June 21 (Lulu's Birthday!!): Dublin

Our first day in Dublin was cold and cloudy, and our first impression of our creaky-floored apartment, built in 1880, was darker and tireder than the air bnb photos had made it seem. Although that may have been that our moods after the 10-hour flight were darker and tireder than usual. We went to bed cold and exhausted, but Erik and I woke up to sunny skies and jogged over to CrossFit, where we rowed and handstand-push-upped and grinned as the coach directed us in his charming Northern Irish accent, which sounded surprisingly Scottish broguish. We stopped at a grocery store for breakfast supplies, and returned to find the kids sound asleep. I finally woke them up at 11:00 (3:00 am California time), and after their exercise and scrambled eggs, we headed out into the brisk but sunny morning for another walking tour with Cathal. Here is the day in pictures.

Erik writes out exercise routines for the kids

Stone touches the lucky stone in an ancient church

Dublin was founded as a Viking town; this church was built on Viking foundations

This area was founded by Vikings in 841

An amazing park we found after dinner - exactly what we needed!