Our next destination was Salthill in Galway.

Our arrival there was a little bit fraught. In a slight hiccup at 1 am, We (Niamh!) *nearly* accidentally cancelled it and were liable for the full cost, but thankfully the owner was understanding and reinstated the booking!! (Lesson learnt - always read the small print and don't multitask when severely under-slept and feeding your 6 month old son!!)

We had to collect the keys to the flat from a nearby b&b, but they initially didn't seem to know what we were on about!! Another phonecall to the understanding owner and we had the keys.

After a bit of confusion with sat nav, we found the flat and met our understanding owner. The car park to the flat was a 2-3 min walk - which is a little complicated when you have a toddler, a baby and all their gear!! Added to that, the flat was on the second floor and the lift had just broken!! Oh oh!!

Rising to the challenge, Ed and Ann pulled the car up outside the front door on double yellow lines and unloaded the car into a lift on the other side of the block only to discover that it didn't have access to our flat!! So out came the two travel cots, the portable high chair, the bumbo, the nappies, the bottles, the buggy, the toys, the books and the clothes bags, loaded back into the car. Thankfully the big man was looking on, and the original lift had started working in the meantime and we got everything in. Ed then went to leave the car back in the car park - where he was stopped by a Guard (police officer) telling him that the 5 meters of road he needed to get into the car park was closed for the Galway half marathon - you could not make it up!! Poor Ed sat watching sweaty amateurs pass by for an hour!!

The very big positive of what was a tiring day was how, unexpectedly, gorgeous and spacious the flat was, and how great the location was. Ann excelled in her role of mother in law extraordinaire and made a lovely dinner, and once we got the kids settled and asleep, Ed (finally released from half marathon deadlock), Ann and I had a very relaxed evening of doing nothing stretched out on a mega corner sofa.