Day 15 - A Day in the Neighborhood

Monday morning brought more clouds, and since we had hiked quite a bit the day before we decided to stay close to home and not make any big plans for the day. 

As mentioned in previous posts, the family whose cottage we are staying at was away last week and they returned late last night.  Their sheep dog, Sam, was staying with another family while they were away, but was returned on Sunday night. 

Sam is a sheep dog, and his main job is to round up the sheep. He lives outside and he is quite happy about his living arrangements. Kian warmed up to him quickly and was very happy racing him all around. 

Kian and Sam (the sheep dog)

In other farm news, a hen recently had new baby chicks shortly before we arrived here. Until today, these chicks were not allowed to come out of the shed and their mama stayed with them at all times. All the chicks are now a few weeks old. They are all brownish, except for one of them which is a light yellow. 

I asked how they know if the chicks will be hens or roosters and was told that they are still much too young to tell. Apparently when they get a bit older the feathers of a hen will be different than the feathers of a rooster. There are already 2 roosters on this farm and they are usually fighting if they are near each other. So I asked what happens if they end up with more roosters, and was told in a very matter of fact way that they will end up in the pot, and that their meat is actually quite tasty, but is very different from the kind of chicken meat you get in the store. 

We had many more conversations and learned much more about sheep, chickens, and even the horses. So glad we decided to stay on this farm. 

Yellow baby chick riding his/her mama's back :)

In the afternoon, the sun started peaking out from behind the clouds and we decided to head to the Killeen Playground, which is only a few minutes drive away.

It is a fun little playground, perfect for children under 6. It even has a climbing and slide section shaped like a pirate ship!

Pirate ship slide at Killeen Playground

The kids had fun playing on familiar rides.

As well as the unfamiliar ones. 

A circular spinning ride.  You're apparently supposed to run on it and it spins as you do, but our kids preferred holding on while it spun.

They both had a blast on the big swing. This is the second time we have seen this type of swing on our travels. The first time was at the Diana Memorial Playground at Kensington Gardens. They need to bring these to the states (or at least to NJ, I've never seen them at any local playgrounds) as they are lots of fun and seem safer than tire swings.

And the monkey bars presented a fun challenge as well since they were very very high. So high in fact that I had a hard time holding Hannah as she went from bar to bar.

We had a great time playing on the playground, and met a few very nice families who live around here. Kian met a little boy a year younger than him that he had fun running around playing tag and superheroes with, and Hannah really wanted to play with a beautiful little girl who was about her age, but I think she was just being too shy to approach her. 

All in all a great day was had by the whole family. We ended up staying at the playground too late, and since everyone was famished, we just made frozen pizza for dinner. 

Day 14 - Clare Island

We woke up to a gorgeous day with lots of sunshine and best of all dry sneakers! Hurray! Time to go to Clare Island. We can actually see Clare Island, in the Atlantic Ocean, from the windows of our little cottage.

The drive to the Roonagh Pier was a little less than 15 minutes. Yes, very narrow roads again in case you were wondering. We took the 10.45am "True Light" ferry which is the fastest ferry to Clare Island. The ride took about 10 minutes and we were able to enjoy some beautiful scenery. 

View of Clare Island Harbour from the ferry

Once we arrived we stopped at an unmanned information center to pick up a map and figure out our hiking route(s). I really wanted to see the lighthouse and hoped the weather would stay nice so that we could hike all the way there. 

Map of Clare Island

The first historical site on our way was the Clare Island Tower House. What is really neat about it is that after reading the information on the sign you can actually push the small metal gate open and go inside. There isn't much left inside but you can see that it was 3 floors, and as soon as you enter, if you walk down a narrow hallway to the left you will see the stone steps in front of you which at some point in time lead to the 2nd and 3rd floors. You cannot climb these stairs.  According the to sign it is believed that a few wooden steps connected the stone stairs to the ground floor. 

Tower House

History of the Tower House

Tower House

Kian outside the Tower House

Tower House

Mommy and Hannah investigating the metal gate

Tower House

Inside the Tower House

Tower House

Stone stairs leading up

Tower House

Clare Island gave Hannah, our little rock lover, a heart-shaped rock

Tower House

Old sign

After browsing the tower house, we decided to walk the "Green Route" loop before taking a break for lunch and then heading to the light house.  This is an easy terrain with good views of the ocean as well as the mainland and Croagh Patrick.

Our little photographers had a great time walking and photographing various sites and things they found interesting. 

Kian and his camera

Hannah taking a picture of daddy while daddy takes a picture of Hannah

On our walk, aside from gorgeous scenery we saw lots of sheep (of course), cows, and a friendly donkey. He came right up to us and did not mind being petted. Donkey's have the sweetest eyes.

Kian and the sweet donkey

As we were getting ready to find a place for our mini picnic lunch, the sky was getting covered in dark clouds and it started to rain. We picked up the pace and tried to find a sanctuary from the downpour! Thankfully, we came upon an adorable and cosy coffee shop in just minutes. If you go to Clare Island one day, you must visit Anna's coffee shop. The atmosphere is very relaxed and Michelle and Anna (sister-in-laws) are remarkably friendly and welcoming. They have a book case full of books, from travel books to children books and everything in between. They even have a few jigsaw puzzles that kept our kids entertained before the food arrived. 

The food and bread are also very delicious. I am actually sad we did not have the time to try the pastries as they looked very good on other people's plates, but the skies were turning blue and we didn't want to push our luck. 

Anna's Coffee Shop

A series of colorful signs at various intersections help guide travelers to the coffee shop

Anna's Coffee Shop

Menu

Anna's Coffee Shop

Cute jigsaw puzzle kept the kids busy while they waited for lunch

Anna's Coffee Shop

A little tea to warm up the wet hikers

Anna's Coffee Shop

Vegetable soup and home-made bread

After lunch, the rain passed and sunshine returned. Lots of sunshine, enough to make us sweat on our hike up to the light house! 

View fullsize

We barely saw anyone on the road up to the light house

The walk from the coffee shop to the light house is about 1.5 miles and there are some steep hills but nothing too difficult. The kids both walked the entire way up and were carried down most of the way back down.

Kian and Hannah at the 1 km mark. Although I think this sign is not very accurate. The walk felt much longer than 1 km.

Kian and Daddy. If you look closely behind them you can see the top of the light house. We were getting close!

We saw lots and lots and lots of sheep on our way up. They were completely unfazed by us going by.

A sheep posed for our picture without being disturbed

We arrived at the light house and I was a bit disappointed that we could not go inside. Apparently the light house is now a bed and breakfast and it costs quite a few pretty pennies to be able to stay there. Bummer. I would have love to go in the light house and check out the views!

Light house at Clare Island

I did not pout for too long though because the views right outside of the light house are incredibly stunning. 

Kian and Hannah on the hills/cliffs by the Clare Island light house

View of the cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean

The kids had lots of fun being silly and we were able to sneak a few quick snaps.

Silly kids at Clare Island

The weather remained incredibly cooperative on our hike back down. We planned to take the 4.45pm ferry back to Roonagh Pier. We saw the skies starting to turn gray again, so we kept a quick pace, and as soon as we arrived at the unmanned information center it started to pour! A few very soaked people rolled in after us to wait for the ferry's departure time. 

By the time we had to get back on the ferry (within 15-20 mins) the rain was gone and sun was shining on the ocean. 

After arriving home I made a quick dinner, marinated sautéed chicken breasts on top of spinach with a side of sautéed mushrooms and bell peppers. The kids had a little bit of pasta with their chicken and ate most of their veggies raw.  Once again the little hikers cleared off their plates.   

Sautéed Chicken atop Sautéed Spinach with a side of mushrooms and bell peppers  

Day 13 - Walking around the city of Westport

We woke up to the sound of rain and remembered we forgot to bring our sneakers inside! Yiikes! We had left them out in the sun to dry the day before and completely forgot to bring them in before going to bed :( The rain passed quickly and we had blue skies and plenty of sunshine. The original plan was to go to Clare Island and do lots of hiking but with what? flip flops? 

Change of plans. We decided to head into Westport and just spend the day checking out the stores and restaurants, because walking around a town in flip flops is doable :)  Westport has been voted as the best place to live in Ireland.

Hannah and Kian in an Irish Telefon kiosk

The kids had fun with a metal bicycle. It is very interesting to walk around with kids. The things they notice can easily go unseen by the adults.

Kian on the metal bicycle

Hannah enjoying her "ride" on the metal bicycle

This I believe is the town square with a statue of Saint Patrick. The writing on the stone says, "I am Patrick. A Sinner. Most Unlearned. The Least of All. The Faithful, And Utterly Despised by Many."

St. Patrick's statue

The streets of Westport are very quaint with many unique shops and restaurants. 

A street sign in Westport. All signs are in Gaelic as well as English.

After some exploring around town we decided to get some coffee and a snack. We came across a lovely chocolate shop called Marlene's House of Chocolate Delights.

Marlene's House of Chocolate Delights

The shop smells delicious and there is a great variety of chocolates to choose from. We selected 3 different kinds and they were all delicious.

Variety of chocolates available on the day of our visit

We headed back home in the early evening as I had planned to make dinner at home. The kids had a great time playing puppets with daddy while I prepared our food.

Puppet time

We all had spaghetti and meatballs with salad and fruits :) 

Spaghetti & Meatballs

After dinner the kids played some more by themselves as we cleaned up. They were each allowed 1 Oreo cookie as dessert. As they ate dessert I read them "The Princess and the Frog" and "Cinderella". We put these children's books on the iPad (using the Kindle app) before leaving the US.  Much better than lugging actual books around the world.

Story time

We wrapped up the night with teeth brushing and some tickle time :) all in all it was a great relaxing day.

Tickle Monster attacks :)

Day 12 - Happy 4th from Silver Strand

We started off our day by going to Westport for some real grocery shopping. We had heard from one of the neighbors that Lidl has great prices, so off we went. We had fun shopping, and since by the time we finished it was after lunch time, I let the munchkins split a chocolate chip muffin before we got back in the car.

Happy kids

I think I should mention that we are both getting very good at driving this stick car on the "wrong" side of the road. Hopefully I am not jinxing us. On the drive back the rain stopped and we had plenty of beautiful sunshine. 

Once we put all the grocery shopping away we decided that since it was a beautiful day we should head to the Silver Strand beach which is about 6 km from the house. The road to get to Silver Strand is even narrower than the roads around the house, and there were some sheep that were just hanging out on the side of the road. Keep in mind that this is meant to be a 2 lane road! 

The road to Silver Strand

Once we arrived, we were completely wowed by the scenery. There is a long sandy beach, about a 5 min walk, before you even get to the water. We have heard that the water comes up and covers the entire sandy area when the tide comes in, and some people who park too close have even had their cars swept away. 

At first we were all alone on the beach before just a handful of people arrived. Although it was a bit chilly, we had a great time running around, writing and playing in the sand.

Happy 4th of July from Silver Strand

We came across quite a few purple jellyfish in the sand. Apparently the purple jellyfish don't sting, but we stayed clear of them anyways, although I'm not sure if they are even alive if they are out of the water.

Purple Jellyfish

A bit further down there are some small pools that have formed in the sand and the water in them was actually fairly warm.

The small pools/streams on the beach

Kian had a blast running from puddle to puddle and splashing around. He even fell down a couple of times but didn't mind it one bit, despite the cold winds coming from the Atlantic Ocean.

Kian with Batman in one hand and Robin in the other having fun in the small pools

Meanwhile a bit further away from the water, Hannah was having a great time with her sand toys, although she was not so jazzed about the wind.

Hannah holding on to her hood

Hannah playing with sand. She can be entertained with sand and rocks for a long time :) 

I also had fun on the beach and took advantage of the hard sand to do a few yoga poses by the water. 

My attempt at the wheel. It still needs work!

The two Supermen returned from splashing in the pools and posed for a photo.

It's bird. It's a plane. It's Superman...wait there are 2 of them :)

We all put on our flip flops and ventured down the beach to climb up a small hill for an even better view of the ocean.  Before there were some sheep up there, but they came down long enough for our photo.

Views from the top of the hill

Munchkins and Mommy (Would you believe the sheep can climb up here? We had to look out for sheep poop!)

The 120 degree panorama view from the top of the hill

Hannah and I hiked back down the hill and once we got past the pools and back on the beach, I took a picture of the Supermen. If you look carefully you can see both of them on top of the hill. 

Supermen on the hill

Shortly after, as it was getting closer to dinner time, we started to head back to the car. On the walk back Hannah had a blast collecting seashells. We kept hearing her say, "Guys wait wait wait" as she would stop to pick up a new seashell. 

Hannah showing one of her collected seashells

Once home, Hannah washed all of her sandy seashells.

A small part of Hannah's seashell collection

We all had tomato soup with bread for dinner. We were too hungry to take any pictures. 

Day 11 - Killadoon Hill

Fresh eggs from the chickens on the farm! mmm! That's how we started our morning. A delicious omelet with tomatoes and scallions and just a bit of white cheddar cheese.

Delicious Omelet made with fresh eggs 

Since our hosts are away this week (they live in the house adjacent to our little cottage), their neighbors stop by at different times during the day to feed the sheep and the chickens. They are all very friendly, especially the lady, Geraldine, who comes to feed the chickens. After we had finished breakfast she came and knocked on the door and asked if the kids would like to help feed the chickens. We put on our shoes and ran out to feed the chickens and get the eggs :)

Little farmers at work feeding the chickens and roosters

Farmer Kian and his eggs

Since it was raining, we lounged around the house and played.  We headed to the Ocean Lodge, a nice restaurant/hotel very close to our cottage with incredible views of the Atlantic Ocean, for lunch. The restaurant was not very crowded which allowed us to hang around, and as the kids played a game of pool I was able to take advantage of the Wi-Fi and catch up with our blog postings.

Goat Cheese Salad

BBQ Chicken Wings

I forgot to mention before that milk and cheese in Ireland are absolutely delicious. The goat cheese on the salad tasted so fresh. If you are ever in Ireland, even if you are staying at a hotel you should definitely get some milk from a grocery store or at the restaurant. So good! Trust me, you won't be sorry!

Once we got back home it stopped raining and we decided to hike to the top of Killadoon Hill. This Hill is about 267m at it's highest point and it is practically across the street from where we are staying. There are no real paths to follow so you have to go through the grass and up the rocks and sometimes use your hands. Also you need to be on the look out for deer and sheep poop!

Hiking up with Hannah repeating over and over, "I can do it"

Half way there!

The views from the top are well worth the hike. 

Hiking Partners

The view from the top of Killadoon Hill

We hiked back down the hill a lot easier than I thought we would and we even carried a tired Hannah most of the way.

We saw a cool frog on our way up, but it was too quick to hop away. We also saw a few neat cactus flowers randomly spread out on the hill.

Cactus Plant on the Hill

Hiking makes hungry children and hungry children are the best eaters. Both plates were cleared of all food within minutes :) 

Hopefully our soggy sneakers will dry by the morning for another day of adventure.

Day 10 - Wet Sheep

We woke up to a very cloudy and rainy day. Later we found out that the beautiful sunshine we arrived in is a nice tease in these parts. I walked in the kitchen to put some dishes away and start making breakfast and say hello to our wet sheep :)

View from the window above the kitchen sink

While I made breakfast the rest of the family played hide-and-go-seek.

Kian counting as Hannah and Daddy ran to hide

We were all still a bit tired from traveling a lot the previous day and so decided to take it easy and spend time at home and around the farm. Hannah wanted to play outside on the rocks and Kian wanted to visit the pet lambs.

Hannah Playing with the rocks

Kian visiting the pet lambs

The wind was too strong to stay outside so the kids came back in and started playing a game of tic-tac-toe together. 

Playing tic-tac-toe

But of course in every game there is a winner and a loser and the loser was not particularly happy about the outcome of the game.

Losing is no fun especially for a 2.5 year old :(

After this we decided to head into Louisburgh to buy some meat for dinner from the butcher in town. This was my first time driving the stick car and much stalling was in order. It is also quite terrifying driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Asides from remembering that you have to drive on the left you are also very confused about keeping proper distance on the left side. I almost nicked the mirror on the passenger side!!  Oh and did I mention the roads are very very narrow and the locals drive pretty fast. At least it seems fast to a driver terrified of stalling and being on the wrong side of the road! 

We bought the meat and managed to make it home unscathed. Kian helped me make dinner, Beef Stroganoff with rice. 

Teaching Kian how to cut peppers 

Kian mastering the art of cutting peppers :)

While I finished up a few final touches the kids played with daddy-o.

pre-dinner fun and games

Dinner was served shortly after.

Beef stroganoff and white rice - The kids also ate this with mostly the meat and also some yogurt on the side

After dinner the clouds finally parted and we were able to enjoy some beautiful views over the ocean.

Sunset over the atlantic Ocean - View from our living room.

We wrapped up the night by watching The Little Mermaid for our family movie night which happened to be on Wednesday this week. 

Family Movie Night - The Little Mermaid

Day 9 - Gorgeous Louisburgh

We left Dublin shortly after eating breakfast. Dublin is a 3 and half hour drive from Louisburgh. The drive was smooth despite being on a 1 lane “highway” for a good amount of the time. We stopped around 1PM in Westport for lunch. 

We ate at a restaurant called The West. Their seafood chowder was marked on the menu as worldwide award winning. It was truly the best seafood chowder we have ever had. If you are ever in Westport you must try this chowder! 

The delicious award winning seafood chowder

The drive from Westport to Louisburgh is about 20 miles and on a clear sunny day (which is exactly what the weather was like while we drove) it is absolutely gorgeous. As you drive you have tall hills and mountains to the left and the glimmering Atlantic Ocean to the right.  

We pulled up to the house around 3:45 and were immediately wowed by the incredible views. 

The view of the Atlantic Ocean

The hosts are extremely nice.  They welcomed us, gave us a quick tour of the house and then started to show us the farm. About 80 sheep, 10 chickens, 2 roosters, and 2 horses live here. We are allowed to pet the sheep’s wool. Oh my gosh they are so soft! 

Kian with the Pet Lambs

We took a quick walk to the beach to check it out. It is a nice beach and the sand entertained the kids and myself :) The Atlantic Ocean is still very cold so we just dipped in our feet.  There were some jellyfish type creatures the locals call "wafer fish" which had washed up on shore, Kian enjoyed analyzing them.

The Mortons

On the half mile walk back from the beach, the kids kept themselves entertained by picking fluffy dandelions and making wishes.  

"I wish the adventure would last forever" - Kian

"I wish for Dora" - Hannah

After we got back, we headed to the closest grocery store in Louisburgh called Durkans. Most of the items are very expensive, but we really needed some fruit and a few things to cook dinner with as we were tired of eating at restaurants. We will go to a much larger grocery store in Westport on Thursday or Friday.  20 Miles is a long way to drive for a good grocery store, but at least it's a nice drive.

After dinner, the kids were showered, had ice cream and went to bed. We were warned the the roosters will start with singing at 5AM.

A Note to our readers:

We do not have internet access in this cottage so the posts will likely not always be available on a daily basis. We will try our best to update the blog as frequently as possible.