Tadhg and Sadhbh's new photoshoot

During their trip to Ireland, Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad visited their favourite portrait photographer in their old stomping ground Clontarf. They have family photos from this photographer since Tadhg was a tiny baby, Mom and dad decided it was time to update their photos and were very happy with the results,

Tadhg and Sadhbh's summer playdates

Every Sunday during the summer months, Tadhg and Sadhbh have a standing playdate with their class mates and friends. Mom initially organised this to encourage the kids to speak French during the school holidays. Not much French is spoken as the kids run around the playground, beach and carousel. It is a great way to keep in touch with their friends though and the kids love sitting under the giant, red umbrella and having a picnic with their school buddies.

Tadhg and Sadhbh pass on the Pan Am Games flame

The Pan Am games ended this weekend. Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed watching the rowing in St Catharines and kayaking in Welland. They especially loved all the activities for kids and seeing the games mascot Patchi around St Catharines. There was a concert in Lakeside park to mark the end of the games and to take the flame on to the next host city - Lima in Peru. Tadhg and Sadhbh had a final chance to hug Patchi and wish him farewell. They also carried the Pan Am flame for a little bit as part of the ceremony. 

In the evening there was an amazing fireworks show to mark the end of the games. Tadhg and Sadhbh watched from the rowing grandstand where they met up with Theodora and Rachel - Tadhg's school friends. It was a great end to a great summer of games. 

Tadhg and Sadhbh go to an outdoor movie

On Friday night Big Hero 6 was featured in the outdoor movie night in Lakeside Park. Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad had been planning to go for weeks and were excited the day had finally arrived. The movie started after sunset so everyone put their blankets and chairs down in the grass before the sun went down to claim their spot. Sadhbh enjoyed the opening bands and enjoyed dancing in her pyjamas on her blanket. Tadhg took a break from the festivities to wander along the beautiful port dalhousie beach to watch the amazing sunset over Lake Ontario. The movie was great fun but was a bit late for Sadhbh who spent the second half of it wrapped up in mom's arms.

Tadhg and Sadhbh's campfire sing-a-long

Tadhg and Sadhbh went to the Burgoyne Woods for the annual summer campfire sing-a-long. It was a beautiful summer evening and perfect weather for cooking hot (veggie) dogs over the open fire. Tadhg loved sticking the hot dogs on the giant fork and holding it over the flames. Sadhbh loved toasting the marshmallows but didn't want to eat them toasted as they looked burnt! She preferred the uncooked variety. The sing-a-long was not as exciting with a few teenagers clapping and singing nursery songs. Tadhg and Sadhbh spotted a toad when the singing ending and enjoyed hopping after it!

Tadhg visits the dentist

Tadhg needed to get some dental work done and was a bit nervous about going to the dentist. He was pleasantly surprised when he arrived at the new dentist office as he was able to wear some cool shades, lie in a comfy seat and read his new Pokemon book. When the dental work began Tadhg enjoyed taking the laughing gas and watch a video overhead. It was a happy dentist visit for a change!

Tadhg plays Wizard golf!

Tadhg and dad went to Niagara Falls on Monday to enjoy all of the tourist hot spots. Tadhg loves going to Niagara Falls an playing at the midway, going on the rides, taking the Ferris wheel and playing dinosaur golf. On this trip Tadhg decided to try the glow-in-the-dark wizard golf. Tadhg loved picking out his glow-in-the-dark golf ball and taking his first shot into the dark hallway. Once inside Tadhg love playing among wizards, dragons, castles, giant spiders and castles. It was a great summer's day outing.

Sadhbh's butterfly face

Tadhg and Sadhbh are back in Canada and enjoying their summer holidays. Sadhbh loved getting her pace painted like a butterfly on Sunday and then went for a bike ride afterwards to show it off. Summer weekends typically include a trip to Candies for ice cream and the lakeshore park for carousel rides and playground fun!

Tadhg and Sadhbh in Bray

Tadhg and Sadhbh took the Dart train out to the coastal town of Bray on Thursday to spend time with Uncle Ger, Auntie Amy and their 3 girls. It was yet another beautiful day in Dublin on this trip. Bray is a real holiday town and everyone enjoyed having fish and chips followed up with some ice cream. Tadhg and Sadhbh had a few rides in a fun fair at the end of the pier before wandering back through the sea looking for interesting stones and shells to bring home to Canada. It was a great ending to their Irish trip and great to spend time with Uncle Ger, Auntie Amy and family.

Tadhg and Sadhbh in St. Stephen's Green

Tadhg and Sadhbh are coming to the end of their visit to Ireland and spent some time in town on Wednesday shopping and enjoying the sights around Grafton Street and St Stephen's Green. They always enjoy spending time in the Green and Tadhg enjoyed sitting in the throne setup in honour of the famous Irish comedian Dermot Morgan.

Sadhbh gets kitted out for school!

Sadhbh is starting big school in September and needs some new outfits to meet the dress code policy of navy and white. Marks & Spencer have a great selection of back to school clothes so mom and dad picked up a few outfits which Sadhbh reluctantly tried on. She is looking forward to starting big school but will need some time to get used to her uniform.

In the afternoon Sadhbh and Tadhg helped dad do some work at granny and granddads house and loved feeding the horses who poked their heads over the garden wall.

Tadhg and Sadhbh get reacquainted with Dublin

Tadhg and Sadhbh were keen to get out, explore and get reacquainted with Dublin, In the morning they met up with old friends Lochlann and Keeley in Clontarf which is where Tadhg live when he was a newborn. They enjoyed brunch at a trendy new restaurant after which they sampled the local ice cream. In the afternoon they spent the day playing with Jamie, Millie and Lewis. Tadhg and Sadhbh loved the big garden and trampoline while mom and dad enjoyed the sunny weather!

Tadhg and Sadhbh fly to Ireland

Tadhg and Sadhbh flew to Ireland immediately after school finished for the summer holidays. It has been over a year since they were in Ireland. They will be there for just over a week and are looking forward to meeting their Irish cousins and Irish friends again. Both kids were great on the flight and able to get some sleep. Sadhbh is still small enough to stretch out on the seats and get a good snooze.

Tadhg and Sadhbh wish papa Happy Birthday!

On Saturday Tadhg and Sadhbh met up with their cousins at Auntie Kay's house to wish papa a happy birthday. Papa got a new hand cart for his birthday so everyone had a good time trying to sit on it and get pushed around. Papa liked his present and card from his grandkids.

Tadhg and Sadhbh get ready for the Pan Am games

Tadhg and Sadhbh are excited about the Pan Am games coming to their hometown this summer. Sadhbh loves Patchi, who is the games mascot, ever since she first met him last year and has a Patchi plushy that she sleeps with. On Saturday, there was a Pan Am event in Lakeside Park so Tadhg and Sadhbh were delighted to say hello to Patchi again. Sadhbh even brought her plush Patchi to show the real one. The games will start in July with all of the rowing events taking place in Port Dalhousie.

Tadhg and dad go kayaking

The weather was perfect on Friday for a kayak adventure around Jordan harbour. Tadhg and dad went last year and had a great adventure paddling around trying to spot turtles and blue herons. Tadhg took the navigator seat in front while dad was the engine room in back.

This was the first time Tadhg saw a beaver in the wild! The beaver looked pretty chilled out on a log and watched Tadhg's kayak carefully as they floated past.

Jordan Harbour is a great place to paddle around and Tadhg and dad love floating under the railway bridges that look like relics from an older age.

Tadhg the ball hockey champion!

Tadhg's team finished up as champions in their summer ball hockey league! The team were much improved this time around and had a great coach. The weekend final tournament was very exciting and Tadhg's team clinched the championship with a close win on Sunday morning. Tadhg was delighted to pickup his gold winner's medal after the final game.

Tadhg and Sadhbh wish their Baba Happy Birthday

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Baba celebrates her birthday on Tuesday. Tadhg and Sadbh visited on Sunday to wish her an early Happy Birthday. They helped Baba blow out her candles, eat her cake and then went to the garden to play on the swings.

Sadhbh and Tira

Sadhbh loves hanging out with her puppy friend Tira. Tira is the other girl in the house and Sadhbh likes to dress in pink to match Tira's pink collar. Tira isn't always sure about all of Sadhbh's hugs and kisses and sometimes looks a bit nervous when Sadhbh plonks down beside her!

Tadhg starts a new hockey season

Tadhg's new summer ballhockey season started and Tadhg is on a new team which includes his 2 buddies. The team had no coach for the first game so dad stepped in with another dad to help coach. Despite having no experience playing or coaching hockey before, the team won! The dad's thought the win was all down to their coaching skills but the kids reckoned it was down to their silky skills.

Sadhbh celebrates her 4th birthday party

Sadhbh celebrated her 4th birthday party with her family on Saturday. The house was decorated with birthday balloons, banners and streamers. Sadhbh had a number of fashionable birthday outfits which she changed into throughout the day. Sadhbh loved having her family over to celebrate her big day and especially like opening her presents.

Tadhg gets suited up

Tadhg is making his first holy communion this year and needs to look smart for the ceremony. On Saturday Tadhg went to dad's favourite suit shop, Moores, to get suited up. Tadhg loved checking himself out in the many mirrored trying on area. Sadhbh loved looking at herself in the mirrors too and had to be enticed out so Tadhg could get fitted. Tadhg looked very smart in his new suit and is all set for his communion now.

Sadhbh celebrates St Patrick's day

Tuesday was St Patrick's day which unfortunately is not a holiday in Canada. The Y had some St Patrick's day activities planned and Sadhbh looked very Irish in her St Patrick's day outfit and shamrock bobbles! Tadhg and Sadhbh had a great day and loved sharing their Irish tradition with their friends.

Tadhg's first hockey post-season

Tadhg's first ballhockey season came to an end at the post-season tournament on Saturday. Tadhg enjoyed his first ever ballhockey season especially because he was on the same team as his buddies Maximus and Lukas. They didn't have a successful first season, and were often outmatched by teams with bigger, more experienced kids. The most important thing is they all had fun, enjoyed their medal ceremony and are looking forward to the next season!

Sadhbh builds a bug catcher

Tadhg's school regularly hosts craft nights for kids in the community. The crafts are usually accompanied by pizza, drinks and friends which are all the ingredients needed for a fun play date. Sadhbh enjoyed joining in the crafts on Thursday and was delighted with the bug catcher she made. Mom had to help with the hammering while Sadhbh looked on through her safety glasses.