Irish Fair 2013

Once upon a time,  we went to Ireland for our honeymoon. Upon returning, we found out Irish fair was happening like two weeks after we arrived home. We went and fell in love-it was just down the street and it was the fix we needed for our already growing ache. We've been going ever since. This year was our third year going. Ben keeps joking that next year for irish fair-we'll be in Ireland. I don't know about that, but I'd take it. Man I love that place. 

I tear up every 15 minutes while at the festival. There's so much happy nostalgia in it for me. I can't help but think of who we were when we just came here for the first time. Who we are now is so much different. Our marriage is so much stronger and more filled with the things I hoped it would be. We fight for eachother now. Three years ago? There was a lot less of that going on.

Plus, our honeymoon. It was amazing. We had our first take on being together and working through struggle. (Every block is a different name in downtown dublin-we drove past our hotel like 8 times before we found it) We saw some of the most breathtaking sites (in and outdoors. haha.) and it set our marriage culture with a taste for adventure. I'll always love Ireland for that.

So here we are. Our beloved Irish fair. In between the busyness that is this weekend, we went Friday night for the music and hope to grab some grub quick for lunch between our fun engagements of the day. 

This year was especially fun because of Eowyn. First off, every woman and older man comes up and talks with her. And my favorite quote of the event: A beautiful plump woman (really, she was lovely) walked up to Eowyn and kept commenting how pretty she was. Then as we were leaving she side-commented "Oh How I love chubby babies! Probably because I am one!" 

If in my older age I turn more plump than not, I hope I have the liveliness and silliness of that beauty.

I love the culture and vibe you get here. Irish people are a laid back bunch. They like their food, they love their family and they work as hard as they play. I like that I have a heritage-that I know what county I came from (Thanks Aunt Betty!)-and that when I run into people around the cities I get "You're Irish aren't you?" 

Maybe when Eowyn gets older, depending on where we are, we'll put her into one of the awesome irish-dance groups. She'd rock at it.

If you read this today-Go visit Irish Fair on Harriet Island. Its free. There's Amazing Music. And the food is really awesome. They have irish wolfhounds and cute dancing girls. And little babies running around in kilts.