Thursday we took a drive out through the Burren to Corofin, following an old craft trail leaflet. En-route we had fun trying to spot the "Cathair Mhor" stone ring fort, amid the rocky landscape of the Burren. We stopped at th "Poulnabrone Portal Dolmen", which according to the blurb is more ancient (& therefore more impressive) than the pyramids of Giza.

At Corofin the guide recomended 3 places to eat, one of which the Inchiquin Inn had been dining pub of the year 2002....Things had clearly not gone so well for them in the intervening 6 years, but we made the most of our lunch, with Fidget sharing my beef and (cooked since the morning) cabbage and carrot. After lunch we drove out to Lough Bunny and found a super place to park right by the lough edge. We had coffee and muffins while Fidget slept. While munching, Mark looked up and spotted some cows heading for us, being driven along the Lough shore. I panicked slightly and drove off quite sharply, narrowly missing some big rocks and leaving M to balance the coffee he was drinking. After a short while (when I felt danger had passed) we drove back, took a picture to reinact the scene.

Fidget woke up so we had a walk round.

We drove back to the cottage, Fidget had a play upstairs, as I left the room, Fidget waved and said "bye!" this was officially her first word. She has definately been getting more confident with noises and when you say a word, you can hear her trying to repeat the sound, so tea might be repeated as "ta...te..ttt" or drink "da...dec", bananna - "be..ba-ba".

We walked down to the beach leaving most of our usual paraphenalia behind, we had a nice stroll along, but were careful about paddling after seeing jellyfish washed up (it had been quite stormy). We walked the length of the beach and back, then it was back to the cottage for Fidget's bed time.

Friday was our last proper day in Fanore, we needed a few things from the shops so headed to Ballyvaughn. Got back to the cottage for lunch. It had been a beautiful morning but though the weather was closing in we still went down to the beach. The tide was out so it was safe to swim. M pitched the shade tent then went into the sea to swim while Fidget and I explored the rock pools.

After a while it was really getting grey so we packed up then had one last walk and paddle along the shore.

On Wednesday we decided to head south on the coast road. We ended up at Lehinch, which has a super gently sloping, wide beach. The water was very clear and Fidget really enjoyed paddling.

We had lunch in the town, Fidget had some of my seabass, potatoe and carrot and some of M's veg lasange. By the time we came out the tide had come in and the beach had dissapeared!

Drove back, stopping on the coast road for coffe and cake. Back at the cottage, Fidget had tea, then we headed down to the beach, as the weather was really lovely. We all had a paddle, then chilled in the beach tent.

Back to the cottage for bath and bed, but we hadn't put the immersion heater on, so we took Fidget in the shower - she was very tired after her day running round the beaches, and was unimpressed with this!

Overnight on the first Monday, Fidget woke up 3 times, we thought it was because of the stormy weather, but in the morning we noticed that she had goo coming out of her ear, we recognised this as a problem she had had before in the other ear, and so went across to the nearby town and sat in the doctors surgery for the morning, before a freindly doctor prescribed antibiotics.


It was then lunchtime, so we headed to a resteraunt recomended by the Irish girls from the day before. Again it was early, so no-one else was there. The owner was very freindly, and made Fidget a special pasta dish - which she didn't eat - and she then proceeded to eat most of mine (a veggy pizza) which was very nice. She also sampled some crab and prawns from M's seafood platter.

We then drove back to the cottage and prepared ourselves for the beach as the weather was looking good (though it got more changeable).

We put up the beach tent, which worked well with the wind, rain then sun combo. Fidget was less sure about paddling, but was happy to sit in the tent and play.

"look what I found!!"

On the Monday we visited the Burren Perfumery in the morning, which is a place we visited on our last holiday to Ireland. It is a small perfumery making organic products from local resources, and has a lovely shop, tea room and herb garden. Fidget enjoyed walking round the herb garden and touching all the plants, Mummy enjoyed buying stuff from the shop, Daddy enjoyed some tea!

We came back via a small gallery and pottery studio, and found a great little seafood restaurant, right by a quay, where a fresh lobster catch was being brought in. Fidget was very interested in the lobsters. We went in for lunch. It was quite early and the other customers were an American couple, and a pair of Irish girls on a cycling trip. Both pairs thought Fidget adorable, wanted to know her name, and she spent most of the lunch toddling up and down smiling and playing with everyone. Fidget and I had crabcakes, she also liked the homemade bread.

Back at the cottage, it was a very rainy afternoon, but Fidget had a great time walking up and down the length of the upstairs lounge waving socks. She was really keen to explore, this afternoon was really a turning point in her walking, where she really gained the confidence to go in whatever direction she wanted - on her own!

Back from Paris today, so time to start the long task of updating the blog with our holiday... I have only just finished sorting out the photos, so I will start with the first few days, and hope I can pick up the pace before the weekend and her party!

Sunday was the first proper day of our holiday, we drove down to Doolin (you might notice still in our old car), which is the home of Irish music or something! We all had lunch at a pub, it was pretty touristy, but went down well, and Fidget enjoyed some salmon and carrot. The bar lady gave Fidget a bear shaped wafer biscuit.

The area we were in, is called the Burren, which is a very rocky part of Ireland. There is very little topsoil, and loads of exposed limestone pavements. We went down to the point, Fidget loved walking around, but it was really windy.

On the way back, stopped to have some coffe and cakes and look at a veiw while Fidget slept in the car. When she woke up, we took a walk to the shore, were it was a bit more grassy, and again - more fun walking. At this stage, she was still quite wobbly on her own, but willing to give it a go.

We went back to the cottage for tea (cheesy noodles - Fidget unimpressed!) then walked down to the beach at Fanore, by the cottage. This was Fidget's first paddling, she had a great time.

She tried out her walking again, but fell over in the wet sand - she didn't seem to mind.

So it was back to the cottage for bath and bed.

Sorry for the big gap in posts, but we have been on our first TeamChallis family holiday!!

On Friday 27th June, we headed off to Holyhead after Fidget was asleep, for an overnight crossing to Dublin. We all got some sleep, and then after a fairly relaxed drive across Ireland, we got to Craggy Cottage in Fanore. (http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/craggycottage/frameset.html)

We were all pretty tired, but very happy to have arrived, and very pleased with Craggy Cottage, which had lovely veiws, lots of space and was very close to the beach.

There is so much to write up about the holiday, it feels a littl overwhelming, as we didnt get much sleep on the ferry crossing back last night, but to give you a quick summary (to be enlarged on over the next week or so)... Fidget walking, talking, paddling, M & I swiming in the sea, birthday parties, great scenery, time with M's family, lots of fun...

Off again for a few days tommorrow, so will be on the road for Fidget's first birthday, but the celebrations have already begun with a party while we were away, and will be building to a birthday picnic next Sunday!

Anyway, all that to come, for now....good night!