Fair Game

The Duck Game


Tooting on his duck game prize


Who doesn't love a ride on the Merry Go Round....


There's that darn sheep popping up again - even in the kiddie barn play area!



Soren loves the inflatable climbing/adventure structures popular at fairs and kid events.

We may not get to the Great Minnesota State Fair this year, but we did hit a couple of small town fairs. Personally I prefer the small ones anyway, more intimate, less expensive and far more interesting characters. It was 10 years ago this year that Randy and I had our first date at the MN State Fair - so the fair culture is in the entire Randrea clan blood.

"Me Drive That"

Since Sorens exposure to driving a plane - he has been obsessed with driving any form of a BIG moving vehicle. "Me drive that" is a phrase we hear almost daily. Fortunately we have had lots of opportunities this summer to put him in the driver's seat.

Soren's Irish Music Gig

A Dublin highlight for Soren was staying up way past his bedtime to hit the pubs. We went to one known for it's trad music and Irish dancers. Soren hung out in front of the stage and the guitarist came to him, gave him his pick and asked him to join in with the band. The packed pub gave a round of applause to Soren after his debut and he clutched onto that guitar pick for days.

Ireland Wrap Up

It has been 3 months since our return to the states and the only excuse I have for slacking on the blog is the complexity of dealing with post-trip drama/traumas, which by now most of you know about anyway. Let's escape back though to our final week in Ireland. After Randy's hospital discharge, we loaded up the rental car and headed to Wesport for a night, then on to Dublin and our return home. Originally it was supposed to be a grand wrap up to our time in Ireland, but with the stress of dealing with a fiesty toddler, a drugged up, out of commission husband needing more naps then the fiesty toddler, a 13 week hormonal pregnant mama (yes folks, that would be me), a grandma ready for the insanity of it all to be over, and a return flight home from hell, we are lucky we all survived. But we did our best and took in some great city highlights as all tourists should do.

No matter where we went, we just couldn't escape those darn sheep! (A sheep shearing demo in the streets of Wesport.)






The Dublin City Bus Tour atop the double decker bus.


While stuck on the Chicago runway for over two hours, Soren was allowed to play the role of Pilot, which calmed him for about five minutes.