We Made It!

A HUGE hi to everyone! Sorry it took so long---we don't have internet yet! I'm on borrowed wireless. Wow--we've been here a little more than a week! The trip was great. The girls are fabulous travelers. We are all finally over our jet lag---we all were up at 1 a.m., eating and playing games the second night we were here! The girls are thrilled they have their own rooms. Our house is really nice. We live about 3 miles from Athlone. We have a front and back yard. The girls discovered that there are tree snails here and we now have a bowl of shells in the house.

There are riding stables just down the road. The girls did their first class last Wednesday night--in the rain and muck but they didn't seem to care. They jumped their horses for the first time! Lessons start back up after the first of the year so I'm sure we'll be down there once a week. The girls and I got library cards Friday and we know the downtown pretty good. They like walking and doing errands instead of driving everywhere! Tim has to pick us up since we live out here--no public transportation--so it's like having a personal chauffer.

Driving is going better. Tim is doing really good. Driving here is a bit like a Mad Mouse roller coaster. Tight, fast, and everything is backwards. Tim and I still do a circle around the car getting in. We did our first little road trip on Saturday. We went to see a couple castle ruins. The monastery we saw was built--get this--in 529 A.D. OLD

The weather has been pretty good. Sunny the last couple of days, about 40-42 F. The girls and I went hiking on Sunday. There is a lot of flooding here so you have to watch where you walk---up to the knees in water or mud. Sofie fell in yesterday. Not surprising.

I'm hoping to have internet at the house this week! Keep your fingers crossed. Miss you all!