This year, my daughter Tabitha is going into her senior year of high school. We decided that before she goes off to college, we’d have “12 Months of Fun” together where every month, we do something fun, different, or silly together.
Tabitha has a motto: “memories over materials.” The best gifts aren’t things — they’re quality time together. What better way to solidify this idea than by creating some amazing memories together over the next year!
We kicked off our 12 Months of Fun with a trip to Ireland! (Not every month will include an international trip across the world – LOL!)
We started our journey in Dublin and explored the city for a day — visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and more. We quickly realized that while we enjoyed the city, we were excited to get out and see the beautiful countryside.
The rest of our stay was on the West Coast of Ireland, where we spent 6 days traveling in and around County Mayo and Galway. We were staying in a house with extended family, who were doing family genealogy research. It was interesting to hear about our great-great-grandparents that lived in County Mayo over 100 years ago.
Tabitha’s goal for trip was to see “castles and cliffs.” And we achieved that! We saw beautiful gardens and amazing scenery like the Cliffs of Moher, Croagh Patrick, and Kylemore Abbey.
We also met amazing people, like the amazing waitress at a local pub who was interested in our journey and also wanted to share her recent experience living in the US.
I can’t say enough about the tourist experience we had. The customer service experience was spectacular. Everyone was so kind and generous, and wanted to make sure we had a good time.
It was also fun mastering driving on the left side of the road. 😉 And our trip through rainy Ireland gave Tabitha a chance to take up meteorology… When she’d see the dark clouds and rain rolling in from the sea, we knew it was time to run for cover!!
And if you are ever in Ireland and want to find the perfect Shepherd’s pie, take a trip to Athlone, Ireland!
The week-long overseas adventure was a great way to kick off our 12 Months of Fun.
Next Stop? In September, we take a day-long excursion to Hershey Park!
And if you have any ideas of how I can make this last year of Tabitha living at home fun and memorable – with as few tears as possible – I would welcome it. 😉
How about you? Have you ever considered kicking of a year of fun with a loved one? You don’t have to go all the way to Ireland to do it — you can enjoy being a tourist in nearby cities. As my daughter would say, memories are more important than materials!
‘Til next time,
Sandy
