Wait, is that summer I just felt?

The beautiful Shannon river

Bank holidays are one of the special little treats of living in Ireland and the UK. Seriously America, we need to get on this concept. And no, Memorial Day and Labor Day are not enough as barely the banks close on those days. I love Scarecrow's work hours as we always have the weekends together plus they observe bank holidays.

We started off the weekend on Friday night where we watched a soapbox derby sponsored by Red Bull. It was one of many events lined up for the annual Limerick Riverfest. For the derby they blocked off Denmark Street (a block over from the Milk Market for those familiar) and started at the top of the hill. It's not a steep hill but enough to get the job done. They built in an obstacle with some hay bales which made for some interesting moments. Despite the rain it was fun to watch the teams and see the various creations. Sometimes you need to go out and do something silly once in a while.

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day. Sunny for the majority of it with highs around 16 or 17 C (about 61 F). We slept in as much as possible with the early daylight. Thank you northern latitudes, still not used to that yet. Did a few chores and then set out to spend the afternoon in the city at Riverfest. First we picked up Scarecrow's aunts who live in town to have them come for the stroll. They're both real characters and I love them to bits. We walked along the stalls for the BBQ festival and got to taste a few samples. It wasn't the American Royal in Kansas City but it wasn't half bad at all.

Mardie kept getting ahead of us and having to wait so myself, Scarecrow and Molly snuck past her and snapped this picture.

From there we wandered down what was called the continental fair. The street was lined with all kinds of different vendors and completely packed. I couldn't even count the number of stalls selling candy and treats. There was all kinds of different food and different goods. We settled on getting a 99 and having a little sit down to watch the people. A 99 is one of life's simple joys, just a cone of vanilla ice cream with a Cadbury flake stuck into it. Divine. The Red Viking tour company had a short, free bus ride of the city which we availed ourselves of. If anything else, after all the walking it was good to put our feet up and listen to a bit of history. It was pretty funny, the Scarecrow would point something out to me and no more than 2 seconds later the bus driver would start talking about it. It was so nice to see the  city centre so busy with people and with so much life happening. I could literally feel summer in the air despite the rain coat I was wearing. Just in case.

How fabulous are these hats!

3 goofy girls

It was warmer than it looks.

Monday we took Toto and a couple of her friends to Lahinch to jump in the ocean. It was a bit more grey to start but that didn't stop them. Let me just say that the water off of Ireland isn't quite as warm as the water, say, off of Florida. It's freezing! Thankfully the temperature climbed to about 18 C (65 F) and they had a ball. While the girls splashed the Scarecrow and I threw a baseball back and forth. I'd say we were the only 2 people on an Irish beach that day playing catch with a baseball. After about an hour the girls turned blue and got out of the water. They got dressed and we walked and played along the beach and played on the playground. After a large bag of chips each and another short walk we loaded back in the car for the hour drive home. Those were 3 tired little kitties, let me tell you! But it was so fun to get to go out and do something fun like that with the family. It made me long for warmer weather and more bank holidays.

This one's for you Christina! Remember?

Despite the shorter week it already feels long. These first couple of days of the week we're extra busy for some reason. Here's to an early bed time tonight!