Atticus, who had gone to sleep at 5pm Dublin time the evening before, woke up around midnight and it was obvious that he wasn't going back down, so to allow Tallulah and Cait to sleep, we went for a little walk around the hostel and eventually around town to find some juice and try to walk the little guy to sleep. Perfect success on the first count and no luck on the second, so, after getting yelled at by a burly Irish man for taking my kid out at 2:30 down dimly lit and damp Dublin streets, we returned to the hostel, where we played silent iPad games until 4:30 when he finally dropped off to sleep.
We all slept in late, 9:30 for Cait and Atticus, 10:30 for Tallulah and I. Cait and Atticus got breakfast and Tallulah and I skipped it in favor of more sleep. So after packing up and stopping in for coffee and a muffin, we started our 5 kilometer walk to the hotel where Cait's grandmother, Jo Ann and her husband Earl were staying. It was a little long with the packs full on our backs, but it was pleasant in terms of weather and scenery as we saw a lot of Dublin up close on foot. The kids were once again champs, with Tallulah falling asleep quickly in the backpack and Atticus taking in the sites for half the trip and playing iPad for half happily in the stroller.
Gigi and Earl's hotel was really nice, and they were kind enough to buy us lunch and provide us with their shower to clean and beds to sleep (for me, Atticus and Tallulah). Cait had a good talk with her grandma and Earl while we slept and we hung out there until just after 6pm. It was a nice break.
Gigi and Papa Earl were also kind enough to provide us with some Euro's to get a taxi, thus avoiding two bus rides through an unfamiliar city.
We did end up at the ferry port a little earlier than planned, but we were able to wander around the port for a while before boarding the ferry to London 40 minutes or so before it started out so that we could explore. We had fun exploring the massive ship, including the children's play area. We were a little disappointed that the play area advertised online had been downsized to make room for an arcade and gambling center, but the kids had fun.
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| Sunset on the ferry |
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| The hallway near our cabin |
That was, they were having fun until Atticus ran headlong into a jutting corner chasing after another boy. It was his worst crash in a long time and the lump appeared immediately (we never did get him to let us take a picture and we didn't want to force a hurt kid and as of this writing it has disappeard). The staff was very helpful (after reproaching us for not watching our kids well enough, even though we were both watching him from 3 feet away when it happened) and we even got a free cabin on the ship in return for not suing them for having corners on their ship.
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| The offending corner is gleaming there on the left |
Atticus recovered like a champ with help from the iPad, and he and I hung out, playing iPad/exploring for the rest of the ship/making friends while Tallulah and Cait slept in the cabin.
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