Paris Home for Christmas

Let's try that link again:

http://www.paris-be-a-part-of-it.com/beapart/index.php?id=259&model=view

Leaving for Paris....

You may have noticed our countdown to Paris on the lefthand bar of this blog! We are spending at least a week of our next break in Paris. We have rented an apartment, seen here:
http://www.paris-be-a-part-of-it.com/beapart/index.php?id=259&model=view

and will be there over Christmas! We wanted an apartment so that we can take advantage of all the food to cook with and the markets and stuff. We will be there for a week for sure and then we aren't sure what the second half of our trip... will keep you updated...

Just some Sunday morning fun!

This is what I look like after teaching in England for 3 months.


That's right folks, I have turned into a Banshee.


Connor has been defying the time and space by drinking this cup of coffee through the whole picture.




Here we have some sunshine starfish crepes. Connor nicely cooks for us on a regular basis, and this particular morning was crepes filled with walnuts and a sprinkling of syrup. Delicious.






The proud Connor and his crepes!!

The Dears Celebrate 7 Years <3

A couple of updates in our recent adventures:

Our 7 year anniversary was celebrated in London in a day of adventures! Started with Ben getting two hours at a piano rehearsal space for an anniversary present. We then ventured to the Tate Museum. On the way there we found ourselves in the middle of a parade! A parade! Only in London can you come across a parade! We still aren't sure what it was for, but there were teachers and plumbers and apple farmers and Girl Scouts. We then headed to the Tate Modern. It was filled with many amazing and interesting paintings and sculptures. We saw a huge installation which was an enourmous metal box, probably 3 stories tall and very deep and open at one end for you to walk into. You are to walk into the box (around the screaming children) into complete darkness, having no indication of when the box would end. At the end is a lovely velvet wall and you look behind you and can only see the silhouettes of the hundreds of other brave souls. After enjoying some of the other exhibits, we then enjoyed a smashing lunch in the Cafe, before heading back to Westminster to see Wicked!! We enjoyed a lovely Italian Dinner and hopped back across the street for the musical. It was truly magical as it was meant to be. We were in the front row and could see every impeccable detail of the costumes and the set. It was an enchanting way to experience one of my favourite musicals, mostly because Ben and I got to see it all together.

(That picture is from Ireland, just thought it was cute)

Two more on the council.

Our other flatmates.

Ben has been recently drawing some faces for our wall. They act as a kind of council overseeing and judging our every move. They also add much more character to the apartment. Can you guess who is who??

Away again...

Hello friends. Sorry we have been away for so long. School has been incredibly busy and overwhelming us. However, we will take some time to Blog now, and hopefully get back on track.

Lucky Charms!!

Mom loved the leprauchan. She paid to have her picture taken with him.


A little bit of Swansburg Family Trivia- this is the same leprauchan Kenny paid two weeks previous to lend his head for a picture.

GUINESS FACTORY

The Best Raincoat in the World.

I am probably going to write a children's book about this raincoat. Mom, Dad and Ben are probably sick of my talking about it. But I don't care. It is the greatest thing about this side of the world since my discovery of Jacket Potatoes.





It had matching boots.



I might need to go back.

Dublin, the first few days in Ireland.

Our first two days were spent in Dublin. We did the traditional bus tour to see our way around. This was fun, but very chilly. We stayed on Temple Bar street, so it was quite busy and crazy, but we were close to everything.

Ireland

I will try and be brief with the stories of Ireland, as I could talk for days about it. It was an amazing experience, and we had such a great time seeing my parents. You may or may not know that my brave father rented a van and drove us across Ireland. We basically made a big loop, down the east coast, across the south and up the west coast and then across the middle of the country back to Dublin. We didn't make it to the North- next time Dad said. In these couple of pictures you might be wondering when did they find time to visit that swanky casino. But no, that groovy carpet and stylish lighting effects is the ferry to Ireland! The boat was truly luxurious.

Our first day was spent on the train and then on the ferry. It was something Dad really wanted to do, and we are glad we did it but it was a very long day of travelling. The ferry was very rocky.