Our dear (and very much missed!) friends, Liz & Justin Grimm and Ryan Marshall came to visit us a few weeks ago! Not only were we excited to see them again, but we were excited to show them around Ireland. We had a ton of fun and enjoyed a lot of laughing together! The week passed all too quickly for us. Here are a few pictures from the week. Enjoy!
Last day of school! School was let out on Friday at noon and.......
.....Justin, Liz & Ryan were here in Ireland by Sunday evening!
Monday morning the kids and I took them down to the town of Kilkenny.
We toured the castle and the gardens before lunch.
After lunch we walked over to the only one of two round towers that are accessible in Ireland. However, you must be at least 12 years old to climb it, so the kids and I hung out down below the tower while Ryan, Justin & Liz climbed it.
They made it to the top!
My kids were spoiled!
Monday evening we left the kids at home with a sitter and we went into Dublin to eat at the Brazen Head. The Brazen Head is the oldest pub in Dublin.
Tuesday morning we got up early and headed north to the Antrim Coast. Our first stop was at the Dark Hedges.
We then made our way over to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!
I had Liz, Justin & Ryan go across the bridge first so I could take their picture. That's them in the middle of the bridge.
The ocean was so calm that in some spots you could see the ocean floor!
Our turn to cross!
After Carrick-a-Rede Bridge, we stopped by Bushmills Distillery. However, they weren't running that week so we decided just to eat lunch and head on over to Giant's Causeway. Luke decided to sleep through lunch :)
Giant's Causeway
If you look hard enough, you'll find hearts everywhere.
Wednesday morning we headed down to Glendalough which is about an hour SE of us. About a month ago Jimmy and I came up this little river and soon discovered that it was a must stop!
Taking a dip in the river was too tempting for Ryan!
We had been following the river by stepping from rock to rock. Kate was doing a really good job until she decided to step onto a white rock (which turned out to be foam from the water). I screamed, "that's not a rock" about the time she stepped on the foam and I think that scared her more than anything. Luckily for her she had Justin there to take care of her! :)
When we finished exploring along the river we headed on down to Glendalough. We ate lunch first and then afterwards we hit a gift shop. While Liz and I were paying, Ryan and Justin took the boys to get ice cream!
Glendalough
We spotted a deer along the boardwalk hike to the Upper Lake.
And of course where there is water and rocks, my children are quite the little happy campers!
having fun with Crazy Ryan!
Thursday morning, Ryan and Justin rented motorcycles and headed out west. Liz, the kids and I hit TK Maxx and then met Jimmy at home before we headed out west to meet up with Ryan and Justin. We met them at the Cliffs of Moher. However it was so foggy, we couldn't see past the parking lot so we decided to come back on our way home the next day and we headed south.
To keep a straight shot down to Tralee (at the start of the Dingle Peninsula), we took a ferry across the River Shannon (yes, that's a river we're on! Not too much farther down the river runs out into the ocean).
Friday morning we headed out onto the Dingle Peninsula. We stopped at the beach in Castlegregory where we had found lots of seashells on a previous trip.
We spent a couple of hours looking for shells.....well, us girls did!
Once again, the water was too tempting for Ryan. Jimmy wanted a picture of Ryan in his shorts next to me because I was bundled up because I thought it was a bit chilly!
There he goes!
After Castlegregory, we drove to Dingle through Conor's Pass.
As Jimmy was taking pictures along the pull-out on the pass, I decided to hike up the rocks and see if I could find where the water for that waterfall was coming from.
Liz heading up the rocks too!
At the top was a beautiful corrie lake!
We stopped in Dingle for lunch and found a delicious seafood restaurant! Surprisingly there aren't a lot of seafood restaurants in Ireland, so we really enjoyed eating here!
After lunch we drove out to Slea Head.
and then to the Blasket Islands ferry dock
After filling up in Dingle, Justin and Ryan headed on south to the Ring of Kerry. They planned to ride their bikes around it the next morning. With Liz in tow, we headed back up to the Cliffs of Moher. Jack wore Liz's motorcycle helmet for awhile as we drove to meet the ferry!
As we set off for the ferry, we decided that we weren't going to catch the ferry for awhile due to it leaving on the hour. But about a third of the way there Liz realized that it left on the hour from the north side of the river and on the half hour from the south side of the river. All I'm going to say is that we made the next ferry....barely.....Jimmy thought he was Mario Andretti and Jack was cheering him on!
We made it to the Cliffs of Moher at 9pm. We had great weather and a beautiful sunset!
Saturday morning my brother and his family flew into Dublin. That evening we left the kids at home with a sitter and did a proper pub crawl in Dublin!
Sunday afternoon we went back into Dublin to tour the Guinness Storehouse.
At the top of the Storehouse, you can exchange your admission ticket in for a pint of Guinness!
Monday morning.....saying goodbye is never fun!
We had an absolutely wonderful time showing them Ireland. As much as we loved taking them around the island, we enjoyed just spending time with them even more!
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