Bekah and Brady returned from their quick getaway on Friday morning. Jimmy and ,I along with the kids, met them at the airport and all of us headed north to the Antrim Coast. When we had asked Bekah and Brady what they wanted to see while in Ireland, they gave us a few things and then said, "somewhere you all haven't been to". So we took them up on that and spent the weekend in the NW part of Ireland, Co. Donegal. Here are some pictures from our fun, yet very cold!, weekend. Enjoy!
Our first stop at the Antrim Coast was at Bushmills Distillery. Everyone was hungry and we knew we could get lunch here quick! After lunch, Rebekah, Brady, myself and Jack took the tour. Jimmy stayed with the other kids in the cafe until we were finished. Don't feel too bad for him, he had done the tour a couple of times while I stayed with the kids in the cafe :)
We left Bushmills and headed over to the Dark Hedges.
After the Dark Hedges, we drove over to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. As we were walking to the bridge, we came upon a herd of belted cows. Lena called them Oreo cows!
Can you see how white Bekah and Brady's hands are from their grip on the rope? :)
Although it was a bit cool, it was a pretty late afternoon.
Jimmy hadn't been up at the Antrim Coast since March so the kids and I were glad to have him along with us this time!
heading back over the bridge - this one is my favorite of Brady! :) They did enjoy it, but weren't big fans at walking 100ft above the ocean!
And of course right after this picture, I bounced the bridge just enough......because that's what older sisters do!
We then drove on over to Giant's Causeway and we instantly had 6 mountain goats on our hands!
This is pretty much how Bryce looked while we were at the Causeway. He found all kinds of creatures in pools all over it!
Because it was late in the day, we practically had the place to ourselves. We were able to walk right down to the edge of the causeway. That in itself was amazing! I could have stayed there for a really long time!
And of course we had to get a Giant's boot picture with our cousins!
We stayed the night in Coleraine about 15 minutes southwest of Bushmills. Luckily for Jimmy we were in a new county and there was a bar in the hotel. So he was able to mark another county off his list!
The next morning we took a ferry to Co. Donegal. We crossed where Lough Foyle meets the Atlantic Ocean. Bryce had asked for a car ferry for his birthday. So needless to say Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jimmy scored major points that morning with him!
We were now on Ireland's most northern peninsula. We stopped at a beach in Culdaff. The wind was blowing pretty hard which made it chilly. But we still managed to find some rocks to climb all over.
I love this picture of me and Jack.
Lena rockin' her new orange wellies!
After we left Culdaff, we headed towards Malin Head, Ireland's most northern point.
Being up on the cliffs at Malin Head the wind was really blowing and made it pretty chilly. So after we snapped this picture, Bekah and Brady took the kids back to the car and Jimmy & I walked down the path for a bit. Our pictures don't do it justice, but this place was beautiful! It's definitely on our need to go back list.
Where's Jimmy?
Jimmy and I could have stayed and watched the waves crash on the rocks for hours.
After we left Malin Head we drove down to Letterkenny and then up the next peninsula to the west. We drove to the northern most point of it to Fanad Head to see this lighthouse. We weren't able to go inside of it, but the views were spectacular!
Saturday evening we finally made it to the house we had rented for a few days. We stayed on the north side of Glenveagh National Park. When we woke up the next morning we watched a man training his sheep dogs!
Dunlewy
We started off Sunday morning by driving to Horn Head which is just north of where we were staying. We drove up to the top of the mountain and again the views were amazing! However the wind was not! I think Jimmy got out of the car to take this picture while our car shook in the wind gusts!
When we left Horn Head, we drove back down to Glenveagh National Park.
We ate lunch and took a tour of the castle there.
Because the kids needed to take a nap :) we decided to drive the road along the south side of the park towards the coast. I took a wrong turn and pulled up to this to turn around. Sometimes it's good to make a wrong turn!
You can see the castle to the right way back in the distance.
They were wiped!
The drive ended up being one of our favorite things we did on that trip. We saw some pretty landscape, old ruined rock houses and this waterfall.
The owner of the house we were renting for the night had told me of a shipwreck in the town of Bunbeg. We (eventually) found it.
The kids thought the coolest part about it was that we could drive our car out onto the beach right up to it.
And that night, with the help of Brady, another county got marked off the list!
After dinner we drove back to the house. This door and hydrangea bush were in the garage area.
the neighbors
We spent the rest of the evening playing UNO and visiting.
Monday morning - this was our view from the house - Mt. Errigal - the tallest peak in Co. Donegal.
The house we rented for Saturday and Sunday.
Monday morning we headed southwest towards Slieve League.
As we were coming down the mountain pass we drove by this field of sheep. Something bright orange and fluffy in the corner of the field caught my eye. So we backed up and this is what we found! We have no idea.........but our OSU cousins loved it!
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Slieve League
The cliffs here reach almost three times higher than at the Cliffs of Moher.
Jimmy and Brady hiked to the top. On the right side of the picture at the top of the cliff is where they were able to make it to before time ran out.
their view
After Slieve League we drove back home. It was Lena's 8th birthday that day, so we had birthday cake for dessert that evening!
Tuesday morning bright and early at the airport, another fun and much needed visit that ended all too soon!
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