June 24 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY SILAS!

Our self-proclaimed "Little Boy" is, as of today, referring to himself as a "Big Boy." I guess turning THREE was his criteria for that milestone. :)

Hannah took this picture of the horses in front of our house because there is a new arrival - congratulations Mamma Horse!

We went to see Athenry Castle for a birthday field trip.
It was built by the Norman baron Meiler de Bermingham in 1235 to guard the crossing over the Clareen River to protect the town of Athenry.

This castle is restored, but not furnished, so was an ideal place for the boys to run around. Bunratty with all it's 500yr-old, irreplaceable furnishings gets a little nerve-wracking.

In the "garderobe" - the bathroom. The hole is the toilet that empties down a shaft to a pit on the ground. Do you still think it would be romantic to live in a castle in those days? I think not.

This second level of the castle was added in the 1400's when the castle likely became a garrison for soldiers and a storage place for equipment. The de Bermingham family moved to a more comfortable town house near the market square.

The garrison is now a little theater showing a 20-minute movie about the history of this and other castles and monestaries in Galway County. The boys had loads of fun jumping from bench to bench before the movie started.

They watched attentively and jived a little to the lively Irish music playing in the background.

They ran races in the gable.

He's definitely transitioned into the fake, forced smile stage. Bummer.

The small slit windows in this gable are called loops. Common in castles, they were designed so that an arrow could be fired at an enemy below, while giving as much protection as possible to soldiers in the castle. While allowing quite a large angle of fire from inside, the size and shape of the window made it almost impossible for a marksman on the ground to hit a defender.

A loop.

I asked Silas what he would like to eat for his birthday lunch to which he immediately and excitedly replied, "CHEESE!"

I later regretted suggesting to Aaron that he climb this wall.

Hannah and I turned around at about the same time to see Aaron up the wall again - much higher this time. He had been right with me seconds earlier.

Silas puts his shoes on the wrong feet about 80% of the time. Shouldn't it be closer to 50/50?

Across from the castle is the ruins of the monestary and in the yard was this tender scene.

Traffic on the drive home. A load of bagged peat.

An aside: In the car, I was telling Hannah about Irish sports, "...they also play soccer and rugby." Silas chimed in from the back seat, "And Uncle Jake plays rugby. We got him a ball." This child's memory continually amazes - and frightens - us. Back in February, we got a little rugby ball for Jake, sent it back with Leah, and it hasn't been mentioned since!

I had talked Silas out of having just cheese for lunch by telling him we could get Supermac's since it was a very special day. :)

He seemed pleased enough.

And thrilled with getting to drink a whole milkshake!

Aaron, meanwhile, having lost the privilege of eating Supermac's for lunch by choosing to be defiant when we said it was time to leave the castle, dipped his apple in ketchup since he had no fries.

Moriah took a tumble and got her first fat lip.

Hannah tried to work on her reading for a while.

She gave Aaron an "assignment" of his own to get him out of her hair for a little while (I assume). He was pretty proud of himself. :)

Thursday is market day in Oranmore Village. I only got a few things to last us until we left for The States. Usually, my bag is spilling over with vegetables, much to Daniel's delight! Hannah took these pictures, so I'll show you the market.

From left: the Fish Monger truck, "Athenry Organics" produce tent, the livestock farmer/butcher truck, the French artisan baker's van, and behind him, the homemade cheese cart. There are a few more stands further to the right - mostly baked goods.

Hannah visited the stand with the cappuccino.

Time for a Birthday Party!

I made pork chops for supper the previous week, and the boys loved them. They have been asking lately what animal we are eating when we eat meat - which is every day. They kept calling it "pig" instead of "pork" and we didn't try to correct them. So, I had planned to make "pig" for Silas' birthday supper. I considered changing the menu after he picked his birthday theme (ie placemat, plates, and cups) yesterday, but decided it was too funny a situation to pass up!

Maybe "funny" isn't quite the right word, but I don't know what is.

Fun with streamer poppers.

Another of his new "smiles."

Grandma Dyrud had sent a gift over with Hannah. Having never seen the movie Toy Story, he wasn't sure what to think at first. Then he shouted, "DINOSAURS, KEEP OUT! SHUT YOUR MOUTH! That's what the shirt says."

The Bucks also sent a gift. Aaron quietly laid claim to "Diesel 10" while Silas was distracted.

No, Silas does not read, but he pretended to read each card, making up text and "reading" it aloud. Each card ended with "I love you Silas."

And the winner of the "Gift that Ellicited the Most Excited Reaction Award" this year goes to the $3 sand toy we picked up in a last-ditch effort to find a gift yesterday.

He got a few phone calls today. We could only hear his end. I heard him say the exact same thing during each of the conversations: "I'm 3 years old. Aaron's 4 years old. We're both big."

I don't know where he learned to do "3" like this.

That year just flew right bye!

We love you, Baby Si! How did you grow up so fast?