These things occurred on Wednesday July 31, 2024 moving from Dublin, Ireland to Castle Rock & Giant's Causway, Northern Ireland
We like to think our children are unpredictable, but the truth is they are so very predictable. We were twenty minutes into our three hour drive from Dublin, Ireland to Castlerock, Northern Ireland when one of the boys realized they needed to pee, badly. We pulled off at the first rest stop we saw. We parked after quite a bit of circling round a rather empty parking lot. Chaim hadn’t been able to get the car into reverse at the car rental and was a bit concerned about having to reverse out of a spot, hence the circling. Unfortunately for him, he was going to have to get the car into reverse no matter what spot he chose.
A few minutes later we walked into the rest stop. Before embarking on our journey, I had told the boys that ice cream would become a staple just to ensure they were getting enough calcium and protein on this trip. They took me very seriously. They were grinning from ear to ear when they discovered the ice cream freezer. Eitan put on his best puppy dog eyes and said, “Mommy, can we have ice cream please?” and then promptly added, “You said we would have ice cream every day on this trip.” The first of many ice cream purchases was made and we headed outside to sit at a picnic table. All of the tables were covered in bird poop, but we sat down anyway thinking we could avoid it. This proved much harder than expected. Amichai and Shai ended up with fresh bird poop all over them. It was so gross. Inside, they went to wash up and pee. We made everyone else go to the bathroom as well because maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t have to stop the rest of the drive. (We got so close - only one additional stop was made.)
Ready to leave, we sat in the car waiting for Chaim to fight with the gear and put the car in reverse. After a few minutes he asked me to hand him the cheat sheet in the glove compartment. A quick glance and he realized there was a secret that he never had to deal with back home. Turns out, you have to slide the top part of the stick shift up while moving it into reverse. Otherwise, it won’t budge. Feeling accomplished and full of knowledge, we reversed out of our spot and continued our journey.
The boys who were going through screens withdrawal after four days of no real screen time (except, you know, that 2 hour flight they just had with TVs in every seat) begged us to put on a hot spot for them. We obliged because it meant Chaim could concentrate on driving. When not blocked by high shrubs or trees, we could see rolling hills for miles. The views were gorgeous. We could also smell the cows and sheep for miles. Eventually, I got tired of trying to get the boys to look at the incredible views so I made up a game. The rules are simple. Every time someone (usually me) spotted a cow, sheep, horse, or other animal that person makes the appropriate animal sound. Everyone else in the car would have to respond with the same sound. The game did a great job of getting the kids to look up from their screens without me sounding like a nag. There were so many animals along our drive that it led to a lot of laughter. Some of the kids even got excited about being the spotter and stopped focusing on their screens to do so. We named our new game “Moo Baa La La La” after one of our favorite baby books of the same title.
We pulled into our Airbnb around 7PM and met our wonderful hosts, Dorothea and Don. They treated us like family and immediately began telling us about all of the ways to explore like a local. “The Cottage”, as our Airbnb is called, was situated delightfully on their farm. Around back of our new home was a barn with thirty or more baby cows and a cat named Rosey became an instant family favorite. The boys were over the moon and ran around looking at all of the farm equipment and cows. Don took the boys to see the cows up close and even invited them to let a cow suck on their fingers. They described the cow’s tongue as rough as a cat’s and very wet. Their fingers were covered in slobber. Thankfully, Don had told them that it was very important to wash their hands afterward because of possible diseases so they took their handwashing very seriously.
We settled into our new home and finally had a chance to watch the Olympics. While Chaim ran out to the store for some quick provisions for dinner, I made all the boys shower. The water was so hot, and I could not figure out how to get the cold water going (turns out it was broken) that poor Amichai burned himself in a very sensitive area before Don came over to help us sort it out. Eventually, we finished up for the night and went to bed.
