Monkey Gym

Well, I give Guinness about a C. I would get it again, but it definitely wouldn't be my first pick. Several people have told me to try Murphys which is similar to Guinness, but not the real thing. Apparently it has a much smoother taste. Next time I'm going to try that. I'm pretty sure I had tried Bailey's before but I liked that here also.

The pub was really an experience. It was much, much different than any bar I've ever been to in America. As much as I still love America more than Ireland, I do like their pub scene a little bit better. It was much more mellow and low key than anything I've been to at home. The first one we went to in the village (NOT in town- I've been corrected) was about the size of my living room and there were maybe ten people there. The ceilings were really low, etc. The next one we went to was the one I liked the most. It was a bigger group, but by no means the size or rowdiness level of the ones I'm used to. To get a feel of exactly how small of a town I'm in, several people came up to me and/or Gillian and said "Aren't you the girl that was running?" At this point, I had only run into town one time, but people could easily pick me out as being new. Either that or its just really weird for me to run here. I signed up for the "Mini Marathon" (only 4 miles though) that Gillian told me about in Cork City. Its at the end of October so it will force me to stay in shape.

Today we went to the "Monkey Playground" with Gillian's sister Marie and her two boys. We just let them run free around this massive warehouse filled with slides, ball jumps, etc. It reminded me of Land of the Dragons at Busch Gardens (minus the dragons)- either that or Family Funland (throwback). Regardless it was nice to just let the boys run around together and we just sat and talked.

Gillian and Kieran ran out to the hospital this afternoon and I was in charge of the two kiddos for the evening. Things went smoothly but I do have a new found respect for all mothers- especially mothers of multiples. Its a huge challenge to entertain both kids while trying to make three different dinners (bottle for Katie, pasta and cheese for Eoghan, and something substantial for me). I guess I'll get the knack of it eventually. We survived the night with no major mishaps, so I consider that an accomplishment in itself.

Forgot to mention that I battled the clothesline today. Lets just say, I miss my clothes dryer. With the weather here there is a limited window of time to hang clothes to dry. The majority of the time they end up wetter than they started. I may just force myself to rewear things far more times than is socially acceptable.

Oh also, yesterday I was introduced to the band 'WestLife'. Its an Irish band that does a lot of cover songs. I really really liked them, so look them up on itunes if you get a chance. I'm off to bed now. Lots of love to everyone at home.