A lovely holiday to Newport, Ireland

I’ve written about my love for Ireland before. Staying at my parents lovely house in Newport in Ireland has become an annual holiday event for our family – nearly all our children have had their first holidays here. As we tend to come at the same time each year to coincide with Newport’s festival – Facebook always pops up with timehop photos of precious holidays that I pour over all the time. And photos continue through the house- there are old photos of family members from Ireland in black and white alongside colourful photos of more recent fun at the beach. Some of our very favourite family photos have been taken in Ireland. Memories of first and last times run throughout the house. 

This year we’ve properly realised how lucky we really are to have this home by the sea. When we arrived and walked back through the doors, we had that same excitement – the kids rushed around their beautifully decorated bedrooms – my Mum has chosen such lovely things that they adore (like little fairy doors and snuggly blankets) they marvelled at their jolly jars-  delighted in setting up the train set they played with last year and a wave of nostalgia hit me as many of my favourite toys are also here from my childhood. Orla and I had lovely games with my old Sylvanian families!

These are the days they will remember- hopefully the memories of these days will always stay with them….. the first cold dip in the sea, the chill only slightly subsided by their wetsuits, the disappointment at not catching any crabs whilst rock pooling but how easily the disappointment disappears with promises of red lemonade and a packet of Taytos. Orla falling in the sea whilst trying to ‘fish’ which mostly meant sticking her net in the sea and wiggling it about shouting ‘come here little fishes!’. They’ll remember dinghy rides and waves splashing and the shock at capsizing but getting straight back in to ride more waves all the same. They’ll remember kite flying and wave jumping and their first time falling in, waves submerging and the exhilaration of holding your breath in the waves. They’ll remember sausage sandwiches for breakfast or blueberry pancakes….. the weekly fish and chips treat (Newport has THE best fish and chips!) they’ll remember the memories of the festival, watching hay baling, staying up late eating ice-creams past dark and dancing on Main Street. Irish Dancing, face painting in the playground and Elodie’s success – second place in the Newport hula hoop competition!

We spent lots of days at the beach and watched them race in and out of the shore, pretending to beat the waves, wondering how they weren’t feeling the cold of the biting waves, and smiling as they begged Mr M to go back in the sea one more time! And collapsing at home- sand in hair, rinsing wetsuits and settling down to games of Monopoly and Scrabble.

It really is home away from home. Thank you Nanny and Grandpa for buying this special place for special memories year on year.

Here’s a little video of one the more windy days on our holiday!