Blessington II

TLDR – our second bike ride to Blessington, and Khaleesi is coming with us. We’re staying for two nights at the same place we stayed last time

On the road

First stop, Marley park. A few minutes out from the park, using the helmet radio, I told a nearly napping Khaleesi we’d be at Marley in a few minutes. She responded “wake me up in 2 minutes “ – the helmet radios I bought advertise up to 6 riders do not support party line mode. Instead, made me sad, they support master to one at a time. My helmet radio set as the master can talk to Maddex OR Khaleesi.  They are not configured to talk to each other. This annoys me. Guess I should have read more before buying the radios. Arriving at the park we were the only bikes on the rack. Maddex said “we’re the only ones here. No one else is on the playground” as he took off running to the park.

His statement was true for about 2 minutes. A fifth-year and sixth-year class showed up wearing blue uniforms and insanity commenced all over the park.  A while later another class showed up and the park has become red vs blue. The first two classes were in blue uniforms, third class is in red uniforms. Park is starting to be crowded, off to subway in Belgrade. Khaleesi and I bought three spicy Italian subs from Subway. Maddex bought some drinks and crisps from Centra next door. Subway is about 1.5km from Belgrade park; we’ll eat there. Belgrade park was also full of a class of school kids in uniforms. Don’t these kids know school is over for the summer? Park was not horrible crowded, we managed some time on the Larry taffy and big spinning thing. We found some quiet rocks to sit on for lunch.

Next stop – the favorite park of the day, Corkagh park. The first stop in Corkage is the bike track for more laps around the track and a climb in a huge tree in the middle of the track. We got lost looking for the playground again, but only a little lost. Maddex and Khaleesi played in the sand and water for a good 40 minutes before I checked how much further we have to go and noticed we’ve still had a 90-minute ride to our destination. Better wash up, load up, and hit the road if we want to be there before 17:00.

Khaleesi face-timed Mila and gave her a tour of our place while Maddex and I unpacked and relaxed for a minute before our ride back into town to pick up some foods. We rode into Blessington and found a Dunnes for food. Whatever the kids asked for we bought; they’ve been brilliant on the whole day. On the way out we picked a 3 pack of ice cream bars to eat before heading back. Khaleesi and I were not in love with the ice cream bars. Maddex ate three ice cream bars. Back in the room we ate, showered, took in a movie and slept a good sleep in an oddity in Ireland, a King-sized bed.

Full day in Blessington

The kids made it to about 0500 before waking up. I’d have liked to slept more as the bed was super comfortable, but kids. For a slow morning, we watched Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword, ate food, phoned, and managed a nap before 08:00 pill time.  At about 0830 it was trampoline time. Been a while since we had access to a large trampoline the kids loved it.  The trampoline was an hour of dad look at my trick time.  I tried to show them a few tricks but they told me I was too big for the trampoline, said I was almost hitting the ground – mutter.

From our room, we rode about 5k to a bridge into Valleymount where we parked. Under/next to the bridge is a nice sandy beach we played at all morning. Digg holes, playing in the watch, skipping rocks, all of the fun things to do at a sandy beach. From the beach, we rode around the bottom of the lake through Poulaphouca by the dam and power plant on the lake. Look Ice cream cone in front a petrol station – better stop for cones. We ate cones next to a stack of coal bags stacked against a building with water coming out of the roof. Checking with the guy behind the counter at the petrol station he said the building was abandoned and they’ve been trying for a week to get someone to look into the leak without success.

Next stop Russborough for a playground and Hedge maze. Sadly the Giftshop where you buy the tokens to let you into the hedge maze is closed which means you cannot get into the hedge maze. The playground is free and has a few things to play on. While the kids were playing they saw someone come out of the Maze. Maddex chatted with them and they explained how to get into the maze. Maddex laid on his back and shimmied under the gate, then let Khaleesi in. After they went in a bunch of kids noticed what they did and snuck in too. Then their moms noticed and sat at the gate screaming for their kids to come back for 20 minutes. I was glad the kids were able to explore the maze, a bit annoyed at all of the moms freaking out.

Back at our room we worked out wanted Apache Pizza for dinner, but Maddex did not want to ride into town. He also did not want Khaleesi and I to leave him alone. We watched a movie for a bit to relax and Maddex passed out on the couch. Khaleesi and I did not want to leave him so we trampolined for a bit. He’s still sleeping. I tried to wake Maddex and tell him we were leaving. He kind of opened his eyes and acknowledged me. Figured that was enough and off for Pizza Khaleesi and I went. When we got back we woke Maddex up with a slice of pizza on his face. We went out and ate with the house owner and some of her friends and kids.

The kids all played on the trampoline while the adults chatted. Was nice to chat with an adult, not at school or home. Been a long time; Thanks covid.

Headed home

Managed to sleep in until 0600. As soon as the kids woke up “Dad I want to jump on the trampoline” Me telling them people are still sleeping was not a pleasing statement. The kids ate heaps of cereal and treats while we watched a Jackie Chan movie – Who am I – and packed up our kit onto the bikes. Our departure was around 0800 without any trampoline time. Guess I’ll chat with Michelle and see if we can buy a trampoline later tonight. First half of the ride back to Corkagh park was pretty boring. Maddex kept expressing how long it was without a turn or change in scenery.

At the bicycle track, Maddex and Khaleesi were both feeling bold, Maddex took Khaleesi for a ride in the cargo bike. He did great started going downhill and I caught him for the stop to make sure he did not fall over. At the playground, we had a good half hour before anyone else arrived. The kids played on things other than the sand for a bit before settling in to dig in the sand and play in the water. After a few hours, we set off home. Maddex has a birthday party to attend starting at 1400 and it would be nice to be home 1300 to have a few minutes to unpack before heading back out to take him to the party.

Bunch of Bonus pictures