Dance Day!

The picture above is of the big stage--the stage on which the dancers competing in All Irelands danced today. All Irelands is like a super feis. We arrived at the INEC (Irish National Event Center) around 9AM and left well after 4:30. All to see Chris dance two dances. It was worth it though! He danced his hornpipes a little before lunch and then his reel later in the afternoon. Although he did not get recalled, Chris looked much more confident on the big stage than he did at Oireachtas in November! He was dancing against boys who have been doing this for years and at least one of them won All Irelands last year as well as North American Championships. Among the kids who did not get recalled were two American kids who won their own regions this past fall. In other words, there were kids who qualified for worlds yet did not get recalled at this event. So Chris was in some good company. This was by far the most competitive group he has danced with yet and we think it will only boost his confidence as he returns home to dance in local feisanna! Here are some more pictures from our day...

First, fueling up for his second dance:

You can imagine that J was getting a little punchy after watching all this dancing and waiting for what seemed like forever for it all to end!

After not knowing anything about the state of the weather outside, I caught a glimpse of this lovely rainbow!

 Chris acquired some cool Oireachtas Rince na hEireanne gear...

 After returning to the hotel, we had a nice cozy dinner at the bar:

 Followed by ice cream at Murphy's!

This was truly an amazing event and experience for all of us. I wrote this on Instagram too but this time last year, Chris had not yet competed in a feis and I couldn't tell you the difference between novice and PC. Today Chris got up on a big international stage with some of the best dancers in the world (one of which will probably be the world champion in a couple months) and showed everyone what he's got. I don't think anyone would imagine that this boy has only danced for 15 months and competed for 10. We are so proud of Chris and can't wait to see what he does in the future!

PS--Like most competitions, we were not allowed to take pictures or video but I ordered a package of pictures from the professional photographer which I will receive in a few days. I'll share those action shots on here when I get them!

Killarney, Day 2

On our way out the door this morning, Christopher found this puddle that closely resembled the shape of Ireland and took it as a good sign for the rest of our day! After a lovely breakfast at our hotel, we headed down the road and into Killarney National Park to take a tour of Muckross House and the surrounding grounds. It was beautiful and the boys did a great job listening (and not touching anything) on the hour long tour of this Victorian-era house that once hosted Queen Victoria as a distinguished guest...

The wind was so crazy when we walked in front of the house! You literally had to strain against the wind to keep upright. The boys found this highly entertaining...

When we walked in the wooded areas, however, it was nearly calm which was equally as crazy, considering how strong the gusts were... After a nice lunch at a cafe on the grounds of Muckross house, we visited Ross Castle, a fourteenth century castle that was the last Irish holdout against the forces of Oliver Cromwell. It wasn't open for tours but the grounds were really cool...

After our touring, we were all business and visited the location of the All Ireland's Dance Competition. We picked up Christopher's number (113) and checked out the venue. They also had a practice area set up for the dancers where Chris ran through some of his steps. He is a mixture of nervous and excited for tomorrow. This is definitely the biggest competition he's ever participated in but to think that this time last year, he hadn't even competed in a feis, it is really amazing to think that we are here! Unfortunately, we are unable to take pictures at the venue tomorrow but I will update everyone when we are finished with our day... Speaking of being finished with our day, our hotel has a lovely sitting room with fireplaces where we have been relaxing at the end of our days here so far. The boys enjoy a juice or soda and Mommy and Daddy enjoy some Irish adult beverages while we all relax by the fire...

Killarney

I know the blog has been quiet for the last couple of weeks but hang on to your seats--it's about to get real! Since my last post about the ceili, life has been pretty normal: school, practices, play dates, snow. Really not much to take pictures of. But today I am happy to say that we are back in Ireland! This time we are in Killarney, a beautiful town located in the southwest part of the country and we are here for Christopher to compete in All Irelands! This is essentially the Irish Nationals but international dancers are allowed to compete as well if recommended by their teacher, so here we are. We flew out of JFK today? yesterday? Who knows because we are all slightly tired an delirious. Anyway, there were a bunch of dancers on our flight and we got in this morning around 5:30AM Ireland time.

We had a stellar breakfast at the airport (I'm not being sarcastic--it was a full Irish, although vegetarian, breakfast), we set off for the 2 hour drive down to Killarney. It's so beautiful driving through the country here and after driving on the left side last summer, I was no longer intimidated and felt right at home on the left side. We made it down to our hotel exhausted but in one piece and miracle of miracles, our room was ready. Even better, they upgraded us to a suite where I would like to live for the rest of my life. Kidding! But it's pretty sweet...

All I have to say is, this kid is so spoiled! I mean...

After brief naps and showers for all, we went off to get lunch and explore Killarney. There was a light mist and some crazy wind (true Ireland weather) but we enjoyed the town. The boys got pizza and I started on my seafood chowder/brown bread streak. Delicious!

One of the things Killarney is known for is Killarney National Park, which we will explore more after Christopher's competition. Our hotel is practically across the street from it though so we went to this restored home and took a self-guided tour and learned more about the park. We also took a windy tour of the gardens!

Finally, we came back to the hotel for some chill time. And, of course, the boys found their favorite show...

They have a lovely sitting room downstairs with a fireplace, so that is our next stop on the tour! I see an hot Irish coffee in my future...