Volcano's, Beaches, Curry and Tea

So today, I was supposed to head to Portugal to see a good family friend and his family. Unfortunately, Iceland had other plans for me! Yesterday, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland errupted releasing a huge cloud of ash and smoke into the air! So since there was a mass of volcanic ash floating over the UK and other parts of Europe, no planes were allowed up - which meant I was staying right where I was in Dungarvan! So, I spent a good deal of that morning and afternoon just calling Expedia and British Airways trying to get my ticket changed to later date. However, the hold time for British Airways was a little over three hours. Needless to say, I don't have that many minutes on my calling card so waiting on the phone was not an option. After talking with my parents, my mom was going to try getting a hold of them - since she could call the toll free number without worrying about minutes.
Some good friends of my family live nearby here in Waterford. They had offered to take me to the beach with them that evening since I was no longer going to Portugal. It was the best thing that had happened that day. I had such a great time with them! It was Jason, his wife Claire and their two little boys, AJ and Spencer. Jason picked me up and we drove along the coastal road over to the beach, Bohamon Beach. We stopped on the way to look out at one of the coves. The Irish Sea is so beautiful. The beach was gorgeous, just a little cove of a beach in between cliffs, with a big sand dune behind it. Jason told me that about 15 years ago there were some bad storms that really did a lot of damage to the beach and the dunes. Since then they have reinforced the dunes and restored the beach. We met Claire and the boys at the beach, and played there for about an hour, till it started to get chilly when the sun went down. So we moved to the play ground there. It was a really neat playground, very new and the kids had a great time, I even got to swing on the swings! While we were there we had some fish and chips from a "chipper". A "chipper" is a place where they actually make the chips by cutting up the potatoes and frying them right there! It was really good and I felt pretty authentic.
After we headed back to their house for some chicken curry for dinner. The boys gave me a tour of the house, and showed me their toys in the back yard. After a very enthusiastic tour, I got to help make dinner. Jason made chicken curry and rice, I got to chop up the peppers. It was really nice to be able to help make dinner, and to sit down to a real family style dinner. I haven't done that since I've been here. It was just nice to feel at home. The curry was delicious! I've never had curry before so I really enjoyed it. After dinner, I helped clean up and do the dishes, while the boys got ready for bed. After everything was cleaned up and the boys were in bed we had a cup of tea and sat around before I went back. It was a really relaxing way to end a day that started out very stressfully. I'm really grateful that Jason and Claire and the boys are here, this trip wouldn't be the same without them.