Northern Ireland

We spent last night and the first half of today up in Northern Ireland visiting the Giant's Causeway along the Northern coast. We stayed about 2 miles away at the Smuggler's Inn - HUGE suites so if you're traveling with kids I would definitely recommend it. We got up early and went to the Bushmills Distillery. It's the oldest distillery in the world that is still in existence - it was founded in 1608 - the same year as the Jamestown settlement in Virginia! Amazing! The kids are too little to go on the tour so we just walked around and went in the gift shop - we bought Aidan the hat he is wearing in the pictures. Is it inappropriate to have a 5 year old wearing a Bushmills Whiskey hat? Oh well - Emmy has a Guinness one so we're definitely not winning any parenting awards this month!
After we visited Bushmills we drove over to the Giant's Causeway - they don't open until 10 am - things seem to open a bit later here in Ireland. We walked down the mile long road to the Causeway. The kids did great - walked the whole way - except for Aoife, of course :)
It was a perfect day - crystal clear blue skies and white foamy waves crashing on the rocks. Incredible! The kids loved climbing all over the rocks - it was probably the highlight of the trip for them!
We are in Dublin now at a real hotel with internet - faster than home! I'll hopefully be able to get some pictures up tomorrow night of our adventures in Dublin. We're leaving early Friday morning to come back on the ferry and then we'll leave again on Sunday for Paris! The kids are excellent at sleeping in hotel rooms. I think the secret is completely wearing them out and then having a gigantic supper.
full bellies + exhaustion = sleep :)
At the Giant's Causeway:

Aoife's not so happy - not sure why. The rocks were nice and warm from the sun but the waves were pretty loud.
They did not get wet - just looks like they are going to be washed out to sea. I'm pretty sure Emmy is scarred for life.