The Munce Family: Parknisalla, Ring of Kerry, Crag Cave, and Derrynane.

We continue our daily adventures, setting out midmorning, discovering new towns, beaches and other gems Ireland has to offer. Our road trips consists of the Moana soundtrack, naps, 'Isaac and Anna's house' games, and when all else fails, iPad time. 'Isaac and Anna's house' is a favorite of Sullivan and Greta's. We each take on our respective rolls and Greta tells us the scenario. Yesterday it was "mama, you be Maggie, daddy, you be Jeff, I'm Anna, Sully is Isaac and Piper is Rudy. And today Isaac and Anna and Rudy go over to Sully and Greta and Piper's and on our way our car transformes into an ice cream truck...' She speaks with such precision and by the time it comes to actually playing out the scenario, she is so enthusiastic about the outcome. Its a great way to pass the time, except when they call Piper 'Rudy,' Piper immediately says 'no!' ahhh, the joys of being the baby ;).

Thursday was another great day. We headed to Parknisalla, a beautiful resort about 30 minutes SW of our house. They have amazing grounds and have designated 'treasure' and 'fairy' walks. It is a really great way to explore with the kids and to keep them interested. We were all in awe of the fairy home charm. The had little homes built into tree trunks, hanging from trees, and just tucked into any sort of nook. It was so cool. We also had lunch at the resort at this bar/restaurant which is about 4 times fancier than we are used to. The kids did quite well and the resort is so family friendly that we actually fit right in. I definitely hope to return there at some point in the future.

We hired a private tour for the Ring of Kerry on Friday. It was asking a lot to expect all three kids to tolerate an 8.5 hour mostly driving tour, but they really did great. We stopped at the Muckross House and Family Farm early in the trip and wore the kids out running and exploring before grabbing a bite to eat. Paul, our guide was very patient and kind and even helpful with the kids. We were able to take in the views without having to stress about navigating or driving (Dave). We enjoyed every bit of it (until Pip got carsick about 30 minutes from home :(, fortunately, she pulled through). The Ring of Kerry definitely lives up to the hype, it was an awesome adventure.

We woke up on Saturday morning to thick clouds and a rain forecast, so brainstormed ideas for the day and landed on Crag Cave in Castleisland, a little more than an hour from Kenmare. We arrived in time for lunch and quickly discovered a back space full of tunnels, slides, and bounce houses. We ate and let the kids play for two solid hours. Sully met a little guy named Connor who had a Ninja Turtle shirt on making him the coolest kid there. He checked in every 20 minutes or so, but otherwise was completely entertained. We followed the play time with a cave tour. The kids did really well and actually retained some info (on our way to dinner, Sully pointed to something in a store window and excitedly showed us that it looked just like a stalagmite). We stopped at O'Donovan's pub to eat (and hoped for some Irish music, but picked the wrong night) and then returned home for bed.

Today we ventured to Derrynane Beach on the Ring of Kerry for more playtime. The weather called for clouds, but relatively warm, so we opted for an outdoor agenda. On the drive over, Sully asked about the friends he has made on this trip and wondered if we would ever be able to play with them again, we told we hoped our paths would cross again, fortunately he was content with that answer, my heart sort of melted at how sweet he is. We made it in time for lunch, so stopped at The Blind Piper pub before hitting the beach. Fortunately, the kids could care less about the weather, because it was indeed socked in with fog, but it was still really fun. Piper was in her own heaven playing in the wet sand while the kids ran around jumping over waves and exploring. We stopped at the Derrynane House for coffee and an ice cream treat before making our way home in time for dinner.

Its hard to believe we are beginning the wind down process of the trip. The last three weeks have flown. We intend to make the most of this final week.