Weekend Trip to the “Big City”

This Valentine’s weekend we went on a trip to Dublin, the big city, away from our day to day life. The main reason was to visit hubby’s brother who lives in the North party of Country Dublin.

We set off Saturday morning and I had my mind set on leaving at 10 am. Now, you might know with kids your plan might not happen most of the time but we did pretty well and left at 10.25am which I think is not too bad. The trip is 2 1/2  hours and Chloe slept most of it. Matthew is at a great age now where he can entertain himself, watch movies, play with his cars or just look out the window and spot trucks passing by.

We were coming into Dublin around lunch time. Before driving to the Premier Inn in Swords to check we decided to have some lunch next door to it as check in time was not until 2 pm. I haven’t been to TGI Friday’s in a while so it was nice to be back. Matthew really enjoyed his chicken fingers and smiley faces. Chloe had some of mummy’s chips too.

When all family members were fed, we headed off to the hotel to check in. This was our pit stop to change nappies and relax a bit before driving to Lusk which is only a 15 mins drive. As soon as we arrived I went for a walk with Chloe because she was due her nap. She did go to sleep but unfortunately once we came back into the house, she woke up again which meant she was a bit cranky for the evening. Matthew really loved playing with his cousins and we had together too and watched “Kung Fu Panda 2”. After dinner we drove back to the hotel to get the kids settled for bed time.

Staying in a hotel with 2 kids can be quite difficult sometimes. The hotel room can be either too hot or they won’t settle because it’s a different routine and they aren’t in their own rooms but it was going quite alright. It was a good thing Chloe missed her second nap basically.

In the morning we went downstairs to have yummy breakfast and shortly after checked out of the hotel at 10 am as we wanted to visit my old host parents in Malahide whom I used to be an Au Pair for. (The child I minded is now 17!!!)

Traveling Trunki Style

It’s so handy to stay in the Premier Inn because everything is so close by and I am not a big fan of the city centre anyways. North Country Dublin has everything. We spent maybe an hour at my host parents house and caught up on the latest news. Straight after we had to leave again because Chloe was due a nap before lunch time. We drove around for a bit to make sure she got a good nap before heading to Donabate to have some lunch in the Waterside House Hotel. I had lunch multiple times before and find the place very family/kid friendly. It is so handy because you can go for a walk at the beach straight after to digest the food which we did.

The clock hit 2.30 pm and we said goodbye to Matthew’s cousins and made our way home again. This is how we spent our Valentine’s weekend other than give each other flowers and gifts which I find is a much nicer way.