aebleskivers, it's what's for dinner...

Can you guess where we took the kids last week?
Um, no...not Denmark, that would be way expensive.

We chose a much closer substitute, only 3 hours away, much
more easy on the budget...
-we went to Solvang, Ca!

We pretty much ate our way thru Solvang, it's
just what we do best...

First on the snack agenda were aebleskivers, yum!

Our second night in town we went to A.J. Spurs for some
serious steak and ribs. You know when your filet mignon slices
like warm butter?? ...yeah, just like that....

We walked around the very cute Danish town, visited shops, relaxed
at the timeshare... Animal Planet 24/7- oh my!!! Seriously, a very big
treat for kids who do not watch t.v.

We took a very gentle, beautiful 10 minute hike to visit this waterfall.

Sky took some great pics of the kids at the lake, they had
several adventures...

I have an awesome husband!! You all are going to agree when I tell you what he did. He took all 4 kids out camping at a near-by lake and left me home alone to hold the fort down at the
time-share/condo-type place. Did I mention it had cable? And that he paid extra for an internet connection for me?

I wish I could say I did some serious, thoughtful blogging- uh, but I didn't.
I did do some serious girl-type unwinding.

First, I wandered the cutesy shops...then I ordered a nice sandwich for dinner ( I love a good sandwich) and then I spent a very long time browsing the corner bookstore, picked up a
Meg Cabot novel..then went and bought some *truffles*, oh my!!

I realized what a walking cliche I was as I set my book on the counter to pay for my truffles...
and paused to savor the ridiculous moment...
Dignity is really only a form or vain-glory, now- isn't it?? I stayed up way too late watching
a few sitcoms and HGTV, catching up on all my blog reading, and sad to say, I just about polished off the novel in one sitting. I finally went to bed, leaving 3 chapters to enjoy in
the morning. ...the gloriously late, un-rushed morning.

I welcomed my seasoned, ripe campers back late the next
afternoon. And, what else? Started some laundry!
I missed my guys... and yet, I was glad to miss out on the freezing-my- tootsie- off -sleeping- on- the- floor-experience...
didn't miss that part a bit! Oh, and the skunks and raccoons that kept trying to get into the tent, nope, didn't regret that part either!

Our last day in town we visited a miniature horse farm.
QuickSilver miniature horse Ranch link *here*
Meg has wanted one of these for her very own for so long. We just are not zoned for it. They are miniature *horses*, not *ponies*..about the size of a large dog. Just the cutest things you have ever laid eyes on.

It was a nice trip, a little bit of something for everyone, I would say.
We are always so glad to come home, though.

Glendalough round tower from the 11th century

St. Patrick's cathedral from the 11th century, near a small well St. Patrick is believed to have baptised converts in the 5th century
H'a Penny bridge over river Liffey near city center
General Post office site of Easter uprising 1916, impressive building, I purchased stamps here

Close up light pole near St. Patrick's

Two Last pictures of us in Ireland- We visited the ruined monastic settlement of Glendalough, from the 6th century. Really neat monastary remains and cemetery and a 12th century round tower. The whole area was beautiful and sparked the imagination, imagining monks hiding in the tower with precious manuscripts while the vikings raided the area. We also stopped at Powercourt house (the picture with the two of us) which had gardens and shops, surrounded by beautiful green hills. I get very motion sick, this trip I took a break from my ear patches (work great but rough side-effects) and took some pills which knocked me out. I pretty much slept through all of the beautiful countryside and woke up only when Sky nudged me and told me we were "there". The trip was pretty much a blur. Just really glad I only took 2 pills instead of the 3 I was thinking of...Powercourt house I remember stumbling out of the bus and finding a scone and diet coke to wake me up. I also remember lots of sheep.

We are so easily amused- some signs that tickled our fancy...we were puzzled as to what "pitches" are, and not sure if they were off.
This crosswalk sign we came up with the interpretation of "death stalks children who cross here."
Pembroke park was also intersected by Pembroke lane, Pembroke Rd. and Pembroke court. This was very unhelpful the day we were lost. At that point in the day almost anything amused us.
We have other such pictures in our photo album from other trips. Our friend Martinez from South Africa told us about the signs in his country warning of "Highjack area" and warned us of our high probability of being highjacked as we get out to take the picture for our collection. Now, I really have to have that picture of that sign...Wonder if I can get someone to volunteer to take it for me?