Galpin.ca

The plane ride was very smooth and went by faster than I thought it would. Everyone was immersed in their electronics and passed the time well.

Leah and Joel both slept for just a few hours on the plane before we landed in Dublin. My friend Glynis picked us up and off we went to church. They sang many of the same songs we do and belong to a small, tight knit church. It was great to sing and listen together.

We kept the kids up with less than four hours sleep and they did amazing all day. Glynis had three kids that are close in age to ours and they hit it off really well.

Glynis has a beautiful house surrounded by pastures wherever you look. This is in sharp contrast to our current city life and feels lovely, even though we love being downtown.

We drove a few kilometres in the afternoon to go on a little trail walk in the forest. The kids all had a blast playing with sticks and water and exploring nature.

It still feels a bit unreal that now we are in Ireland and have so many adventures ahead of us.

As I woke up this morning, thoughts swirling in my head about politics, leadership structures, apps for the kids, and the mundane, it hit me, today we are off. The long awaited, researched and paid for trip across the ocean to go visit Europe.

The kids are excited about the plane ride, I’m excited to see my friend and we are all excited about the adventures before us as we see the sights, taste the food and experience different cities in different countries.

Leah and Joel have their own backpacking backpacks and we tested them out last week. It’s exciting as they grow up and we think of all the adventures we will be able to go on.

This was how Joel fell asleep last night.

We are coming back in September with memories of Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Rome. Now it’s off to wash the bedsheets and do some last minute prep for our houseguests.