Halloween is a time for kids, a time for meltdowns, a time for candy, a time for parents to consider running away or at least drink heavily. It is clearly the same the world over. We started Tuesday morning by enjoying a few hours sorting ourselves and then breakfast at our Hotel. It being Halloween, the Highland children had a scheduled dental appointment this morning. Excellent timing. We drove our Renault into Sligo, found the parking lot and joined them at a local pub for lunch. We, being still full from our breakfast, restricted ourselves to a half pint of Guiness and cider to accompany our soup and bread. The family chose chicken nuggets for the kids and split a soup and crostini for the adults. Next we walked along the riverfront in downtown Sligo, stopping for a gelato as dessert.
Next back home for the kids to prep for the evening, while we returned to the hotel for a rest before heading over for the great walkabout. We were greeted by a witch, Wonder Woman, and a would be magician who refused to wear a costume. Garth had stayed in Sligo for a late appointment so the rest of us settled in for some chicken Parma over rice. Following dinner, Deb and Zoë accompanied the monsters on their rounds and Mark stayed behind to pass out the loot to the neighboring visitors. After a 40 minute walkabout, they returned all excited and promptly dumped their loot on the kitchen floor to sort and check. Sugar was consumed in quantities.
Garth had returned to watch the carnage and then wrestled Arthur into bed, the girls stayed up for a while to apply some more sugar to their newly cleaned teeth and then eventually went down. Did we mention that this week is a school holiday so the kids are off and so are the teachers, which is a civilized way to control Halloween week. We finished our wine and returned to the hotel to end the evening quietly.
Wednesday we awaken to sunshine and went down to a late breakfast as Zoë and the girls were to join us at the hotel after dropping Arthur at the sitter’s for the day. Although a bit behind schedule they did arrive for a second breakfast, ala Hobbits. After an inspection of our room (always important to kids for some reason) we loaded into Zoë’s Prius for a sightseeing tour. The skies promptly opened up to the heaviest rain we have encountered on this trip.
We drove north past Sligo and up into the mountains, around the beaches and gazed at the Atlantic. We forget how much of this island is coast and how important the sea is to the Irish. Zoë reports that they visit the beach and walk along the sand most every week, sunshine or rain. the kids seem to love it. 
We, however, did not get out in this rain to stand on the beach.We headed back south to Grange and then to an establishment - “Five for Fun.” This is a total kids experience with indoor climbing equipment, slides and tunnels in the huge building that, to Deb and Mark resembled a former auto display area. The fee was 10.00 Euro for each child, but adults were in for free! By the time we settled in with coffee, some cake and a sandwich plus nuggets and chips for the kids (after running around for an hour or so,) we were probably some 50-60 Euro in, quite a business model! The place was packed with kids running and screaming. We only endured one breakdown, Esmè suffered a scrape on her wrist, but after a little first aid and a bandaid for support, we were back to normal.
We, however, did not get out in this rain to stand on the beach.We headed back south to Grange and then to an establishment - “Five for Fun.” This is a total kids experience with indoor climbing equipment, slides and tunnels in the huge building that, to Deb and Mark resembled a former auto display area. The fee was 10.00 Euro for each child, but adults were in for free! By the time we settled in with coffee, some cake and a sandwich plus nuggets and chips for the kids (after running around for an hour or so,) we were probably some 50-60 Euro in, quite a business model! The place was packed with kids running and screaming. We only endured one breakdown, Esmè suffered a scrape on her wrist, but after a little first aid and a bandaid for support, we were back to normal.
Next we went to Smitty’s Toy Superstore. Esmè had birthday money to spend and Iris had saved up a bit to spend; they were flabbergasted that they got both the Fun Room AND the toy store. A great day if you are a kid. We headed back to Tubbercurry and the hotel for a rest up. Next back to the homestead for a dinner of roast chicken, pesto pasta and salad. Garth returned from work and we enjoyed a quiet meal as the kids were either in bed or passed out from all the excitement in front of the TV.
We were back in the hotel by 9:00. We watched a bit of television ourselves and then were down for the count. We are definitely out of condition for this parenting gig. It is for youngsters, not old folk.
