Ben's away and the girls will play

Katrin came over from Germany to visit while Ben was away. We had a packed schedule for the four days she was here. Straight off the plane it was off to Dun Loughaire to walk by the sea, have some Guinness and eat some seafood chowder. We went into the new office so she could see it, but sadly on a Friday no one is around. Marcella stuck around for a bit of dinner, and soakage, before heading out with the old OMP gang for a night of pints at Hogans. It was like old times. The good old times!

Saturday was up early to see the new baby of Brian and Cathy's who is only a few weeks younger than Abe. It is good to see a baby about his size so I can judge how big he is since Ben was actually at home being able to play with Abe. We enjoyed our tea in the sunlight spilling into her penthouse apartment while the baby slept soundly. It was nice to catch up with Cathy and some other work friends while there. After an afternoon of civilized tea, we took a walk with another couple along the Grand Canal Docks. We managed to give ourselves a self guided tour through the new Opera/Theater building. We got kicked out, but luckily we were done exploring. Our architect excuse did not work this time. Usually it does work and we get a bit of leeway for taking a peek at buildings. After a few drinks watching the rain come down on the canal and a beautiful sunset, we were back to my house for a few drinks before heading out for some dancing. Jazzanova (from Germany infact) pioneers of brilliant happy dance music are playing in the twisted pepper. I do love to dance, but I have never been a big one for house music and after 6 hours of dancing to it, by the end I was just bored. It was good to get the dancing out of my system.

Sunday it was our sleep in day before heading over to get some playtime with some of our friends little girls. Freya is about 5 and we had an amazing time building Legos and drawing. Apparently my sheep are terrible, but I can do a decent horse and have a fabulous Stegosaurus. I was amazed with how many dinosaurs she knew, and even more amazed that I knew how to draw them. Michelangelo has nothing to worry about, but it was fun to remind myself that I do know how to draw. Their younger daugher Mathilda has the cubbiest cheeks and is such a good little baby. When took the girls to the park and we played for hours on the equipment so Katrin could talk with Eoin and Christina since she was so close with them. As the sun set, we went to one of my favorite pubs, The Library Bar, where I kept Freya entertained with drawing the universe as she sipped her hot cchocolate. Children at that age are just little sponges, soaking up information. We went over the entire universe, she could name all the planets, and by the end we could draw the all. Rings, big red spot and moons. I was impressed. When they had to put the little ones to bed, I made a quiet dinner at home since we had to rise early and take Kat back to the airport. It was a quick trip, but one that was much needed sinced I was getting a bit lonely without Ben around for so long.