Into the belly of the...hen?!

Daddy! Daddy! Wake up, Mummy wants you to go downstairs. NOW!

My 3 year old son came running into my bedroom, shouting so loud, he could've woken up the whole neighbourhood  never mind yours truly. I looked around. The sun was pretty bright at this stage. It must be mid-morning I thought.

Great!

My wife must've been so kind as to let me have a lie-in this morning. I could smell breakfast already cooking. Just what I needed. A great start to the perfect day.

Come here, Husayn. Give Daddy a kiss.

My son nodded his head but then he started running in and out of the room. I was getting a tad bit confused.

But where is it Daddy?

Where's what?

I smiled when I soon realised that my son had just mixed-up kiss with keys! We eventually got it sorted between ourselves and I headed downstairs for some hot dogs while taking a sneaky preview at lunch with some pasta.

Yes, contrary to what I've been writing about, my life doesn't revolve solely around scooters and Liverpool FC. I do have a family and kids to entertain.

So, as part of the keeping-kids-entertained-during-the-school-holidays programme, my wife and I brought them to the Trim Balloon Fiesta.

The balloon fiesta ticked the box in terms of my all-new informal policy of keeping things as local as possible. That way, I'd save on petrol and, because the places we visit are not more than an hour away, I'd save on having to dish out money for accommodation as well. Genius of sorts. Heh.

As with most outoor events in Ireland, it would have been perfect if not for the weather. Nevertheless, my family and I were determined to make it a fun day.

The highlight of the day was actually going into one of the balloons. Nope, not sitting in the basket while the thing was on the ground. That's just lame. Lser material, really. We actually went into the balloon while the crew were inflating it!

Of course, the crew or I weren't silly enough to allow me in while they pumped hot air into the balloon. That would mean a trip to the nearest burn unit for a case akin to sleeping overnight on a tanning bed. Ouch!

So, after some fun and games for the kids at the on-site funfair, we decided that it was pretty much Daddy's time. I had read somewhere that the nearby Trim Castle was used in the filming of Mel Gibson's masterpiece, Braveheart. Naturally, I was interested in taking a look at one of the stars of the film.

After taking a good look around the castle, I still couldn't figure out where the castle fit into the movie. I mean, was it used as Robert the Bruce's Edinburgh or was it used to potray medieval York? Or even Edward Longshanks' stronghold? Maybe bits of it were used for all three?

I suppose, eventually I'll found but until then, I'm just glad we made the trip to Trim with the kids.

Seriously, what's the point in travelling the world when you've not even explored your own backyard?