Wednesday, August 31, 2011

First Day of School

Today was the girls first day back to school after summer holidays. Catherine took the day off so she could be here for the exciting occasion! The girls could hardly wait to get to school this morning when they woke up. Naoise kept talking about the butterflies in her stomach, and how she couldn't wait to see all her friends. Aoife was a little quieter about the whole thing, but I could tell she was just as excited. I could really see the difference in their personalities today. Even though Aoife is the younger of the two she was ready to be on her own as soon as we got to her classroom. She is so eager to be a "big girl". Naoise on the other hand wanted hugs and dropped her stuff off in the classroom, and then walked us back out of the school yard. Both the girls got ice cream on the way home as a special first day of school treat. They loved it, especially since the kids size cone was almost as big as them! After they got home, we went to the park once again. It was really nice weather today, and since that will change most likely we are spending as much time outside as we can.

Another Au Pair was at the park today, so it was nice to get to talk to her. She is German and will only be here till the end of September, but she knows a few of the others living in Rathcormac so hopefully I will meet them all soon.

Here is the girls first day of school picture! They are so cute in their uniforms!


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Back to School

Today was the girls last day of summer holiday. They have been saying all week (actually since I got here) how excited they are to go back and see all their friends. I think they are a little bored of each other. Today's mission was to make the day go by fast so that it would be tomorrow and they could go to school. We spent literally the whole day at the park. In the morning we walked over and spent about two hours there with one of Naoise's friends. We took a quick a lunch break and were back at it. I took my camera in the morning, and the girls were eager to take pictures themselves. They never seem to want to get their picture taken, but LOVE to take pictures of themselves, or rather unattractive ones of me. Here are a few from the day-








The only other big news is I finally was able to master hill starts! and I am starting to become pretty comfortable with the roads here. I'll try and snap a few pictures of the girls before school tomorrow to share. They tried on their uniforms tonight, and they are pretty cute!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sunday Afternoon in Rathcormac

Manchester United played Arsenal this afternoon, so after I took a nap I went with Paul and the girls to the pub to meet Catherine's sister and her boyfriend. We got some food and then the girls left with Josie to go to the park in Fermoy. Paul, Mark(Josie's boyfriend) and I stayed and watched the game. Paul is a huge United supporter and Mark pulls for Arsenal, so it was pretty funny to see their reactions. If you didn't catch it United won 8-2, so needless to say Paul is out celebrating at the pub now.
I decided to come back and go on a walk. I haven't gone on a walk since I have been here so I thought it would be nice, and the weather was great this afternoon. Catherine had pointed out a road to me that leads down to a little pond, but I hadn't been down yet. I had my Ipod with me so I took a few pictures so you could see how pretty it was.





Weekend Update

I went to a festival in Taylor's village this weekend. Paul dropped me at her house on Friday (I wasn't quite ready to make the drive on my own) and we went down to the pitch where the festival events were going on. There was entertainment for the kids, and an tug-0-war competition going on that night so we stuck around to watch. Saturday we went into Mallow and did some shopping. I finally got a blow dryer and hair straightener which I was pretty excited about. It was a pretty low key day just shopping and then taking a rest in the afternoon. Then at 6 we went down to see the kids in the fancy dress parade. The costumes were great, and the kids had a great time. Taylor and I had to get Gill to explain some of the costumes to us because we didn't understand the humor behind some of them.

Last night was also the dance in the hall. Gill was on the committee for the festival so she had to be there early to set up, so Tay and I went with Kiran to the pubs in town before heading in for the dance. They were all really crowded, and we could tell most of the people were wondering who we were. We had a great time though and it was fun to meet all the people that I have heard so much about from Taylor.

I just got back to my house a few minutes ago, and am about to take a nap! I hope everyone is okay after Irene, from the updates I have gotten it seems like everyone is doing okay. The storm is all over the news here, and everyone was asking us about it last night.


Thursday, August 25, 2011

Another gem...

Naoise decided to make a video of a news broadcast the other day (which was pretty funny itself but too long to post), so Aoife had to get in on the action. Here is a video of her magic trick she did for the camera...although she forgot one thing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIUgtCA3kAY

Rainy Day

Today was pretty low key. It was raining on and off all day so the girls and I spent most of the day in doors. They wanted to paint cards this morning, which ended up being an all day project. I only took a few pictures, although Aoife decided that she was the official photographer, so needless to say I couldn't tell you how many pictures I have of windows and parts of our faces on my computer right now.
These are a few of the pictures from today. Some I took, and others Aoife did.







The girls couldn't stop talking about Katy Perry yesterday, so today we had a little dance party. Aoife was especially excited to show off her skills, and insisted that I videotape her. I know you all are so excited that you will get to see her moves as well.

We also skyped with Taylor today, which the Naoise and Aoife thought was great. The girls were curious about why Taylor's skin looked so different than ours over the video chat. They don't quite understand the concept of a tan. I'll see Taylor tomorrow afternoon, and am looking forward to my first weekend in Ireland.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

better late than never....

I have been in Rathcormac for about five days now, and have yet to blog. Just trying to keep up the same standards from my last trip abroad. I promise I will be better about it once the girls are back in school. I'll get to the good stuff now- I feel like I am finally settling in here at the McCarthy house. Paul and Catherine (the parents) are really great, and were very welcoming from the get go. Naoise and Aoife (pronounced NEE-sha and EE-fa) are precious and very sweet. I arrived on Saturday and didn't do much over the weekend. The highlights were really a drive into the town closest to us Fermoy (about 5minutes away), dinner at a pub in the village, and my first driving lesson. The most stressful for sure was driving. I had practiced driving stick a few times before I left the states (thanks to Mark and Mary Rice!) but was still not perfect. Good news- I didn't stall at all! Bad news- I had to drive stick from the opposite side of the car and the road which was quite an adjustment. Paul took me out and was really great about it, although I was pretty nervous.


Monday started the work week for Paul and Catherine, which meant it started for me as well. Paul doesn't work on Mondays and Fridays so it was nice to ease into the responsibilities with him here. I had the girls on my own in the morning while Paul took Catherine into Cork City where they both work. After he got back he showed me the ropes, and I played with the girls for most of the day. Then I minded them while he went to pick Catherine up from work. It is nice that when they get home they are really good about making sure that the girls give me a break after being with them all day. Tuesday-Thursday I have the girls all day (from around 7:30AM-6PM) until they start school on the 31st. We have spent most of our time outside over the last couple of days since there has been such nice weather. Everyone I meet keeps telling me this isn't typical for Ireland, and I believe them! I have to laugh when they say it is hot here because I am still in pants and long sleeves while they are in summer clothes.


I met Catherine's mom and sister this week which was nice. Catherine's sister lives in the village, and her mom lives in Cork City. The girls were VERY excited to introduce me.


I had a second driving lesson yesterday which went much better than the first- Paul said he could tell I was a lot more confident and I definitely was. It will be nice to be driving once the girls are in school, so I can do what I want during the day.


Naoise and Aoife keep asking me questions about America and constantly want to hear about stories from when I was young. If anyone can think of any good ones let me know!- I have been racking my brain! They also ask if I have ever met a different Disney channel actor everyday. Apparently they think I am tight with a lot of celebrities to include Selena Gomez, Beebs, Miley Cyrus, and just about any pop star you can think of.


I haven't seen Taylor yet, but we finally both got mobiles (and yes group awesome I am loving being able to call them that), so it will be easier to communicate. Killavullen is having a festival this weekend so I am hoping to see her for that!