Our weekend celebrating in Dublin

In April this year my eldest son turned 21 and it was also our 25th wedding anniversary. Instead of having a big family party for both ( which my son would have hated, and my husband would have hated) we decided to do a shared celebration with just us four. I’m not being funny but with the amount you spend on a party ( with food, drink and decorations etc) we have always been the type to put the money to a better use ( for us anyway) to go somewhere and have an experience instead. The amount of effort involved with food alone would put me under pressure illness wise and by the time I would have done all the organising for it I would probably be too exhausted to actually enjoy it! Anyway, we decided before Christmas that  a weekend in Dublin was our plan and so we all had something to look forward to.

I’ve been to Dublin many years ago with a group of friends and had a great time, but as I’m from Belfast myself it’s always been a place I wanted to take my boys and we agreed we would wait until they were old enough to drink legally! So we decided we would combine the celebrations and take ourselves away for a long weekend there as a family. We were actually looking forward to going away with our boys who are now 21 and 18 years old, it’s a whole other experience when they are this age. Less arguing, less faffing, less stress, more fun, more easy going and well, more enjoyable!

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Rocking in Hyde Park

I feel like a real ‘cool’ ‘up to date’ ‘rockin’ sort of mum this week. I can announce I have been to 2 fab concerts in one week- Go Me!!

One was for the fab Robster which you can read here if you missed it. The other was a lot ‘cooler’ as I took my teen to Hyde Park to see Bon Jovi!!! I know I’m still reliving it LOL ( bear in mind I don’t get out much *cough*). This was actually a birthday pressie for him back in April, but of course being 15 he needed a chaperone (that’s my excuse).

Anyway I cannot stand for very long periods of time so was lucky enough to get tickets for the accessible standing area which gave us a BRILLIANT view.

Our view from the ‘accessible standing’ area!

We were literally behind this barrier and this photo was taken with no zoom either. We were actually in part of the very expensive ‘Gold ‘ area which meant a lot more room and view with the thousands of peasants left to bundle inside the park area!!

They were packed in like sardines!!

Sometimes having an affliction can come in very handy.

First up for us was the Kaiser Chiefs who were great and the singer was a really funny guy interacting with the crowd to.

Then it was the turn of the main band- BON JOVI!! Actually I’m not sure who was more excited and I did outscream shout much louder than my son. What are mum’s for after all?

As the evening wore on the light show was amazing too.

We certainly got our money’s worth as they played for around 3 hrs or so, playing all our fav’s……….Raise Your hands, Living on a Prayer, with an amazing rendition of Always in the encore!

We both had a fabulous time, with my son recording lots of his favourite songs on his phone to listen at home. We swayed, danced, sung our little hearts out for a few hours and I was given the seal of approval for being able to get him in an area closer to the stage!! This may be a good thing or not depending on who he has his eye on next LOL………

I have my uses after all.

Wembley, Robbie and Ollie too

That was me on Sunday………..at Wembley, watching Robbie but having to endure Ollie Murs first!!! (so NOT a fan).

However, it was worth it to see the Robster in action again ( really I must be too old to be thinking that now as I’m in my *cough* 40’s) I have seen him at reading a few years ago and at Knebworth which was just an amazing day with loads of support bands including Moby who were amazing.

But nevertheless there I was with a few friends screaming like 17 yr old girls ( actually we did have two 17yr old girls with us so not exactly exaggerating).

Our motley crew with me on the left looking far too excited!

Anyway, my view was this:

Which was a fab place to be to see it all. Like I mentioned above I did have to endure Ollie Murs, who the 17yr old girls with had come to see ( madness!) but in all honesty he wasn’t actually that bad, although I had threatened to go to the toilet when he came on LOL

An amazing set!I was quite proud to put the youngsters to shame with my screaming once the Robster came on to the anthem of Let me entertain you!

My throat was sore as we left but it was all worth it.

Then to top it all off we noticed a young guy on the train home with a lanyard and pass in his pocket………turns out he was one of the lighting guys, and he lives at the top of the road! He was great fun and good for a laugh and we did try and reassure him that we wouldn’t stalk him………….WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!!!!!

Bless him he even waved to us as we drove passed the entrance to his flat………………that to me is definitely friend acceptance surely?

Anyway, I’m recovering this week before I head off to Hyde Park with my eldest to see Bon Jovi……….BON JOVI people ( I really must remember that this was his birthday treat and that it wouldn’t be cool for his mother to throw her knickers onto stage while with him!)