Wednesday saw me returning to Clonakilty model railway village which my family had visited 20 years before with a heap of cousins. Back then aged 12, I didn't really see the appeal. This time with a 2 year old in tow, the place was magical - She loved it and it was so lovely to see her little blonde curls bobbing up and down between the miniature houses. It then dawned on me, that in 1995, there were 10 cousins that day and 5 of them were under 5 so no wonder we...

We bid adieu to Chi, Tony, Lynx and Snuff on a rainy Sunday morning (can't believe I haven't packed any shorts!!) and spent the day settling in to Baltimore. Baltimore is a small fishing village on the southern tip of Ireland, known for its piracy past. It has a main square which, in what I believe is the right ratio, has 4 pubs and 1 shop from your essentials. They all overlook the Atlantic. It's a really lovely place to holiday and was very family friendly. ...

Chi and Tony with their 2 dogs, Lynx and Snuff joined us for the first night in Baltimore. On Sunday morning, Tony let the dogs out to do their business. As we sat in our pjs drinking tea, we heard Tony bellowing snuff! Snuff! SNUFF! And then Tony was gone - running after Snuff! What was going on? Chi quickly pulled some shoes on to investigate. A couple of minutes later, a panting Tony landed back in the house with a well scolded dog. Snuff had taken a f...

Friday was designated a lazy day and was even lazier than anticipated! I don't think any of us were dressed by midday! Betsy, Ed and Tony all had extended day time naps. Me, Chia and Patrick hung out in the garden - the first time the covers had been off the garden furniture this year!! We finally assembled ourselves together and headed for the 5pm bus into town! We missed the bus we were aiming for, so, what to do but have a quick scoop in the local before jump...

I think it's fair to say that I hit a bit of a mental block when planning this trip which was the journey there. It dominated my thoughts and was the focus of my anxiety. I was really worried that the kids, (and therefore us) wouldn't be able to hack such a long journey. As it turned out, the journey was great -much better than I anticipated. Thinking about my concerns now, I'm a bit embarassed - lots of people do much longer and much trickier journeys than Lon...