Ireland, Day 8 & 9

The next morning we got packed up and checked out of the house.  The house was amazing, and we loved it, but the best part was the people we rented it from!  They were SO very nice, and we had some great conversations with them at check-in and check-out.  Just really great people!  If you EVER go to Ireland...EVER, I highly recommend this house, from these people!  It simply could not have been any better!

After we left the house, we drove back to Bunratty for some souvenir shopping.  They had an amazing shop!! We all got tons of stuff there!  The kids all got Irish sweaters...too cute!

After shopping a bit, we started the drive to Dublin.  Almost as soon as we got on the highway, traffic stopped completely.  There was a vehicle on fire up ahead, and we were stuck for about an hour.  So our 3 hour trip turned into over 4 hours!  But we finally made it to the hotel, and R returned Big Bertha (our rental van) to the airport.  We had pizza delivered to the hotel, and then all crashed pretty early.  I was actually in bed before 10:00...that NEVER happens!!  I think I was just relieved that all my planning and tour guide duties were over! : )  We had to get up early the next morning and head to the airport.  Two relatively smooth flights, and we were back "home" in Stuttgart.  It was a great trip, but it sure was nice to be home! 

I am so very thankful that we got to do this trip with my parents.  It was such a blessing to have them visit, and although the trip had its stressful moments, it was wonderful nonetheless!!  Thanks Mom & Dad for coming to see us in Germany, and thanks for the fun times in Paris and Ireland!!  We definitely made memories that none of us will ever forget!!

Last pics before we left the house.  Beautiful sunshine to start the day!

Some of the last pretty views before we got into Dublin.

Notice the big highway??  So much easier for R to drive on the big roads.

A rainbow on the way to Dublin.  We saw several rainbows during the week.

Pizza delivered to the hotel.

Little R ate 3 pieces!!!

Nothing better than pizza after a hard day of traveling!

The men finished off their evening with a Guinness.

I finished off my evening with some quiet time with my little man.

Early the next morning as we were getting ready to wake up the kids...Little R rolled over, put his arm around T, and smiled...still pretty much asleep.  VERY sweet!

At the airport.  R likes to get there early...so we always have a long wait at the gate.

Fun times!

We pointed out this sign to Little R.  He thought it was great that it had his name on it!

And then we spotted the airplane with his name!!  Very exciting!  But then he wanted to know why we weren't flying on an airplane that had his name on it...

Little R loves flying!  No fear at all for this guy.  The flight attendant gave Teddy a seat belt that attached to Little R's...to keep him safe.  Little R thought that was very cool!

Ireland, Day 7

Day 7 Itinerary:  Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, and then a show called Traditional Irish Night that evening.  We were finally going to hear some Irish music!!

Bunratty wasn't too long of a drive, and it was a really neat place!  They had a castle, and then a folk park set up that was a recreation of an 18th century village.  They had traditional farm houses, shops, the doctor's house, a church...everything that would exist in the village.  It was very cool!  They also had some animals around, which of course, the kids LOVED!  The weather was pretty horrible this day.  It would pour rain for 15 minutes, and then the sun would come out for a bit, then it would pour rain for another 20 minutes, and then the sun would come out again.  We all got a bit wet!!

All gathered up and ready for our last full day of adventures!

Bunratty Folk Park

The Corn Barn...this is where we would watch our Irish show later in the evening.

Mac's Pub, where we ate lunch.  I ordered a ham sandwich...it was white bread, butter and ham....simple, but yummy!

Bunratty Castle.  I wish I could get my hands on one of these tables!  They were amazing...several of them made from one huge piece of wood!!

View from the top of the castle.

MiMi & PaPa at the top.  Again, MiMi & I weren't really planning to make it to the top, but somehow that's where we ended up!

All bundled up and ready to brave the rain!  MiMi didn't have her silly yellow hoodie from Paris, but this time PaPa sported the look in his bright blue raincoat.  : )

The next time I am complaining about my tiny German washer, I am going to refer to this picture, and be thankful for what I have!

We knew we were having a late dinner, so we stopped for homemade apple pie and hot chocolate about mid-afternoon.  It was the perfect way to wait out another burst of rain.

It was pretty good!

Little R thought the hot chocolate was good to the last drop!

Cheers!

R & I were trying to capture pics of the deer...then they walked right up to the girls at the fence!

Traditional Irish Night.  Dinner, storytelling, music and dancing!

My boy!  This smile, these eyes...melt my heart!  If I am even half as special as this boy thinks I am...then I am doing okay!

T chose the lamb stew.  She was a little anxious about eating lamb, but she said it was delicious!

I chose the salmon.  Although I did try one bite of the lamb stew.  I think salmon was definitely the better choice!

 This was just some of the dancing during the show.  The girls both loved the music and the dancing.  They are both asking to take Irish Dance lessons now! : )

Little R didn't make it to dessert.  He was one tired little boy.

T thought she would be like the grown ups and finish her meal off with coffee.  Yeah, she wasn't a fan....her face says it all.

We purposely left the outside lights on when we left that morning because we knew it would be late when we got home that night.  The house was very welcoming after another long day.

Little R slept like a king all week...literally!  The bedrooms had big, king size beds, and Little R wound up in a room to himself, in a big 'ol bed!  It was hard to find him in all the pillows and covers...but he sure did sleep good every night that week!!

This was our last night at the house.  The next morning we had to check out and drive to Dublin for a short overnight, and then our flight home on Sunday.

Ireland, Day 6

Day 6 in Ireland, and we were on the go again!!  On the itineray this day was a drive out to the coast for some fresh seafood, and a stop at the beach! 

More beautiful countryside on our 1 1/2 hour drive.  We fell in love with these rock walls!  They were everywhere!

More of our rock walls.  We were amazed that they actually contain the animals...they weren't very tall!

Miltown Malbay...the town where we stopped for a seafood lunch.

A few more thatched roofs.

A view from the other side of Miltown Malbay.  It was a very cute little fishing town.

The biggest thatched roof we saw the entire trip!

Dunguaire Castle, right on the coast of Miltown Malbay.

It was beautiful!!!

Another postcard perfect view.

Our stop for lunch...The Pier Head.

PaPa got some BIG prawns!

R got fresh cod....

and a big 'ol weed in his salad!!

T & I chose Pan-Fried Crab Claws!  This was a BIG stretch for me.  I am not very adventurous with my food, and for some reason, I expected them to be removed from the shell when they arrived on my plate.  But I persevered, and once I got over the "knawing off the bone" feeling, they weren't too bad!

T & her crab claws!  A seems a bit disgusted! : )

Who goes to a seafood restaurant and orders a cheeseburger, from the kids' menu, no less?  MiMi does!!  She is not a fan of seafood!  The look on T's face is priceless!!

The Burren

Beautiful view as were driving up to the beach area...

For some reason, I felt quite at home here! : )

The Burren.  They even had rock walls going up the rock hillside.

We actually got some pretty blue skies throughout the day!!  But is was still windy, and SO cold!



Houses right along the beach.  The girls and I decided this is where we want to live.

Rock walls again...did I mention we loved them?

The BEACH!!!   This is my happy place!!  The sound of the ocean is one of my favorite sounds!

Even on a cold, windy day....it was so peaceful! 

Little R LOVED the beach, too!  This was his first time EVER to the beach, and he was a big fan.  He crawled around like a crab...

and drew pictures in the sand...

The girls loved it, too!  Abbi doesn't remember ever being at the beach...we went years ago when she was too young to remember.  It is a personal goal of mine to get my kids to the beach much more often...no matter where we live!  Even though it was VERY cold & windy, none of them wanted to leave!

MiMi & PaPa waited in the van while we played on the beach.  But they did come out into the cold for a quick picture.

Neat little town we drove through on the way back to the house.  Tiny little streets for our 9-passenger van!

We went back to the town near our house where we did our grocery shopping.  We were hoping to find some music, but we were out of luck.  So we ate at O'Grady's pub, and enjoyed some more good food!

After a yummy meal, we loaded back up in the van for the short drive back to the house.  Another full day!  And as you can tell from the number of pictures...one of my very favorite days of the entire trip!