One busy week in Northern Ireland
Sunday, 21 February 2010
We've just returned home after spending a week in Northern Ireland with our family and friends. We had a lovely time and ticked all of the boxes on our list of things to do and see.
Day One - Saturday
- Arrive in Northern Ireland mid morning on Saturday 13th February - Jeff's parents meet us at the airport and take us back to their house to stay. Within a few minutes their tidy house is no longer tidy.
- Take boys to a huge toy shop so that they can spend their gift cards received from Uncle Mike at Christmas - We had been on the website the night before so that they could choose which toy (lego kit) they were going to get. They decided to club together and buy a Lego Star Wars kit which came with Yoda. After picking up several other Lego kits they decided they would stick to their original plan - both were happy.
- Go to pub with Jeff after boys went to bed - We walked to The Crawfordsburn Inn in the next village, it took us 17 minutes and we rewarded ourselves with a pint of Guinness or two.
- Make Valentines cards and gifts - I made cute mini cards and goody bags for the boys with chocolate lovebugs and a chocolate lollipop (see below). In Jeff's bag I added some extra heart chocolates and yummy heart biscuits to share.
Day Two - Valentines Day (Sunday)
- Give the boys and Jeff their presents and cards - The boys were really pleased that they received a card and chocolates. Jeff gave me some lovely red tulips, a card and breakfast in bed. We shared some of the biscuits and chocolates.
- Go to Church - The boys decided they'd go to Sunday School and we caught up with some of our friends there too.
- Take a walk down through the woods to the beach, lightsabers optional!
- Have a photo taken with Jeff on Valentines Day, thank you Matthew.
- Leave the boys with the Grandparents and go out for coffee, just the two of us on Valentines Day.
Day Three - Monday
- Visit Sheila and her kids - The boys played with Maddie and Cameron whilst we chatted about her unfortunate skiing trip resulting in a broken pelvis and 4 weeks with a zimmer frame (by the time we saw her she had traded her zimmer in for a crutch) .
- Go to Belfast, visit shops - for me that would be Avoca and for Jeff it was the sports shops.
- Go up to the top of Victoria Square (shopping centre) and look out over the city. (Notice Callum's 'smile' - it was very difficult to get a proper natural smile from him the whole holiday)
- Take boys to Windsor Park, the home of Linfield Football Club and where Northern Ireland play their home matches - Jeff used to play for Linfield Reserves, it was a proud moment to show his sons where he used to train and play.
Day Four - Tuesday
- Jeff plays golf.
- Meet up with Jeff's friend Alex and his son - The boys clicked and played great with Luke, Callum acted like he was Luke's big brother, they even had matching coats. (Note Callum's smile!)
- Have coffee and Banoffee at Cafe Brazilia.
- Spend the evening with Janine, whilst Jeff goes to pub with Michael, Janine's husband - We chatted and even did some scrapbooking.
Day Five - Wednesday
- Coffee and something yummy to eat at Donaghadee Garden Centre with Jeff's Mum and Dad - Unfortunately it was so busy that we couldn't get a table together. There is a lovely gift shop there too, I was very restrained and spent less than £5.
- Meet up with Laura and her son Zack at the indoor play centre - The boys had a great time running around and cooling off with ice creams.
- Go out to dinner with Jeff.
Day Six - Thursday
- Over to the Boyds to play - Matthew and Patrick played Lego Star Wars on the Wii, then they play with their lightsabers in the garden.
- Scrap n Chat with Sheila and Janine - Infact this time we did less of the scrapping and more chatting and laughing and messing around with stick on moustaches and also played the New Moon board game.
...we had SUCH a laugh, love these two!
Day Seven - Friday
- Hair cut and colour for me.
- Walk along Bangor Pier and 'Long Hole'.
With all our boxes ticked we headed over to Donaghadee Garden Centre for one last coffee and pudding, this time Malteser Cheesecake!
- Matthew playing Sonic and Lemmings on Jeff's very old Sega Megadrive - he played everyday, he's really good at both games.
- Jeff to see Ulster play rugby with his Dad and Brother.
- Knitting - I took some knitting with me and throughout the week I did some here and there resulting in one grey wrist warmer. I'm still to start the second one - watch this space.
We returned home early the next day, having got up at 5am we were back at our house in England by 9:30am, ready for Matthew to go to a friends birthday party at 11am!
It was one busy week in Northern Ireland.