DINGLE DAY

We got up this morning and drove out to dingle.  It was a beautiful, beautiful drive.

Driving in Ireland is interesting.  It is terrifying really.  It's not too bad for the driver, although it's tricky.  We are all so used to driving on the right and it's automatic so you have to think the opposite of every instinct.  That's doable. For the terror seat on the right it's awful.  That person has the job of navigating and they also see every tree, truck, post, corner and whatnot that looks like it's going to hit us.
The back row gets to take dramamine because it's mr. toad's wild ride back there!  The roads are so narrow at points that even though they are two way roads one car has to pull off on the shoulder so the other can pass.  I am really glad we decided to drive ourselves because we are seeing so much and enjoying so much more than if we were on a tour bus.

cutest sheep are everywhere

The drive up was so so lovely.  We passed lots of sheep and cows and wonderful, magical, green and blue views.

so beautiful!

there are no words

Our big activity for the day was a trail ride.  It was a lot of fun and we saw stuff off the beaten path:)  Dani's horse was quite naughty and rolled her to the ground but other than that we all did well, and Dani hopped right back on and finished her ride.

Sierra on Marley

Hannah on Heather and Dani on the naughty Blondie

After the ride we went into the town and enjoyed a seafood lunch, a nice walk and some yummy ice cream!

me and Bob

This morning we went to the mall before taking off.  I saw a sport shop that looked like it had soccer jersey's.  When we walked in though the ball looked so strange so we asked what sport it was and then got a very fun lesson on traditional gaelic football.  Everyone we have talked to or come across has been so nice and friendly.
This evening we had hoped to go to a game but never could find the pitch so that's okay.

lunch

The food here is yummy.  We have not eaten anything that has not been wonderful.  This is Sierra's yummy lunch of fish and chips.  I had a nice platter with calamari, crab claws, chowder, fish and chips and oysters.  It was enough for all of us to sample. Hannah had croquettes and Dani crab.

cute street

We are having the best time.  It's so gorgeous and it's so fun to take our time and see what strikes our fancy and to have adventures.

best ice cream

We interrupt this travelogue

For an important announcement!!!! Tanner got his mission call!!!'

He is going to the Arcadia California mission on the last day of August!

Whoo hoooo!!!!

Blarney

We woke up this morning bright and early and excited for our day. We had bought some breakfast food at the grocery store the day before and made it in our hotel room. We had hot chocolate and porridge with golden syrup. (Honey). Then we headed out to Blarney.

On the way through the windy roads Hannah got a little car sick so we stopped to find some Dramamine. It's called something else here but we got some and then walked around the cutest shopping area. We walked thru the butcher shop and the pharmacy and the grocery. We had a delightful time and spent an hour or so. Sierra bought some fun Irish boots and a purse! I got a sweet little outfit for Penny.

After our break we were on our way again. Hannah felt much better and we had a cheerful drive. 

Blarney was wonderful. Magical. Charming. We had so much fun! We walked theu the dungeon first. It was very different than I pictured or than is portrayed in movies. It was awful, dark and wet and had low craggy ceilings and rough jagged floors. No wonder men went crazy in them. You couldn't stand up so we had to kind of creep thru. At the end there was a taller room and lots is people has signed their names on the wall. We had fun reading "sister" and "elder" followed by their last names on several spots;)

The castle was neat. It has tons of narrow stairs and little rooms. The views were amazing. We all kissed the Blarney Stone and are hoping to be rewarded with the gift of eloquence.

I can not describe how beautiful it is here. It's so green and peaceful. It feels like a balm to my soul. It reminded Hannah and I both of Maryland, different of course, but green and fresh and wonderful.

We wandered the grounds for many hours and saw so many delightful sights. There were the wishing stairs that left the witches kitchen and lead down to a waterfall where it is said if you walk down and back up with your eyes closed and thinking of nothing but your wish...not the tiniest peep of another fleeting thought then your wish will be granted within a years time. Dani tried it so we shall see!

We walked thru the poison garden where you were first met with a stern admonition to not touch, taste or smell anything in the garden or you might die! It felt like walking thru Harry Potter's herbology/potions class!

There was a trail by the river and another they the forest.

There were caves and Druid ruins and a fairy glen.

After many pleasant hours we left and drove to Killarney.

Our hotel here is very nice and right in the middle of the city. 

After a most delicious dinner and dessert we wandered the streets and browsed the shops.

It could not have been a nicer more pleasant, relaxing, enchanting day. 

There has been much laughing and chatting and marveling at the beauty of this fair isle.

I feel so blessed and grateful for this wonderful opportunity to adventure with my precious girls.

A few more photos!

Travel and day 1

Photos are annoyingly in the wrong order. I don't know why?

But the day has finally come! Ireland trip! We had a nice FHE the night before and had a family dinner. Hannah also went on an afternoon date with Sawyer. Papa and Dad gave the travelers blessings, which were so awesome and such a comfort.

We got up early on Tuesday and began our never ending day of travel. It was drive to the airport, fly to Philly, change planes and fly through the night to Dublin. The flights were both pleasant, not crowded and pretty smooth. None of us were able to really sleep though so that was hard.

We got our car and began to learn to drive on the left. Dani drove first, then I did. It was scary and took two of us but we did pretty well and made it every where we wanted to go. 

Our first stop was an old castle that was just beautiful. The countryside is so pastoral and beautifully enchanting. Tons of cute little streets, sheep and cows, old churches and painted doors.

We stopped for lunch at a little shop in a little town and then headed to the hotel for a short rest.

So far it's been an awesome trip. Hopefully we won't screw up our sleep too much and we can be busy this evening and then get a good night before tomorrow.

So right away I've noticed some fun differences. The Irish are friendly. We've been getting lots of jaunty waves from cars as they drive by us.  Also we speak the same language...sort of. We've seen some lovely birds that I haven't seen before. One was a beautiful blue with black and white on it. Dani said it was a magpie but I'm going to look it up. Street signs are in Gaelic and English which is surprisingly confusing.

All the travelers have been cheerful and good adventurers! I didn't cry on the plane, Hannah didn't over pack, Sierra packed just right, and Dani's been snapping lots of good pictures!

Update: we took a two our nap, with an alarm set and then got up for the evening. 

Our first order of business was to find a grocery store to buy breakfast stuff and snacks. We enjoyed our shopping very much. While there we got a recommendation for a place to go to dinner. After consulting Siri we decided to  leave the car in the grocery store parking lot and walk to the restaurant. That ended up being an awesome choice!

We walked thru the town, looked at lots of wonderful churches and more cute doors. We stumbled onto a river and found the cutest shopping area. The street the restaurant was on has tons of shops and a theater, pubs and restaurants. We actually decided on a different place to eat than we originally picked. Hannah chose an Indian place called Royal Spice that was so yummy. We got two entrees and two starters and shared. We were all stuffed and the korma was the best Indian dish I've ever eaten. Two thumbs way up!!

Examples of our language difficulties.

Me to the waiter: is there a restroom?

Him: there is no parking on the street, there used to be but we moved. 

Me: huh??

Me: is there a bathroom?

Him: oh! Of course sorry. 

Example two: 

Nice lady at the grocery store: are you looking for a place to eat dinner? There's a great place that's not to expensive near here called lough viera.

Me: thanks!

Me to Siri: navigate to low viera.

Siri: nope try again

Me: searching the web

Oh la riviera!

Walking around the streets was a great experience we saw so many things.

Sunday

We had a wonderful conference Sunday. Both the meetings last night and the meetings today were uplifting and instructive. I loved Pres. Crawley's talk today. The main idea being one with God is enough. If you have to face challenges, assignments, loneliness, persecution, doubt, and hard things (which we all do) and you are with God that's enough.

We also had a visiting general authority, Elder Falabella and he was wonderful. So kind and thoughtful. His teachings were powerful and uplifting and I loved his gentle manner. He greeted everyone and took time to talk to everyone.

Ethan and Sierra

I love going to church with my family. I am so grateful that families can be together forever!

It was fun to have mom and dad go, so many people were happy to see them and there were many excited hugs and smiles.

After church mom went to Dasiy's and the rest of us went to walk in the desert.  We saw a lot of wildlife, which was a red letter day.  We saw hares, and rabbits, crows, lizards, squirrels, blue jays and sevearl other birds I couldn't identify.  It was a lot of fun and very nice out.

hare statue

discussing

When we came home we watched Star Wars, ate a tasty dinner, did laundry, did some more talking and then went to bed.

2 more sleeps until Ireland!!


and an important science project update, 7 of 11 fish have perished.  We are now feeding tomato plants either water, or coke or OJ and seeing which does best.