Yes, it’s just non-stop. This weekend, Daniel played football on Saturday morning, climbed the Sugar Loaf on Saturday afternoon, went orienteering on Sunday morning and played tennis on Sunday afternoon. Yet he is not exhausted. A mystery.

The rest of us partook of a sample of these activities. The children and I climbed the Sugar Loaf which is according to our guide book the second most climbed mountain in Ireland. It was certainly busy on Saturday afternoon. “Tourists,” said the Princess disdainfully. And though she felt it was a bit too easy, it was certainly hard enough for me. Part of the problem is that she and Michael are very nimble but Daniel isn’t (he’s the best at running and ball games, so it’s good that he doesn’t triumph at everything, I suppose). We got to the top and admired the view:

Then herself and Michael scrambled down with admirable speed but a less than entirely admirable consideration for their mother. They got to the car park a good three quarters of an hour before Daniel and I made it down. I, of course, worried that they would fall and break their necks but had to stay with Daniel who was afraid of falling and therefore the most cautious of the lot. There were some recriminations. Still, it’s a great mountain to have climbed because the shape is so distinctive and you can see it every time you drive into Wicklow.

Then on Sunday we went orienteering with the cousins again and all the children seemed to really like it. This week, they hared round the course and might have made quite good time had they not had to wait for me.

I am exhausted after all this outdoor activity. I think I will stay in for the rest of the week nursing my tired limbs.

The weekend before last, we went to the Science Gallery but couldn’t face the queues. As I had never seen the Book of Kells, we trotted off to have a look. On the way in Michael looked around and said, “I’m going to be really bored, amn’t I?” He was correct. I did see the Book of Kells but only for a moment. I thought that the Long Room was absolutely beautiful but, the children were underwhelmed. Even when I pointed out that it was the model for the Jedi archives.

We took ourselves to the college bar and the children had the most fun of the day playing on a sculpture which I trust, given that it is adjacent to the bar, is robust.

We also had ice cream. Note how the toasty children frolic in the warm May sunshine.

Example 1:
We had a bad day with herself recently. She was cranky, we were cranky. When he put her to bed, Mr. Waffle said, “Tomorrow will be a better day.” She glowered at him. “I don’t think so,” she growled and pointed at a post-it on the wall. He peered. It said “SULK”. A note to herself for the morning, lest she forget.

Example 2:
We are still making our way through the Easter egg chocolate. The Princess suspects me of eating it. I did once but only the once because it’s quite vile. She was unconvinced. “Right,” she said, “I am going to take precautions.” Mr. Waffle found her in the kitchen weighing the chocolate. She then wrote the weight on a post-it and stuck it to the remaining chocolate in what can only be called a marked manner.

Out of the blue last week, Michael expressed a desire to go orienteering. Ever obedient to our children’s whims, last Sunday we took them to Mullaghmeen Forest with their cousins (expert orienteers, their parents have been known to run around courses).

It was freezing (6 degrees at the end of April, what is happening to the weather? I digress) but once in the forest out of the wind, it was fine. Mr. Waffle had been very excited on the way down as it is one of the very few forests in Ireland which does not consist almost entirely of fir trees. I couldn’t work up any enthusiasm myself until I saw it. And he was quite right, it is lovely.

And then we went to visit a friend of mine from college who lives in the Midlands. She has her own business, her husband commutes from his job in the UK and she has three children, 8, 6 and 3. I always feel that staying sane in these circumstances is a very significant achievement. Anyway she tells me that she has decided to up the ante and that she is expecting another baby. She seems calm and cheerful in a manner that may indicate that she has finally tipped over into insanity. One can but gasp in awe.

We went to the zoo again because now that we have an annual membership, I am determined to drag them there whenever possible.

As ever, we spent ages in tiny and, as far as I can see, not particularly attractive playground:

We lingered to look at not very exotic pigs:

But I didn’t care because I hadn’t paid €50 for us to get in. So then we saw the tigers close up and the sea lions did amusing things. This only happened because I didn’t care.

We had the school Feis last Saturday. The Princess won second place with her rendition of “An Tíogar” by Máire Ní Ghallchobhair. She was very pleased.

And she got cake.

Neither of her brothers won anything (“An Seilide” by Gabriel Rosenstock for Michael and “An bhfaca tú mo Shéamaisín?” Traditional for Daniel). They both cried. Not in the course of their performance but on hearing the results of the independent jury. Alas.

Look, Daniel has shark teeth.

Cool!