web.meSo after Carlos’ twins (Danny & Dean) at the start of the year, we then had Bobby in August, and now we have some more news of another Baby…!
We won’t name who it is just yet but it is exciting! More kids for the camping trips in the coming years, keep it up girls… 😉
Will update soon…
Spooky… 😈
This year Tori decided to go as a Hobo-Clown, but she had a companion, Bobby. He was a skeleton, but he had “No-Body” to go with…!
Some great costumes this year, plus there were some amount of kids trick-or-treating, seems to be very popular again nowadays.
Some pics:
This is really putting the pressure on me now, I’ll probably have to be next!
Anyway, they managed to tie the knot and it was a great day. Leixlip Manor House and Gardens was the venue and all went off well, except for the weather, but that didn’t stop everyone enjoying themselves.
My job on the day was not only to try and embarrass Nicole, no, I also had the job of Best Man so had to be on top form to perform my duties. I’d like to say that also went off without a glitch, but unfortunately we had some technical issues mid-stream, that’s all I’ll say on that, (Angel…!).
Anyway, I did manage to embarrass Philip quite a bit, and also got a bit in to make Nicole blush too!
We have a great video here that we managed to show on the day – Philip Falls
Another year has gone by and this year Tori got more than her usual birthday presents, she got a new baby brother! Bobby was born just three weeks before Tori’s birthday. But that’s not to say we would forget about our little princess, no, this was as good a birthday as ever.
Tori and 15 of her family and friends all visited JumpZone in Sandyford. A vote took place for the venue, Tori giving all her friends the decision between JumpZone and Awesome Walls, the results were a resounding JumpZone. Great venue though, the kids get to jump up and down for an hour straight, great for wearing them out.
After there it was off to our favorite Pizza restaurant, Pinheads Pizza 🙂 Antoine was on hand with the Notorious 32-inch Pizza along with heaps of chips and chicken dippers all topped off with some Oreo Milkshakes, hmmmm…
She also got some tickets to go and see Dynamo… magic…🧙♂️
This time we’re not talking about bikes, no, this is a REAL addition to the family, Baby Bobby. He’s a little (big, 54cm long!) bundle of joy 🙂
Coming in at 8lb, 1oz and 54cm long, that’s a good size baby. Both baby and mother are doing well, as is Tori…
Here’s the first picture of the little fella. More updates as he grows 🙂
After only camping for 1 night on the annual camping trip this year, we decided we would have to do another night. We had a great idea of finding a new spot, one close to a river so the kids could jump in for a swim and we wouldn’t have an 8k hike back to the camp site.
Well it sounded like a good idea at the time, unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. After heading to a spot we know where the kids could jump into the water, we couldn’t find an appropriate spot to pitch the tents there. Then it started to get late and driving somewhere else to look for another spot just wasn’t going to happen, so we decided to head back to the the regular spot.
Thankfully that spot was ready and waiting for us to arrive. However, when we did arrive we got some news regarding the area, we were told that this bit of forest had been given to an archery club and soon it would not be available for us to camp there again 🙁
So next year we really will have to look for another spot, we’d better start early!
Anyway, the 2nd trip was another bit of fun for the kids, we made them sling-shots and let them practice on the trees and beer cans. Some good shots they had! They might need is because one day we might make them hunt for their dinner!
They are getting that bit older now though so I don’t know how many more years they will want to keep coming camping. We’re going to have to work on getting some new kids aren’t we, it’s just as well Alice is pregnant isn’t it!
So after being infected with a nasty flu for over a week, the annual camping trip was approaching fast, and Tori wasn’t going to take no for an answer! We decided to leave it this year until Saturday to go instead of Friday night. Anyway, we got ready and headed down on Sat.
This year we did the compulsory hike in the opposite direction, we headed from the campsite over the mountain to Loch Tay. We even managed to see the set for the show Vikings! The weather turned then though and we had to call in the emergency services to come and collect us (Philip in Dermot’s 7-seater!). That was going to be the sing of things for the night, nothing but wind and rain all night!
This year we also got a new axe, deadly 🙂 Check out some of the pictures and you’ll see Tori swinging it.
Anyway, seeing as though we only camped for one night, we’ll have to plan for another trip before the end of summer.
Watch this space…
It’s hard to believe, but we’re at that age already! Tori and Casey (as well as Evan and Jamie), have made their confirmation this year. The next big thing now is secondary school, scary!
Tori, Casey and Evan were all confirmed on different dates, but all had a great day. No matter how much you say you’re not visiting people all day, it still never works out. We only managed to sit down to our dinner that night after 10pm! Tori wasn’t worried too much though, not with her big wad of cash…💲
Another Christmas is upon us already, the years are just going by faster and faster! I don’t know if it’s just because we’re getting older or if God is speeding things up because he has other plans!
But it’s a great time of the year, especially for the kids. Tori got some really good presents, as did the rest of the kids. This Christmas also brings the 1 year anniversary of when I proposed to Alice (Christmas 2013), thankfully she said YES 🙂
Here are some pictures of Christmas morning:
Dec 2014 – Vegas Baby…
My first time going state-side and Vegas was the destination. We went for Alice and her Dad’s birthday, a 30th and 60th, great trip, would definitely go back.
After all the shopping was done we managed to get in a tour to some of the History channel shows like Counts Customs, Tanked and Pawn Stars. Really enjoyable as I always watch these shows. The girls didn’t join us for this, they wanted to go shopping, again!
We also got to go and see David Copperfield’s last show of the season, brilliant. And we managed to go to a car show for a private car collection, what a collection!
Will put some pictures up in the gallery also.
2014 didn’t see to many trips around Ireland, however we did manage to get in a trip that Tori and I have been wanting to do now for a while, Wexford in a Mobile Home 🙂 We managed to get a week in Curracloe and had a great time. The weather was great most of the week and with being so close to the beach we couldn’t have asked for much better.
There was myself, Nicole, Casey, Tori, Angel and Skye, and we were joined by Alice and Philip later in the week. A lot of people to put up in one Mobile Home…!
A great typical Irish holiday though, there was trips to the beach, running to get in out of the rain under trees, barbeques in the evening (some also in the rain), we even managed to get a bit of surfing done. Angel and Skye had a great time too at the beach running up and down the sand dunes. Has to be one of the best beaches in the country.
My ma and Charlie went down a few weeks later in the season and didn’t have such a nice time. Some of the worst storms they have ever gotten down there awaited them…! She might not go back too soon.
See link to pics here under Summer 2014.
So Jordan had his debs this year, all grown up now, time for him to get a job I think and start paying his way! No, it’s off to college for him now, after that he can pay us back 🙂
He and Gina looked really well and I believe they had a great night.
Well it’s been a long time coming (30 years in fact…), but the day finally came and Alice celebrated her 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago. She really had no idea that her mam was planning a surprise party, she thought she was going to get away with a night out with the girls. However there was work going on in the background to get a night to remember setup. Her friends managed to get her to Murray’s bar on the night where the rest of her friends and family were waiting to surprise her. It turned out to be a great night and I think Alice was really happy with the outcome.
On top of this was all the great presents she got for her birthday too, perfume, clothes, money and even a trip to Las Vegas, how lucky is she…?
Lots of photos over in the gallery, see link under Summer 2014.
Lots of birthdays this year, it seems like everyone in our family had one at one stage or another 🙂
Three that we captured on camera were Skye’s, Greg’s and Tori’s. They all had nice cakes and Tori managed to get a new (well maybe not new), but a re-vamped bike, see pics below, you wouldn’t think this was a Kawasaki would you…?
Still some more birthdays to go this year though, including mine 🙂
Another birthday, another year!
11 already, crazy. Seems like only a couple of years ago was her first birthday! I remember it well, all the family and friends up, the bouncy castle and the barbecue out the back garden, now it’s 10 years later…!
She always deserves all her presents though, the best little girl in the world 🙂 So this year, surprise surprise… she got a new bike…! Check it out below. Oh, and a Princess cake… well she is still a girl… 🙂
So it seems that I am not the only one to get motorbikes as presents on my birthday, Philip got this lovely Triumph for his birthday from Nicole this year. There was a good story behind it too, Philip had his eye on this bike for a while but the shop had told him they could not sell it to him as the original owner was taking it back. However Nicole had secretly arranged with John to get the bike for Philip. What a girl…
She got the bike dropped to the house while Philip was in work and then rang to get him to come home for his lunch. A nice surprise was waiting in the garden for when he arrived!
Here’s the bike –
So we have had some Communions and Confos this year, Teegan made her first Holy Communion and Sophie made her Confirmation.
Both girls looked beautiful on their days. I have added some photos in the Communion & Conformations Gallery.
Next year now we will have Tori, Casey, Jamie and Evan for Confirmation, Jesus…!
Another Great Camping Trip done for 2014…
Didn’t seem to be as many people this year, however still a great Trip. All the usual activities like Hiking, Swimming, the kids collecting firewood, Midnight Walks, cooking Bears for dinner, all the usual stuff. This year we also brought the mountain bikes so the kids had something extra to do during the day. Not that they would be board though, there’s always plenty of great things for them to do like collecting firewood, sawing the logs, cleaning the camp, all that exciting stuff!
We did get some nice weather for it though, luckily!
I have put some pictures up in the usual place, link on here.
Oh, and I’m always telling the kids that there is Vampires and Wolves our there in the forest, but for some reason they never believe me. Well now we have proof, see the pictures below we managed to get.
There’s Vampires out there…
I can’t believe no one noticed this!