Now that life has calmed down a bit, I'll catch everyone up on what has been going on these last two months. We'll start with leaving Saudi. Saudi will always have a special place in my heart and we really enjoyed our 4 years there. We will miss our colleagues and friends who became our family. We will also miss our students and the many opportunities that living abroad gave us.
The Dammam airport decided to give us a very typical good-bye. We ended up waiting in the immigration line for what felt like forever (it was probably about an hour) as our line was continually stopped and Saudi nationals were allowed to skip in front. Thank goodness we had the stroller and had forced Aden to sit in it because he promptly fell asleep which was good for everyone.
Let the vacation begin! We arrived in Dublin the next morning and met Jamie's parents, Brian and Wendy, at their hotel. They were really excited to finally meet their granddaughter. From there we drove up to Portstewart which is on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. We had decided that with the kids, we would just stay in one place and do day trips. This was the best decision we could have made and I would highly suggest it to anyone. We had a fabulous house right on the coast and just a few minutes walk into town. We found a few restaurants that we loved in town and just kept going back. There was the traditional fish and chips, bangers and mash, steak and ale pie, but there were also some surprised such as Yorkshire pudding (fantastic!) and a salad with goat cheese that I ended up ordering twice because it was so good. I would go back to Portstewart any time. The people were friendly, food was fabulous, scenery was amazing, plus there are a lot of things to see and do within an hour drive.
Aden with his class and teachers
Avery with her teachers and one classmate
The Dammam airport decided to give us a very typical good-bye. We ended up waiting in the immigration line for what felt like forever (it was probably about an hour) as our line was continually stopped and Saudi nationals were allowed to skip in front. Thank goodness we had the stroller and had forced Aden to sit in it because he promptly fell asleep which was good for everyone.
Let the vacation begin! We arrived in Dublin the next morning and met Jamie's parents, Brian and Wendy, at their hotel. They were really excited to finally meet their granddaughter. From there we drove up to Portstewart which is on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. We had decided that with the kids, we would just stay in one place and do day trips. This was the best decision we could have made and I would highly suggest it to anyone. We had a fabulous house right on the coast and just a few minutes walk into town. We found a few restaurants that we loved in town and just kept going back. There was the traditional fish and chips, bangers and mash, steak and ale pie, but there were also some surprised such as Yorkshire pudding (fantastic!) and a salad with goat cheese that I ended up ordering twice because it was so good. I would go back to Portstewart any time. The people were friendly, food was fabulous, scenery was amazing, plus there are a lot of things to see and do within an hour drive.
On a walk that goes along the coast and right by our house.
Portstewart!
Hanging out on the beach
While doing research for the trip, Brian and/or Jamie had found out that the neighboring town of Portrush was having a 5k beach run while we were there. Of course, they had to join. It was quite an experience as they were actually running in the sand, but the beautiful scenery made up for the difficulty.
And off they go.....
The day trips we did included the Giant's Causeway, Bushmill's Distillery, Dunluce Castle, and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Aden and Avery did great jobs with all the driving and seeing everything. Aden's favorite thing was all the cows. Sorry, I can't find the pictures from the Giant's Causeway, but I'll post them when I do find them.
Cows!
Our troop (minus Jamie the photographer)
Dunluce Castle from afar
Jamie and Aden getting ready to cross the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
I'll be honest, although Giant's Causeway is supposed to be the coolest attraction in the area, the rope bridge was my favorite. It was a beautiful almost mile walk down to the bridge. It was so interesting to think that the bridge was made originally by fisherman who wanted to fish off Sheep Island. They were daring souls. Everyone went over the bridge, including Aden and Avery! I was a bit nervous about that, but it wasn't so bad and was over in just a matter of seconds. Sheep Island is really just a big rock. There wasn't much to do there besides take a few pictures and then turn around and head back. However, just after we got to the island, a storm blew in that made the island pretty scary. It was windy and rainy and I thought for sure they would shut the bridge down and we would be stuck. The bridge did stay open and we did cross it in the rain which was a bit terrifying. We then had the long walk back to the car. Grandpa Brian was amazing and carried Aden the entire way back! Avery was in her wrap which I then put a rain jacket over. She ended up sleeping through the entire thing! It was an adventure all right.
Touring and tasting at Bushmill's Distillery
Aden has had a variety of interesting diaper changes including the middle of a sheep field in Scotland, Sultan's palace grounds in Oman, and now we add to that the sidewalk at the Bushmill's Distillery. The boy sure knows how to time it.
Exploring Dunluce Castle
Hanging out at the castle
We really enjoyed our time in Portstewart. The weather and scenery are such a vast contrast from Saudi that we really appreciated. We did spend some time in Belfast on our way back to Dublin. We took a few hours to check out the new Titanic museum which was very well done, but we didn't take pictures there. Finally, we got back on a plane and headed to Wisconsin.... our final destination!
