Peapod on Purpose

Part 1:Waiting

Yep, it’s me! Middle Pea broadcasting from Ireland. You should get to know me before we start. I am nine-years-old, ready to build any Lego set anyone gives me, and have accomplished many efforts: 

• I have traveled through Asia, Europe, North America, Mexico, and Costa Rica! 
• I’m great at math.
• I’ve grown a love for writing (believe it or not, I’ve written more than nine fictional books). 
• I’m writing a blog! Ok! Let’s get started.

The Peapod landed in Ireland at night and slept, we had come from Jordan and were tired. When we woke up the next day, Daddy Pea and Big Pea went to the hospital because there was something funky about Big Pea’s foot. Once they were gone, Mommy Pea, me, and Little Pea went to the grocery store. After that we came home, put the groceries away, and went to the playground. 

It was a 5-minute walk (approximately) and we enjoyed… plop. Rain. As I was saying, it wa… plop! Ugh! It was a nice walk. But… then It started drizzling down a small portion of rain. By the time we got to the playground, we were trapped in a downpour. Soaking wet we played there until one of us fell and we went home. Then we played together until…Knock, knock, knock! 

“Daddy!” Me and Little Pea ran to the door of the apartment and flung it open and gasped. There stood a dragon, huge and breathing fire. Wait. There was NOT a dragon. There stood Big Pea. But something was still funky about her leg. It was totally red, top to bottom, and so was her foot! HER ANKLE WAS BROKEN! HER REDNESS WAS A CAST! After we checked out her cast, we called our family back home. After we told them about it, we realized we were almost done waiting.

Part 2: A family reunion 

We went to the airport the next morning and mom got a coffee. Then, from behind a corner, came our cousins! “A—! F—!” I shouted, as I ran towards them! They gasped, mouths opening. They were in Ireland. With us. 

A few days later we (yes, me, my family and cousins), went to a playground. No rain involved. (We have a thing for playgrounds. Can’t control our energy at this age, ask my Mom.) At that playground we played many fun games: tag, climb everything you can, and The Obstacles. After that, we went to Trinity College Dubin where we saw what college really was. While there, we ate our sandwiches and slid on a steep ramp on our bottoms. (Energy, never keepin us calm. We. Are. Crazy.) After a fun day, we went to bed with happiness pulsing. 

Part 3: Legos

The next day, we woke up and played in the apartment. We played with. . . LEGOS!

A and I always like to squeeeze in a Lego battle or two. A Lego battle is where all your creations have three lives… (This is going to take a while.) Anyway, we did our Lego battle and then walked around the city. Then we turned the corner, “Mom, there’s a Lego store!” I say. “No there isn’t,” she said. “I saw someone with a Lego bag!,” I replied. As I was saying this, we turned the corner and went into a book shop. It was nice but I still had the feeling that there was something good just waiting to be found. We kept walking until I saw it. The GIANT yellow and red sign that said one word: LEGO. We all ran toward it, and stood outside. A human sized Lego guy stood in front of the door. He glared at us and said “under renovation.”  Just kidding. Actually there was no Lego guy (sadly) but the door was open! We got to build a steering wheel (and keep it for free) and then went for dinner. We had pho and then went to bed. (Pho is the best food in the universe.)

Part 4: Castle A

When we woke up, Cousin A and Cousin F came upstairs. We packed up our bags and got in the car. I (me) got in our cousins’ car (for there was extra room) and we got on the road. After driving for about 2 hours, we then got to a castle ruin and we ate PB&J (the sugary kind). By the way, Big Pea had crutches. I found a crack in one of the walls of the castle and found a patch of vines with “blueberries.” Then we ran. Not just for fun, but for a reason that filled us with energy. As we sped forward we ran for one amazing reason. You guessed it…playground. At the playground there was a standing seesaw that goes really high and there was also a spinny thing (very spinny). Then we got back in the car and drove the rest of the way to a country house with a big yard.

Part 5 : A new reason to play

A big yard. That’s what this is about. We got to the new house and played Crack The Dragon (involving a big stick). At dinner we shared our highs, lows and “thankful-fors.” When we woke up, we played more in the yard until our parents called us. I walked in and smelled a surprising sweetness. We sat down at the dining table just as my aunt walked out of the kitchen with French Toast. It was so good I could barely remember where we were going later. 

After breakfast, we got in the car and started driving to Downpatrick Head. Once we got there we started walking toward The Broken Fort. The Broken Fort is a chunk of Ireland that got separated from the land and is now sitting in the ocean. We stood on the side of a massive cliff that dropped straight off into watery depths. It was also really interesting to see the different layers of rock that were actually green and light tan. On the land there were these moss dome-bump-hop things that we played tag on. Also, we saw a geyser (not shooting the water). 

The weather was super cold and it started raining. First only a few plops, then a storm of water and wind. We quickly got in our car and started towards the bog walk. A bog is like a swamp but not as wet. After strolling through the bog we went home and did a gummy bear dance for the grown-ups.

Part 6 two axes, one sword, and a battle

We woke up the next day, had more time to play in the yard, had a stick fight, ate breakfast, packed up, and got in the car (again). We were driving to a farm with an Airbnb in it. Once we were about halfway there we stopped. I got out of the car and walked through an old archway to see a majestic castle in the distance. Bunratty Castle. We walked towards it and stopped at a suspicious sign…clang! Cousin A  read it out loud. “Blacksmith.” It was on a…clunck! On a building. We walked through the door and, yes, saw a blacksmith. After watching him for a while we started out the door. “Wait!” The blacksmith said. “There’s a character much neater than meself. Find ‘im and tell ‘im he owes me three shillings. And if he doesn’t I’m comin’ with this.” He lifted up his biggest ax. True story.

So, after we went to the playground nearby we went to the castle (crazy there too, can’t tell if I’m ever gonna get tired of playgrounds). We found the fellow the blacksmith had told us about and told him his situation. He was in fancy clothes and he was inside the castle. On the way back to the car we told the blacksmith he better bring his ax to the castle. At the end we went to a gift shop where I bought this cool toy sword with a leather sheath. Cousin F bought a soft ax and at the farm house we had many heroic battles of justice and strength. 

While we were there, we watched a movie one night. There was a fire in the fireplace and we enjoyed a few rounds of freeze tag outside. We met two dogs and ran around with them until I fell in the mud. After a few more days of playing (and 1 more playground) we went to the airport to fly to Scotland. At the airport one of the security guards said I couldn’t bring my new toy sword because it was a weapon. I felt sad, but I was with my cousins. 

Ireland was overall pretty good, but all I really cared about was being with my cousins. (Plus the playgrounds).