walk up and see her tomorrow.

Aunt Betty

Hi everyone!! I made it safely to Ireland yesterday!! It was a very long day of travelling Thursday. I started at the Rochester airport at 7:00am. Made it to Minneapolis on time but then (because it was foggy out east...) I spent an extra two and a half hours there. Oh well, that just meant two and half fewer hours in Newark. I was very thankful at that time that I had the extended layover so I wouldn't miss my flight to Belfast!
The flights were all good, all though the last one was a little bumpy so I didn't really get much sleep. Once I arrived in Belfast and gathered my luggage (which I broke one of the straps that hold my bags together) I was headed out to find someone to call my Aunt. To my suprise... Uncle Thomas and Aunt Hazel were sitting there waiting for me!!! I was very excited to get to see them!
Uncle Thomas is doing great. He is getting some of the feeling back in his left side but is having no problem going up and down the stairs and is getting better at walking. His balance is still way off so he uses a walker. The best therapy he is doing for his hand... he does the dishes after every meal. I am really anxious to see the improvements he makes over the next couple of weeks.
After our short trip to Ballyclare, Aunt Hazel made us breakfast and then we visited for a while. I was falling asleep talking to them so soon after lunch, I went to take a four hour nap!! This morning I was up at 7:00 and out for my walk. It was so nice quiet walking around Ballyclare. Of course then when I returned Aunt Hazel made us and Ulster Fry for breakfast! MMMM it was good!! I am going to bring some soda bread and potato bread home for Grandma. Esther and I went to a mall near Belfast and did a little shopping. All we got was a CD and some candy so will have to shop harder next time!!
This afternoon we went to see Aunt Betty. She has changed a lot since I saw her last! Her memory and eye sight is not so good. When I called her to see if she was up for company, she thought I was Grandma!! We had a nice visit though.
Tonight we are heading over to Ballyclare for pizza and then Esther will head back to Belfast for a movie.
I hope everyone at home is doing well and I will keep you posted on what is happening over here! I will also work on getting some pictures posted...