Killarney Day 2

Today was our second day in Killarney with my parents.  The kids slept fantastic and we just had one incident overnight where Gordon fell out of bed. In the morning, we took our time getting ready and eating breakfast, then decided to walk to the National Park.

The kids are great walkers, but Adele and Gordon like to linger and investigate. Since we are not on a schedule, that was just fine on the way there. Then once we got to the park, the kids were happy as clams at the playground. We left the playground a little late for lunch and I was starving. Gordon was, too, as he kept having meltdowns. But once we got to the little cafe for lunch, he calmed right down and all three kids ate a big lunch.

Afterwards, we walked to the Jaunty Car Stand where we picked up a horse and cart to drive us through the national park. I wasn't sure the kids would last a full hour, but they had a blast! In fact, the only time they got upset was when they wanted the horse to go fast. But we explained that Pain, the horse, got to choose how fast he wanted to go and they had to be patient. Through the park, we saw deer, Lough Leane, and Ross Castle, in addition to a number of views of famous houses.

We then walked back to the hotel where we played and watched a show until dinnertime, which we ate at the hotel. Then it was baths & bed for the kids. Another wonderful, but tiring, day.

St Mary's Cathedral. I took this photo to show off the shirt for an author whose books I love, Lori Foster.

Killarney National Park -- Adele says, "Grandma, come dig with me."

Adele driving Grandpa on the train. "All aboard! Chugga-chugga-Choo-Choo!"

The boys loving the swings

The kids loving the up and down

A bridge in the park, we let the kids throw down small stones and leaves

I can't put into words how much Gordon loves throwing stuff into the water.

A much-needed lunch at a wonderful (if expensive) cafe

We walked by St Mary's Church (different from the Cathedral) a few times and the kids just were fascinated by this red gate.

Enjoying our horse and cart ride.

The whole family in front of Ross Castle

Saying "Bye-bye" to the horses

Killarney Day 1

With my parents in town, we decided to take an overnight (2 nights) in Killarney, one of Ireland's most famous and most beautiful areas. We arrived in the afternoon and checked into our hotel, the Killarney Royal. Then we had a late lunch and headed out to do a walking tour of the town. The kids were great. We took our time and got back to the hotel after 5pm. The kids had a light dinner in the room, then in bed by 7pm. I hung out in my parents' room next door until I joined the kids for bed. Hopefully tomorrow is as fun! We're planning to go the National Park.

Our first stop of the day was at the Franciscan Friary. It was beautiful.

Taking in the beauty of the Church. It was difficult to keep the kids quiet and they were having Reconciliation, so we couldn't stay long.

Walking with sticks

The kids picked up these sticks early on and held onto them the entire walk.

Our second stop

The kids really wanted to go on a train ride. Adele told me she was being silly.

Sitting on a wall for a moment before crossing the street.

St Mary's, part of the Church of Ireland.

Another beautiful Church. The sun was shining in through the stained glass windows in back. It was stunning!

When I saw this, I knew we had to stop!

The proprietor was great with the kids. He gave them samples, then put together individual bags with a few candies in each. He also tried to pick out the colors they asked for. And the kids were so happy to get the candy!

Trip to the Dublin Zoo with Grandma & Grandpa S.

My parents arrived in town on Thursday and the kids are loving the fact that Grandma and Grandpa are here to play.  Their first weekend in town is also a long weekend for Jeff with St Patrick's Day on Monday. On Saturday we decided to drive to Dublin and go to the zoo. We've been before, as well as Fota Wildlife Park twice, but this was our first time to a zoo where the kids were super excited to see all of the animals. It was so fun! It was also great having two extra sets of hands to help hold and corral kids. Especially since we don't have strollers anymore.

The zoo is inside a park, so the only parking is along the street and we had to walk a little ways to the zoo entrance. 

I like the paid photographers who capture photos at the entrance.

Team Berube

The kids were excited from the first with the animals, tigers and lions, but when we hit this  gibbon exhibit, I really knew this trip would be different. 

The kids were fascinated and excited to watch the juvenile gibbons playing first in their enclosure, then running out into the yard. 

Grandma with her granddaughter.

Me with my little orangutan, Adele. 

Walter checking out the penguins with his Grandpa.

Gordon and Adele watching the penguins swim

The penguins were adorable!

Adele and some zebras. This was also the HUGE area where they had the giraffes, but the only photo we got was a close-up of the giraffe. Walter was so cute, he had me lift him up so that he could say, 'Hi, Giraffe.' Then when the giraffe didn't respond, Walter says, "Don't you want to say 'hi' to Walter, Giraffe?" It was so cute.

I love this photo Jeff got of the hippopotamus. There are so many hippos in the kids books we read.

On our way to see the elephants. The kids loved the elephants, especially the one who had an "accident" and didn't use the potty. That's all Walt could talk about it. I love this photo because it shows how lush, green, and gorgeous the Dublin zoo is.

As we made our way to the exit, we stopped at this picnic spot and gave the kids a snack. This tree might have been their favorite part of the zoo.

Here we are checking out the sea lions. I love at the end how Walter is asking to go see the ostrich. I told him there would be ostriches with the giraffes.


I took the boys potty while Adele stayed with her dad. He took this video and told me she was squealing and screaming in excitement the whole time we were gone. She just loved the sea lions.