Be Bopping around Bury

Bury St Edmunds is a fun little city. It's only 15 minutes away so It's a great place for day outings roaming around the Cathedral and Abby ruins. Tiny shops and family run businesses are common place in Europe. Bury city center has a farmers/garden market every Wednesday and Saturday where you can find deals on almost everything. Last week we decided to picnic and play at the park. Ava had a blast feeding the ducks and climbing over the flint stone ruins.

I had no idea Dave was even taking this picture.

Look at me off in my own world.

A Month of Birthdays!

The month starts off with a bang on July 1st because that is CANADA DAY! I always hang my flag proudly over my front door for everyone to see but this year I sadly couldn't find it. Dave and I looked everywhere,but no luck. I guess that's what happens when you move to a new country and everything gets stacked on top of each other in a tiny garage. Instead I decided to make a fruit pizza, but in true flag fashion I made it rectangle and we sang the Canadian anthem before diving in. I've never made fruit pizza before but it was so easy, I took pre-made sugar cookie dough and rolled it out then baked it until golden. Iced it with cream cheese frosting (made by me) and decorated with strawberries. Sure it could have used a little more fruit in the bare parts but the cream cheese icing made up the difference.

July 1st is also my cousin Nell's birthday

Then July 2nd is my brother Jim and my Aunt Julie's birthdays

Now to July 4th INDEPENDENCE DAY, a holiday I have adopted and absolutely love to celebrate.

As I was looking through other blogs I came across this darling American Flag shirt made from gathered ribbon and buttons. I thought it was so cute that I had to try it. I really wanted to sew it onto a t-shirt instead of a polo but in true BX style they don't have what you really need. I also spontaneously made Ava's cut off shorts in about 10 minutes flat. I hadn't done the laundry in a couple of days and realized she had no shorts left to wear (and it was hot) so I took a pair of old jeans and viola, Bermuda Shorts!

We enjoyed a church BBQ with our friends the Nelsons on Saturday and then on Sunday drove to Feltwell to watch the fireworks. We have been prepping Ava for fireworks ever since last year she screamed and hid under a blanket. She was nervous at first and didn't want to be put down but then realized that they look like the opening credits to a Disney movie and kept looking for tinker bell to pop out and dot the" i " in Disney. Getting off the base was a hectic mess. They made everyone leave from 1 exit and it took and hour and a half to finally make it on to the road. Seriously, we need to think about doing things differently next year.

July 14 was my 28th Birthday! The day was a really nice, Dave came home from the night shift and made me French Toast with Strawberries then he went to sleep. Ava got up and was a sweetheart all day. We went for a bike ride, played at the park and bought ice cream. Then Dave woke up and took over Ava duty while I went to the salon. I asked for a little more "sunshine blonde" on top and layers. She cut off a little more then I had planned but I like it. I always feel funny walking out of a salon though because they flat iron my hair and I never do that. It stayed stick straight for 2 days! That night we dropped Ava off at the Tatton's house and went for supper. We decided to try out a place that lots of people had recommended, Nando's. It wasn't what I expected, a little Hippy, earth loving style restaurant. Come on, who has hummus and pita, assorted nuts, or mixed olives as starters? At least the chicken was good.

Friday the 16th was my BIRTHDAY PARTY! I decided to throw myself a little party and thought the best way to keep the kids entertained was to have a bouncy castle! I made salads and cake and my friends brought their own meat to BBQ. I was nervous all day because it had been really windy that I thought the castle would be a bust, but Dave staked it down and the fence helped break the wind. Dave played the famous "Miller Balloon Dart" game, and everyone won a prize. Ava would wined up and chuck the dart at the balloons and most of the time it she would hit one. She was so proud! I had a blast and I think my friends did too.

The Happy Birthday banner was made for David's 25th birthday during our first months as husband and wife. I have put it up every year for both our birthdays. This year I added the pennant banners. I took left over fabric and sewed the triangles onto string.

Wavin' Flag

I heard this song for the first time while driving our rental car in Ireland. Dave had heard it many times on the radio at work and was already familiar with the words, he was even singing it. I thought the song was simple but completely inspiring, the words are basic and the beat is catchy and it leaves me with a feeling of patriotism that I haven't felt in a while. When I listen to this song I picture elementary kids singing the Canadian anthem and American kids repeating the pledge of allegiance. I see my little nephew Gage learning to skate and wanting to play hockey someday. I imagine Dave as a small boy looking at his bedroom walls all filled with airplane posters and dreaming of joining the Air force. This song was created for the FIFA World Cup soccer championship and even though Canada wasn't involved I still watched a few minutes of a couple games. Having lived in 2 counties (Germany and England) where "football" is such a worshiped sport, I have witnessed the amount of patriotism each have in their own teams. Having just celebrated both the Canadian and American birthdays I can say “I wave my flags!”

Ireland June 2010

We took a family vacation to Ireland in June, and it was a blast. We went slow and had no real schedule to keep. We practically shadowed the exact same trip Dave and his brother John took last year, which meant Dave had seen and been there before so if Ava had a hard time he took her and let me do my own thing.

We had an early flight out of Stansted so Ava was hauled out of bed and straight into the van, we never even changed her clothes until we got to our B&B. The flight was quick, just over an hour, much better then the 8-9 hours we are used to.

Picking up the rental car was a bit of a drag. The ladies in front of us were having so many problems. I bet Dave stood in that spot for over 1/2 an hour! Ava was dead tired by now.

When we finally got to our B&B it was a sweet surprise. The owner was really nice and very hospitable . Dave was a real gentleman and slept in the double bed with Ava so I could have the single to myself. There was a cat named Ginger who instantly became Ava's best friend, she never left that cat alone. From the minute she woke up she was asking "Ginger where are you?"

We changed our clothes and quickly left to visit the Ross castle. Irish castles are more of towers with courtyards. We didn't pay to go inside but got a couple of nice pictures. Ava had a blast feeding the ducks in the lake.

Muckross House was beautiful and I wanted to take a tour but it was almost an hour long and I knew Ava would never last so we decided to hire a Jaunting horse and rider to take us to the waterfalls. Ava even took a turn controlling the horse, it was a fun way to travel. Our horses name was Suzy.

The next day we drove to the Beehive homes, made only from stacked rocks and suspected to be built around 2000BC. The hills are completely littered with rock, it's really the only material around to built anything with.

There were beautiful landscapes, endless rolling hills covered with emerald grass and road side sculptures. Even their homes and gardens were spectacular.

We stopped at a beach along Sleahead Drive, which was breath taking. The birds ate half our lunch when we carelessly left it alone and played in the ocean.

This is Ava taking on the jellies!

We wiggled our toes in the sand and in the water. Right before we left Ava got a little too close and was taken over by a wave and completely soaked. We had to strip her and the only thing left to wear was a sweatshirt and towel.

We climbed rocks and jumped off a few. I was seriously scared, but my face was worth the picture, it's not fake at all.

Ava fell asleep in the car as we drove into Dingle. We found a great parking spot, where Dave waited in the car with Ava as I quickly darted into every souvenir shop in the entire town. I found a bathroom and blow dried all of Ava's clothes so when she woke up we could go get ice cream.

On our drive back to the B&B we stopped to see a small waterfall on the side of the road, and were told by another tourist that there was a beautiful lake just beyond the rocks. We decided to climb to it even though we were only wearing flip flops and had a 2 year old who wouldn't keep up. It was amazing and huge with a thick fog blanket.

On our last day in Ireland we visited the Blarney Castle. It was a Saturday in June which meant that every tour bus in the country was visiting as well. The line "cue" to kiss the blarney stone was long and slow, Dave had to take Ava out while I waited my turn. At some points you were stuck in a stairwell as wide as your shoulders for as much as 10 minutes, I'm not claustrophobic but it was a little nerve racking. In the end the "Blarney Stone" was disappointing. It' wasn't different or unique, It looked like every other stone in the castle wall. You have to get on your back and bend over the wall to reach the stone, which is awkward and before I could have the lady behind me take a picture I was already getting up. Oh well I did it and nothing is different in my life so who really needs a picture.

There were some escape caves just under the castle that Ava thought she liked until it got really dark and muddy then she wanted to get out as fast as she could. The gardens around the castle are beautiful and full of walking paths with urban legend readings. Dave decided to even try kissing the witches stone.

I'm so glad we went to Ireland! It was never on my must see list and I was worried about the early flight in and the late flight out. In the end our CHEAP tickets were so worth it and I had a great time with my family.