Cheer cheer for old Notre Dame

We spent another invigorating (cold and rainy) but fun day at Notre Dame ('ND') on Saturday. It started early in the day with tailgating (a form of car boot party in the carpark alongside the college stadium where the car boots (trunks) are full of beer and food and everyone stands around, catches up with friends and generally has a merry time) followed by the game at 3:30pm against Boston College ('BC'). I understand that BC has had the better record in recent games and over their history it stood at 9 games a piece - so important bragging rights were at stake.

This was also Eoin's first ND game and he was well up for the partying and took a keen interest in the game (for which the sun kindly came out!). He wasn't too happy when ND were down 13 to 16 with about 10 minutes to go but he was soon in better spirits when ND scored a touchdown and survived some tense final minutes to win 20 to 16. He also really enjoyed the half time entertainment provided by the ND school marching band.

Eireann go baby!

We are not long back from a two weeks trip to Eire - a nice amount of time (even though we were sad to see it end) to meet with family and friends, enjoy some of the best that the Emerald Isle has to offer (luckily for us during some fine late summer weather) and simply relax away from it all.

This was a big trip for Eoin - his first visit to his other homeland and a chance to meet all his Irish relatives who were keen to make his acquaintance. He is a superb traveller, not fazed by multiple changes of location nor by the lengthy journeys on planes and automobiles and the many changes to his routine!

We had a lovely time with some of our great friends in Dublin, Wexford and Limerick, were delighted to be able to attend my cousin Rachael's wedding (to Alan Murphy!) and see such a happy couple who will have a great life together, there was a fabulous 'welcome to Derraulin' party for Eoin and it was such fun to have many generations of Murphys, Hunts and Tierneys in one place and it was especially nice to spend time with my family whose kindness and love are always in abundance and never more so than for the newest member of the family!

Something old, something new, something U2!!!

We went to U2's 360 degree tour at soldier field in Chicago just before our trip to Ireland. What a show, probably the best U2 stadium concert I have been to (their Slane Castle concert still the best overall). Like alot of people I am a little indifferent to their new album but they enthusiastically belted out some of the best songs from their many back albums. This was a night to remember.

PS: Thanks Brig and Mike for babysitting!

Getting Bigger Every Day!

Eoin is getting so big! He recently started eating solid (more like mushy) food and is even big enough for the swings at the park. Sometimes I wish I could freeze his age right now because he is so smiley and happy and he is relatively easy since he doesn't walk or talk. My friends assure me parenthood just gets better and better. I hope they're right, because it is great right now.

And yes I know we owe everyone pictures from Ireland. They are coming I swear! I'll use the fact that I just went back to work last week as my excuse.

Frequent Flyer

We took Eoin to Ireland and he was great on both the plane rides. We were lucky that the seat between Francis and I was free so Eoin had his own seat. He slept most of the way and didn't cry at all. Check back for more Ireland pictures next week.