0800 GMT - Today is Christmas Eve, and we still have presents to wrap, and prepratory tasks to take care of...it is not a day for much activity, other than wrapping, cleaning and packing. We have to be out of the cottage by 10 am tomorrow and on the road to Galway City.
1300 GMT - After getting a big chunk of packing done (being sure to leave room for the presents we unwrap tonight to make it in the bags!!!) we take a break and head to the Peacock Hotel for lunch at the quiet man pub. I look around the room at the pub, and all the faces look so familiar...it feels like a family reunion at the Dunphy's that we used to have every February when I was a kid. I start to realize how very Irish our family is genetically. Amy mentions a little later (not being privy to my thoughts) that she has realized how Irish I look having visited Ireland now. It seems not until I open my mouth to speak that I am marked as an American. Amy and I take turns with some last minute shopping at the gift store in the hotel. With the pressure of THE two gifts that I wanted to buy off my shoulders, I pick up a few more things for Amy. The lady at the counter is very sweet and she gives me a candy bar to give Eamon as a present tonight from her. We then swing next store to the hotel gas station and conveniance store to pick up some travel groceries and some Christmas sweets.
1600 GMT - After afternoon tea is completed, we fulfill our promise to Eamon to have present opening time between tea time and dinner. Here are the presents waiting through tea time to be opened.
Eamon seems to think this whole present thing is pretty darn cool...
By the time that tea time is over everyone is ready to get going on the presents...
Eamon unwraps a load of presents...he is very excited by his first which I picked out. It is an Egyptian archeology game which has all the treasures, dice and game pieces buried in some red mud like plaster and they have to be excavated to play the game with them. He also likes his traditional Feodog or Irish Tin Whistle.
Eamon is pretty helpful opening Connor's presents as well...
But honestly, Connor seems much happier playing with the paper and ribbons than looking at the presents that were in them.
Amy and Patrick get some smile bringing presents as well...
Amy's big presents are her tea cosy, hand knit hat from the Aran Islands that we never got to visit,
and a silver standing stone necklace (this is the one that I worked so hard to find.) I struggled since EVERY store we visited had silver jewelry, but they were just the same designs over and over again. I wanted to get Amy's from an individual crafts person or artist and understand what the piece meant to them. This standing stone (Amy is very interested in the standing stones, though we have only read about them and maybe seen some from a distance...) and it's enery theme really strikes me as a heart of what makes Ireland the special place that it is. For such a small island it has produced a huge global emigration impact which leaves Irish descendants still embracing their heritage while still being integrated in their new homelands.
1800 GMT - Amy makes dinner while Patrick and Eamon work on digging out some Egyptian treasures, Eamon is the famous archeologist and Patrick is his undergraduate student who gets to do all the work. Dinner is very nice, Eamon loves the carrot cake he picked out, or rather, he loves the cream cheese frosting on it that he eats leaving a big pile of cake and crumbs behind. Finally everyone is tired. The kids go to bed and Amy and Patrick try to finish up the packing to be ready for tomorrow's move. After we turn off the lights we look out the window to see that tomorrow will bring a special surprise for Eamon.
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