Hello everyone!  For my eleventh birthday I got to go on a trip to Washington D.C.  We had to wake up at about 5:00am and leave at 5:30. We were in the car for about 6 hours and it got really boring at times. But it was so worth it!

When we got into D.C. we went to Union Station and had some lunch there. There were lots of choices but we decided to have some conveyer belt sushi at a place called Yo Sushi. It was really fun to try and get the sushi off the conveyer belt. The spicy tuna rolls were excellent. We also got to have real Japanese soda which is awesome!

For my birthday I asked for a tour of the White House. I didn't get my tour of the White House (sequester!), but I got one of the capitol building by our guide, Kevin Mooney, who works for Congressman Tom Reed.This is Kevin.

Kevin guided us through a tunnel that took us from the House of Representatives to the Capitol. He was very good at walking backwards. When I got to the Capitol I learned that there were two statues of American people from each state. There were many references to the original 13 colonies. It was an absolutely amazing tour! 

In Washington D.C. there is a lot of walking, and I'm pretty sure Pallas barely walked any of it. Dad, Mom, and I all carried her at least once on our trip. Dad carried her a lot more and she likes to make faces at us over his shoulder. This is Dad carrying her in the tunnel between Congressman Reed's office and the Capitol.

While we were in D.C. I got to see my cousins Aidan and Deirdre and my Uncle Brendan. We all went out for thai food. It was great to see them because we only get to see them once or twice a year.

The next day we went to the American History Smithsonian.  There were lots of exhibits but my two favorites were the ones about the presidents (of course) and the first ladies. In the presidents exhibit there were presidents memorabilia and lots of facts. In the first lady exhibit there were lots of first lady dresses and tea sets.

This was a collection of street signs named after presidents.

The next day we went to the Washington D.C. zoo.  When I first got there were big letters that spelled zoo so Pallas, Trin, and I got in them and took a picture. There were lots of animals so I'll just name a few. There were elephants, pandas (they were all sleeping though), gorillas, and lions.

Once again Pallas was carried throughout the zoo. We did about a million miles of walking that day, because we had to park very far away.

For breakfast on one of our last days we went to dim sum. I love eating all of the yummy foods. Some of my favorites are chicken feet, shumai, shrimp dumplings, rice noodles, and crab lollipops. This is Trin with her favorite, sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf.

One of the best things about our hotel was the pool. It was really big! My favorite thing about it was it was nice and warm. Pallas liked the toys they kept at the pool. There were floaties that we pretended were surf boards and a dolphin inner tube. I loved being in D.C. and hope to be back real soon.

Peace and love,
Rowan

Back in April my mom, dad, and I started my garden. In May we planted lettuce and spinach.We mostly weeded in April and May, but now it looks a lot better. This is the day we went to the garden and got to work.

After we got the soil ready, we took the seeds and spread them in straight rows and covered them with soil. We put them in about an inch according to the packages.

One of my favorite things to grow is herbs. Even if you don't grow a vegetable garden you can always grow a herb garden if you like different flavors and spices. My favorite thing to make is herby potatoes.

(that will probably be my next blog post) 

After a while my lettuce started growing! We already made a couple of salads out of it. Maybe I could make my own salad dressing! Hmm...

We also planted tomatoes, thanks to our friend Dave who gave us lots of plants. We already have so many blossoms! My favorite thing to make with tomatoes is fresh salsa. We make ours with tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and salt.

I was thinking that a garden is a great family activity. Plus it's a great workout! It hurts. If your family doesn't agree, you try it for yourself. And if you try it, you too may be rewarded with an out of control sage bush! Yay!

Peace out!
Trinity the amazing :D

Father's Day is fun. I like it because it is cool and I like to give my father's day project to my dad. My project was a picture of me. It was very cute. These are the things I like about my daddy. He helps me, and he says sorry if he bumps into me. I like to sit on him when he's sleeping. I go downstairs in the night, I sneak past him, get the remote, or play subway surfers on his phone. He plays matching games with me. I beat him. I think he's very handsome. I like it when he gives me candy. He's the best daddy. That's it. I'm done.
Pallas

 

I started Irish dancing when I was three. Irish dancing is very important to me. I love doing it. It's hard to find sports I like because I'm not that competitive. This is me at four, dancing at the Hibernian club in town.

Irish dancing is a big part of my life and I hope to make the highest rank soon.There is a girl who is only twelve years old in the highest rank! One thing I like about Irish dancing is sharing it. At six years old Rowan stopped Irish dancing so I found new ways to share it. I started to teach Pallas and she started at three too. That's me in my costume at 5 yrs old in a crib with Pallas.

My favorite way to share my talent are shows. After my first St. Patrick's week "round up," and my confidence was up, I really started trying harder.

At the age of six I graduated to the next harder level. In my first show at that level, I got to do bang, which is part one of treble jig, while the rest of my level didn't.That was then I knew that Irish dancing is what I want to do. That's me in my intermediate level costume at six.

This year, I worked harder and got to do 'jump' in all of the shows. I hope to work ever harder this year so I can dance in all the dances.

This is jump. I'm at the far left. Enjoy! Listen for the beats made by our hard shoes!

Peace out.

Trinity
(Irish Dancer) :D

I like dancing because it's fun and I get to kick. It's fun doing it because I get to put my foot to my knee. I get to dance at a lot of places like in my school, in my sisters' school, in people's houses, in drinking places, and for old people. When I dance people say it's nice. The music makes me feel like having a party. My costume is comfortable and it's pretty. I like my hair curled. It bounces when I jump. My favorite part is the kick. I already said that. Write that down. It's important. That's it. I'm done.
Pallas 

What does being Irish mean to me? I think it means that my ancestors are from Ireland. I think St. Patrick's Day means that you celebrate being Irish and the history of Ireland and it doesn't just mean dressing up in green clothes and trying to find leprechauns. I think being Irish is really cool because I get to try things some people might not get to try.  It also means I did Irish dancing because I'm Irish and not just because it seemed fun.

I'm Irish in two ways. On my dad's side my Gran is 100% Irish. She's part Murphy and part O'Brien. On my mom's side my Grandpa, Eamonn Finbarr, was born in Kilrush, Ireland. This is a picture of him when he was studying to be a priest. My grandpa came to America in the late 1950's after deciding not to become a priest and met my grandma there. When he was studying to be a priest he went to many countries in Europe and learned 8 languages so he became a language professor at St. Bonaventure University. 

These are my great grand parents. My great grandpa fought for Irish independence and my great grandma was a gunrunner for the Irish. Once the republic won independence he was a policeman for the republic, and they had a family.

I asked a few friends and family what it means to be Irish. He's what they said:

"Having a Irish ancestry and it was difficult having the O' in front of my last name." Gran

"Being Irish means family and friends are stronger than any real or imagined sorrow." Dennis

"I love the spirit of mischief and wit, and a keen appreciation for language that being Irish brings. Being Irish also gives me an appreciation for old things, mossy things, and all things abandoned, preferably made of stone and in a state of decay, found after tromping through a field, Cadbury bar in hand. And I appreciate the fact that I instinctively love rain, and wind, and the sea." Anne

"I appreciate being able to wear an Irish hurling jersey instead of green on St Patricks Day. Clare!" Drew

"It means to have a connection to an ancient people who have a rich hisotry, a colorful storytelling tradition, and the gift of gab." Kerry

What does being Irish mean to you? Or what does your heritage mean to you?

Peace and love,
Rowan

For my birthday this year my family went to Chicago. We got to ride the overnight train to get there. When we got to the train station we found out we were delayed 3 hours! When the train was ready we hopped on at 4:30am. This is us waiting on the cold windy platform. But the train had comfortable seats and pillows. Right away I fell asleep. In the morning it was my birthday! We got breakfast and I opened my DS to find out my mom and dad bought me the harvest moon game that I wanted. It was awesome. Rowan and I played on that for the rest of the ride.

Pallas and I loved taking in the great views. Finally we got to Chicago and got off the train.

When we got there we were super hungry so we went to a place that is owned by the Cheesecake Factory, Grand Luxe. They had amazing food, but my favorite was desert. My parents secretly ordered the make-your-own cupcakes for us. They brought our cupcakes and a birthday pastry for me that said "have a grand day!" with lots of whipped cream. I enjoyed both of them.

Then we went to The Shedd Aquarium with lots of animals and things to do. First we went to a dolphin show. Then we saw all kinds of fish and sea animals.Then we went to the arctic area and guess what, MORE PROBLEMS! We saw the penguins and then Pallas saw something--a submarine for the kids to play in. She would not leave so we stayed there for ten minutes then left. Pallas was sad so to cheer her up we went to the 'rivers by you' area and there was a camping set that you could play in. You could go canoeing or sit by the fire or even make breakfast! 

This is outside the aquarium. We took some pictures of us to share the memory.

On Saturday our Aunt Kerry came to Chicago and we went shopping, went out to dinner with some new relatives, and watched the golden globes together!

We went to dimsum with our Aunt Kerry too.The food was really good. My sister tried some kind of inside part of a cow and chicken feet. Gross! It took Pallas a long time to fit that dumpling in her mouth. ;D

I loved Chicago! We even got to meet long lost family! I hope I can go again! Maybe you should take a visit too!   


Peace out!
Trinity :D

Hello! I'm going to be writing about my all time favorite president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)! I love him so much in school I did a project about him.  He was born in Hyde Park, NY. FDR was our 32nd president. FDR was democratic. His first term started in 1933 and his 4th ended in 1945. He was the only president to serve more then 2 terms--he served 4!  He married his distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. She is one of the most famous first ladies. She wanted everybody to be part of the New Deal. After they were married, FDR got a disease called polio and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. FDR did not want to have the United States to go into war but when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, FDR declared war on Japan. Then Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. I will always admire FDR because even though we were in war with three countries he stayed calm and led our country to defeat all three countries.

Peace and love Rowan :)

Pallas with Lucy.

Sparky being snugglish with Uncle Kevin.

Sparky and Uncle Kevin fighting. Sideways.

I have three kitties. Sparky and Uncle Kevin are so cute snuggling together. The video is funny when they fight. Because they tackle. Uncle Kevin and Sparky always get along. Except when they're fighting. I like Sparky because he's snugglish. I mean bitey. He hunts for birds and mice and other stuff. He plays and he sees Wild Cat. I like Uncle Kevin because he fights with Lucy. He is also snugglish. Every cat is snugglish. Even Sparky. With people. And then he bites them. I love Uncle Kevin because is so cute. He looks like a bunny. His ears are my favorite. My favorite kitty is Lucy. She nibbles on my head. That's it. 
Pallas

I love Santa. He bring toys. I like it when he brings ttoooooyys. I like my toys that he gives me. [Rowan's not sitting still. Look. I'm watching you Rowan. Sit still.] Umm...Santa is a nice guy. Because he gives us toys. I like talking to him. Larry the Elf hides. He's here because we choosed him. He watches us. Because he needs to tell Santa if we're bad or nice. He hides. He was sitting on an elephant, he was in a painting, he was eating cocoa puffs. Mama thinks he's scary. He's right in the kitchen. He's watching us right now. Keep typing. I'm still talking. I like our decoration huge Santa. And I like the house with the family and baby Jesus. All done.
Pallas