Where the wild Moonys are

day 23

we had a nice breakfast… (ditto like day 22!) 

it was really nice! then we left off after we packed up and back home along the “coastal causeway route.” it was really, well, up and down, this way that way, which made me really dizzy! but luckily we stopped off at a place called Dunluce castle, it was AWESOME!!!

we had so much fun playing with our dad.

wrestle the ogre

the castle was also awesome though, it was massive so we bought some tickets, it was well worth buying them though, it was cool.

then, when we left, we went to a place called, Murlough Bay. it was really fun, I ran all the way down a massive driveway thingy which went for ages, then we got to a car park place and went on two separate walks.

it was fun and mum loved it, she said it reminded her of tazzie* (*Tasmania!)

	Aye, that’s Scotland

after that we went off to have lunch at a place called Cushendun. it was nice, I had a sandwich and some minimum sized pancakes. not really, they were actually pretty big.

then we went to Belfast to see where the titanic was built, (And find a shirt like Tom’s, my mum’s cousin’s son, which says, “the Titanic, built by a Irishman, sunk by an Englishman!”) haha!

but our bad luck pounced in and it closed right when we got there! darn!

finally we drove home, and finally touched down in bed after 4 hours drive and a stop at a petrol station for some junk food (at 11pm). then we went to bed.

the end!

day 22

we had a nice breakfast. after that we went off to the Slieve League, a bunch of HUGE cliffs! they were awesome… there were the biggest winds I’ve ever seen in my life there.

Totoro came too

we were literally standing on a 45 degree angle! wow! windy!

Greg and Anna were the only ones who actually went to the top because when we got to the top we sat in the car and played a game, but that doesn’t make us babies because we couldn’t climb a cliff, the reason was because it was pouring!

we eventually went off to the next sight but we had to drive into another country! northern Ireland… it was fun! we went to a place called “the Giant’s Causeway!”

it was fun but mum said she hated it because there were no trees. I liked it a bit but I have to agree with my mum! (No trees!!!)

we then went to Ballintoy harbour where Game of Thrones is filmed.

	evading (photo)capture

well, anyway, after that we went off to Carrick-a-Rede, in it we went on a 1 kilometre walk.

it was boring until we reached the bridge! it was so scary, like one of those creaky ones in the movies! it was a 20 metre long, a rope bridge.

it was dangerous in the winds but still safe! after we got back we went off to get a b & b* to stay in. (* b & b, meaning breakfast in bed, like a hotel!) but, without luck, we wasted 4 HOURS, looking for a place to stay because they were all booked out! but we eventually found a well priced one with 2 rooms so we took it!

[Ed: At 11pm ... the Lodge Hotel. Hooray!]

day 21

I slept in, till after my brother. that’s a good way to measure it, but it also counts as a long time! I finally woke up and we got ready to leave on our trip! yay! first we drove to Boyle.

Maybe Max is right … boring!

then we got some lunch, after that Daisy got a photo taken with some old grannies to get put in their local newspaper!

then we played at a festival and daisy got her face painted.

also what we did was play a weird game thing called… actually I don’t know what its called! but it was a game where you get put in giant bubbles and bump other people! it was fun but some older teenagers dominated!

Carnage!

after that we hopped back in the car and left off to a place called Carrowkeel. its like an old cemetery made out of rocks! its probably older than newgrange so nearly 5000 years old!!! at the start we couldn’t find it but a guy called Harry Bell, showed us the way by driving ahead of us!

Harry Bell	Non descript

there was something called a roof box, its like the exact same thing as at newgrange, which lets the sun in on the summer solstice. its awesome!

then finally we finished and went to a place called Donegal, but we had no place booked and a big GAA match had just finished, but we eventually found a place to stay, it was called the Atlantic hotel! yay! we went to bed after a nice dinner!

the end!

Day 20

all I can say is, ditto! we did the exact same thing, (after we did our computer game time) we went on the walk again! yay. but, before we even did that we cleaned up the house!

and then, yes, we went to Shannonharbour again for the food mostly but mostly to get a walk around before our car trip! (The next day…)

when we got there we had our dinner and then went out to the playground a few more little kids came in with  nerf guns and lots of other stuff! (They were very energetic and liked to punch people and try to strangle them!)

I didn’t! then we started to walk home, it became dark really quick! REALLY, quick! we were walking in the dark for nearly an hour!

it got really boring but eventually we hit the car and drove home to bed!

day 19

All right! lets get this on! for starters, daisy had a test on her times tables… it went well! in fact, it went so well that she got 48 out of 48! yay! that means that she got her ears pierced! double yay!

and that meant that she was out of the house for a while!!! triple yay! after that… MORE READING!!! reading, reading, reading! yep, once again the mad reader strike’s again! quadruple yay!!! (not!)

after that we went on a massive walk! it went for ages, about an hour and a bit! (not fun mind you!) but when we got there it got fun, the food was divine! we walked from Belmont to Shannonharbour along the grand canal, we walked all the way faster than a boat!

so we were tired! very tired! which is why I ate half a 10” pizza and a lemonade with some chips! (Greedy guts me!) while we were having dinner mum and dad had a chat with the people in the boat because they went to the same pub!

then there was the walk home.

I got so tired because it was like 8:30! really late to go on a long walk. anyway, me and my brother were the first in the car so we listened to some music until the others came in who decided to turn it down really low! annoying! then we got home and went to bed after a nice brush of the teeth!

The end!

(P.S.) this is for Nick and Barbara. (my grandparents!)

1. you know daisy’s test of tables…

2. it is fun!

3. yes we are but the cat eats it!

4. I think I have?

5. daisy loves him so we feed him! (Not that you would like it!)

6. lastly, yes we have!

[Ed: 1. Her times tables.  If she passed the test she gets earrings. 2. What of Ireland? 3. Are you feeding the birds? 4. Have you seen Percy the pheasant ? 5.What happened to the stray black cat? 6. Have you visited Doon across the road yet???]

day 17 R E A D I N G ! ! ! all day. yep that’s right, lots and lots of reading, I finished the second hero’s of Olympus… I think that deserves a round of applause! yay! go max! Ah-Hu! yeah well, I deserved that.

anyway, after about 4 o clock we went to a friends house for dinner, but it wasn’t all that easy… we had to walk for half an hour!!! it got boring but at least I had a brother to talk to! but it was alongside a canal and that made it alot better than alongside the road! that was helpful!( but still boring!)

then we got to their house. it was a big house… BIG! we said hello and then had a chat with the natives… they were friendly. and they even let us watch the first bit of T.V. that we have ever watched in Ireland! yay. we watched Planes. it was OOOOOOOKKKKKKKKK but definitely not the best movie I’ve ever watched! we stayed there until 11 o clock and then left off for home! [Ed: we drove to Mullingar too that morning!] day 18 it was a bit more exciting, if you count reading as exciting!!! yes we read for AGES!!! so a complete replay in fact. exept instead of going to a friend’s house for dinner, we went all out Indian in Athlone?

At 1200 year old bar!

and I guess that concludes my blog for today! the end!

this is what the Smigggle people sent me involving penguino bro, after my dad emailed them:

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From : Greg Clerk (birkenhead@primus.com.au) Line Number: xxxxxx Message : Hi, my son adored the penguin eraser which came in the tenth birthday eraser pack, even talking it overseas with him to Ireland from Australia … which is where he lost it. I appreciate that it is no longer sold but have you any in stock, even of just the (blue) penguin? Or do you know where they might still be sold? The adventures of penguino-bro were being captured here, were you interested: http://bingbong.id.au/?p=3156“. Regards, Greg

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From: Product@smiggle.com.au [mailto:Product@smiggle.com.au] Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 2:11 AM To: birkenhead@primus.com.au Subject: Fw: Product Feedback Hi Greg, Thank you for the email. We loved seeing the adventures of penguino-bro and we are very sorry to see he went missing in Ireland somewhere. Unfortunately we have completely sold out of the penguin erasers and have none left in the business. We have searched high and low for a replacement blue penguino-bro for your son and but sadly they are long gone. But the good news is, we have found his black penguin cousin! As the penguin erasers are no longer for sale, we are happy to post him out your son free of charge. Upon reply please advise your postal address and we will post penguino-cuz out to your son. Thank you If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at product@smiggle.com.au

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hooray!

Bye Penguino-bro.

day 15

you could say day 15 was one of the most exciting days yet, well you would be close! some of our relatives came over. their names were Finn, my mums cousin, tom , her eighteen year old son, and ben, her husband. when we inherited this place, it was supposed to go to my mum, my mums sister and her cousin finn! and we’re staying at it at the moment. well anyway, we had some visitors, and that was them, fin, tom and ben. they came here at 11 in the morning so we had to wake up my brother early (11 o clock), well, you could say that’s an early morning for him. anyway, my dad decided we should start reading a new book before they got here and we did, we downloaded it onto kindle! it was called… well, I can’t remember really, I think its The Heroes of Olympus. all I can really remember is that I started it then, then the visitors arrived. they were nice and all but tom wasn’t the best at chess, (He has an excuse, he hasn’t played in 12 years! and the fact that I’m really good at chess…) anyway, after a good game of chess we went out on an adventure to somewhere! unknown…  or the fact I also can’t remember! [Ed: Lough Ree] we went on a walk down to a spot and had a sit down to have lunch.

we ate for a while and then went to a giant swing. it was 1 ½ meters off the ground!

after that we went back to the car… to get home… well, we went home for a bit, not too long. then we went to a pub where we had some dinner. yum! after that we went to another pub but all we got here was a lemonade.

	Felix photobombs

after that we said goodbye and drove home, they went their separate way back to their hotel. when we got home I just plopped into bed and started to read the new book. then my eyes slowly drifted down until I was fast asleep…

day 16

I woke up in the morning and read all day!!! yes that’s right, I think I can officially cross out those boring days and add this one to the top of the list. all we did, and I will not lie, all we did was read on the couch, THE WHOLE DAY!!! I finished a book with 556 pages and then read 50 of the next one. so that day doesn’t need much explaining!

Well, that’s basically been Monday and Tuesday for you, a very interesting Monday and a boring Tuesday. the end! really!

day 13

day 13 was NOT BORING AT ALL! it was so fun. we woke up in the morning and had an hour on the computer! FUN!

and then dad took us out to see, THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!!! awesome. my favourite character was… STARLORD, or peter quill! he was awesome. anyway… it went for about an hour and a half which rocked! it was funny how a raccoon got the laser cannon, he blew up everything! cool. anyway, after that we went to a shop which sold toasties. (toasted sandwiches!) my brother and sister got burgers from burger king. I hate that weird place!

I don’t like burgers! well, we got the food first but I just wanted to put it out there straight a way that we watched a movie! fun fun fun!

I still missed penguino bro so we bid on 2 more on eBay, turns out that there a limited edition and extremely rare! so there were only 2 to buy! we bought them. one for my brother and the other for me, they will be here in 4 or 5 weeks so we sent them to Australia! well meet them there when we get back! yay! then we looked over a toy shop. there were Nerf guns and everything there but we didn’t buy anything, well, we bought something. we bought something called NOTHING!!!! yaaaaay!!……. (Not!)

then we went to a pub, we were there for ages and a band came in! it was pretty fun. I watched some guys play pool, one got all the stripy balls in in his one shot! he was good. he also told me when I couldn’t understand them that I should say “wha?”, instead of pardon. weird!

then we went home to bed at 11!!!

day 14

a bit more boring, but still fun! we went to Athlone. it was fun, there  was a massive castle!

we went inside and went on a mini tour… got a bit boring but was still fun. we learnt how heavy an actual sword was and how heavy a cannonball really was! not too heavy actually! but not too light if you think about it!

then we went to a café.  it was nice!

after that we went to an art museum.

got a bit boring! but was still fun! then we went to a playground!

then finally we went to the car to go home! when we got home I played my mum in the grand final for our family chess championships.  we both got into the finals and I beat her! yay!

I had my favourite dinner, penne pasta! yum!then we went to bed. the end! (we still haven’t got penguino bro yet!) hahaha!

Day 11

we stayed home and played lots of indoor games, like chess and monopoly. I beat my dad at the very start of the game because he stuffed up. and for you chess fanatics out there (Rick.) well, not really a fanatic but someone who plays a lot, look down to the bottom first so you can see how I shellacked my dad! but my sister and my mum were practicing their times tables all the time because if she got all of her times tables right, then she would be able to get her ears pierced. OW!!! well, we taught her all we knew but she kept replying when she got one wrong with, “I forgot?” arrrrrgggghhhh it got sooooo annoying! anyway…

Day 12

much more fun, we went all the way to Dublin. awesome 1 hour trip, got a bit boring, but still fun. when we got there it took mum about, lets see,  HALF AN HOUR!!! Just to find a car park! really? well, when we found a car park I brought out penguino bro. then we went into a big mall, mum gave us a lolly to chew on. it disappeared quickly… after I went to grab penguino out of my pocket and, HE WAS GONE!!! I was so angry, we searched for half an hour but couldn’t find him ANYWHERE! I missed him.

So we got some lunch after that we went to see the oldest book in the world (the book of Kells) but the queue! – so we skipped it.

Then went to the Dead Zoo (every animal on the planet is stuffed) and back to the car.

(Mind you he wasn’t in the car either, I’m just saying…) my brother got the front seat because dad didn’t come (he felt sick so he stayed home). when we tried to get out of Dublin something happened which deserves a heading… ah hem…

MUM GOT LOST IN THE EXIT OUT OF DUBLIN!!!

it took us about, hmmm lets see, AN EXTRA HOUR!!! to get out of Dublin. argh! well, I don’t think I can write a whole chapter on getting out of Dublin but it took ages, well, that’s really all because when we got home, all we did is get a mini magnum. then we went to bed.

CHESS… (Yay?)

Well, the opening move for white, (Me!) was e,4. then my dad stupidly moved N f,6. I moved my piece up to e,5. then he retreated his horse to N e,4 , I then moved f,3 to continue perusing his night, so once again he retreated to N g,5 . I pretended that Id  given up and moved d,4 to protect my piece, and do something else, mwahahahaha! he then stupidly moved d,6 which I hoped for, I then took his night or horse with my bishop, it was all downhill from there on for my dad. in the end I checkmated him with a king, 2 rooks, (castles!) a bishop and 4 pawns, to a king and a pawn, well, I didn’t checkmate him, he surrendered! YES!!! happy!