A Weekend with my Unicorn Princess L

My three year old likes to be called, "unicorn princess L". And if you get them out of order you will be corrected immediately! Sometimes the color purple is added in there somewhere, but for the most part she likes to be called unicorn princess L. She has quite the imagination. One day she even told me how a boy in her class only calls her, "L" but Mom my name is, "unicorn princess L". She is a hoot!

Since Joe was away with K and T,  I was left with L for three days. I was actually looking forward to a little quiet time with my unicorn princess L. Friday I drove my mother up to Newry for a dentist appointment, which is in the north. Yes, they have dentists around here but apparently its much cheaper to go up to the north for a cleaning, etc. No one I know has dental insurance here and actually I'm not even sure if it exists, but if it does its probably very very expensive. We had a pretty drive up to Newry. I dropped my mother off and then L and I found a small area with shops, so we walked around there for about an hour. The dentist called me and said my mother was done and ended up having to get a tooth pulled instead of a cleaning. She was in a lot of pain since they had a hard time getting it out. We ended up just going home instead of doing a little sightseeing. It was a little over an hour drive home. We stayed home the rest of the day so that L and I could take care of my mother. 

Saturday was K's birthday and I was a little sad we were not all together. But I know she was having a birthday that she will never forget. Since the fall all she did was talk about her Manchester trip with her soccer team. We were supposed to go to Afternoon Tea at the Shelbourne Hotel in town with my mother and my cousin A. But since my mother was still in a lot of pain we decided to cancel and reschedule another day. I decided to still go into town with L since she really was looking forward to taking the bus into town. 

L dressed and ready to go!

We took the bus all the way up to Grafton Street and did a little shopping and just walked around. It was nice to not have any time constraints and we could just enjoying walking in a European city.  It never gets old! We stopped a few times to listen or watch the street performers. This one band had a huge crowd and L wanted to stop and listen to the songs. I have to admit this pop-rock band called Keywest was pretty good! They did a record label in the US with the same producer as The Killers, The Script, and Katy Perry. A few of their songs apparently hit the charts over here and the band has played in a bunch of festivals. But they were told they needed more experience in performing for an audience. So they went back to the streets of Dublin performing...this is how U2 got big - performing on Grafton Street!

Here are two Keywest songs I recorded on Grafton Street:

We decided to stop in at Bewley's Cafe for tea and to warm up a bit. L and I shared a bowl of seafood soup which was delicious (shhh... don't tell T we had seafood soup). L got a hot chocolate and I got a cuppa tea. 

Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street 

Bewley's Cafe was established in 1840 and is one of Ireland's leading brands in tea. Charles Bewley imported the first tea into Ireland from China. He hired the best bakers and kept the menu simple. Bewley's because a favorite meeting places for the business people and shoppers. Famous artists and writers such as James Joyce and Patrick Kavanagh would meet at Bewley's Cafe. During WW2 there was a shortage of tea and this resulted in an increase in coffee consumption, a trend that has become permanent. Today Bewley's is still the leader in both tea and coffee. 

L's hot chocolate

Pretty stained glass windows

Afterwards we walked through a few shops before we took the bus back to the house. 

Sunday we went to morning mass at St. Canice's in Finglas. Finglas is originally the site of an early Christian abbey associated with St. Canice, and founded around 560AD. There are several primary schools and churches in the area that are named after St. Canice. According to a legend, the ground on which Finglas stands has been sanctified by St. Patrick.  Apparently there is one of St. Patrick's well in the area. I will have to go find it one day. St. Canice's church was built in 1920 and replaced the old "tin"church. In the 1950's the church was extended to serve the growing population in the suburb. 

Lourdes replica Grotto

I found this photo on the internet of the interior of St. Canice's Church.

L and I did a quick grocery shop after Mass. Then we just hung around the house until Joe, K, and T needed to be collected. I had received a few texts from Joe that the weather was bad and he was nervous about crossing the Irish Sea. 

They got home around 6.30 and unpacked all their goodies. We looked at all the pictures and they told us all the stories from the trip. Then it was an early bedtime for K and T since they had school the next day! 

Unicorn Princess L and I had a great weekend together!