Oh lads, it’s been ages.
Herself has returned from summer camp which she loved with the passion of 1,000 suns. While she was away, we made feeble efforts to entertain her brothers to the best of our abilities. We took them to the latest science gallery exhibition on sound which they pronounced to be pretty good.
Daniel plays chopsticks:
The science gallery is the only museum they have any affection for. We made them do a walk-through of the newly reopened wing of the National Gallery and they were not pleased. In particular Michael was not pleased.
We went to mass in Irish which has the merit of being short and always involves a restorative cup of tea afterwards. We took them to Four Knocks which is the best megalithic site in Ireland. Really. We had been there before with all of the children when they were younger. The boys were small on the last visit and they had forgotten but it really is an amazing spot. Much better, I think than Newgrange or any of the more famous sites. You have it to yourself – you pick up the key from a local farmer – and it is creepy and a bit awe inspiring. The boys really enjoyed it which is not something you usually get to say about megalithic sites. It is na Fuarchnoic (the cold hills) in Irish which is a bit more accurate than Four Knocks.
We went for a moderately satisfactory picnic in Ardgillan castle after the Four Knocks excitement but I made us pack up good and early as I was getting the train to Cork and I was paranoid about timing. Unnecessary.
In other summer excitement, my sister took the boys to Tayto Park and bought them three bottles of Fanta to consume in the rain while being twirled up in the air on a variety of terrifying machines. Their lives are complete and she didn’t die of exhaustion. A win then.
They also attended a sports camp at the bottom of the road which was very successful except that they were not allowed to leave unless collected by a grown-up which was supremely awkward. Michael missed a day due to illness but otherwise they both enjoyed it very much. Daniel won camper of the week for his supreme politeness and I was filled with pride. He didn’t seem super-delighted though.