Ireland, I Am Coming Home!

The trip to Ireland began with a six hour drive to the port, then a three hour ride across the Irish Sea on crazy rough water.

Sophia just couldn't stop looking out the window at the rough seas. She really enjoyed the ship voyage both there and back!

Giant's Causeway - This was created by volcanoes erupting and then cooling rapidly in crazy shapes. (very scientific, I know) Or, my favorite, it was caused when the Irish giant Fion McCool who threw rocks into the sea in order to make a path to Scotland where he planned to fight the Scottish giant Benadonner. The legend says that Fion saw how much bigger Benadonner was that he ran home, dressed like a baby and when Benadonner saw how big the baby giants were in Ireland he ran home in fear, destroying the pathway as he went so he could not be pursued by Fion McCool. I am pretty sure the Scottish version of the story is a bit different, either way, it is way more interesting than the whole volcano thing.

In front of Blarney Castle.

Dad kissing the Blarney Stone.

Mama kissing the Blarney Stone.

The Husband had to stop off her for a quick visit. The kids and I saw in the car waiting for him and taking a little cat nap.

The dogs really enjoyed walking the streets of Dublin.

A friary somewhere in the countryside. It turns out that Henry the VIII ruined a lot of cool stuff when he broke from the Catholic church. He closed all the catholic establishments and gave away their land. Pretty sad, but the buildings remain and are truly beautiful regardless of their status as "ruins."

I love how crazy the dogs were while hiking the trails around the Giants Causeway. They were so excited to be able to run around and I think they loved Ireland as much as we did. Well, with the exception of the old Irish guy who informed us that the dogs were "well fed." poor puppies.

We found this obstacle course in a rather random location. Soph found it before we did and immediately tackled the wall without knowing we were watching. she rocks!
Ireland is now officially one of my favorite countries. That place is so full of wonderful music, fantastic stories and legends, colorful history, super friendly people, and beautiful scenery that I would happily go back for another million visits. The weather was crummy, but that is part of the charm of the area too. The stories of fairie folk, banshees, pukas, giants, fairie hills and trees, are sewn into the fabric of the land, culture, and people as much as the music. What a wonderful place.