The Munce Family: Ross Castle, Cork, Gleninchaquin Park, Derrynane, and the Shannon airport hotel.

We anticipated rain on Monday, so we planned an indoor activity at the Ross Castle in Kilarney. We ventured in to the city to grab a quick lunch at Laurels in Central Kilarney and were pleasantly surprised with blue skies when we walked out of the pub. We spent a short time walking the streets (accidentally stumbling upon a candy shop, sending the kids into frenzies, ahhh! Dave and I scramble to get them out with minimal commotion- we avoid candy shops at all costs). We decided make a pitt stop at a local park before taking on the castle, and to optimize our sunshine time. On our drive to the park, Piper fell asleep, so I stayed in the car with her while she napped and Dave took the kids to play. We finally landed at Ross Castle and quickly realized it was guided tour which currently doesn't work with our family situation, so we played on the grounds for awhile before making our way home. We headed to Coachman's for dinner in Kenmare hoping to catch Irish music (again). Unfortunately, they put us in a side room as the main room had been sold out (so they said ;)). It was fun, and so was the ice cream stop on the way to the car.

We drove to Cork on Tuesday as the forecast there was sun. It was 1.5 hour drive through the country, such lovely views and winding roads through towns and near castles and rivers. My time is spent between helping Dave navigate, managing the kids, and enjoying the scenery. We made our way to a car park, which was about 12 spaces big per floor, we wound our minivan up 5 flights before squeezing (literally) into a mini spot between a station wagon and a wall. We walked the streets of Cork, finding lunch at Thomond Sports Bar and then landing at a town square park where the kids played for 45 minutes, chasing pigeons and making friends with some locals. On our way to the car, we stopped at Dunnes department store so Dave could do a bit of shopping. We stopped at the Sailors Bar (1km from our house) for dinner where we hoped for live music (again), but got placed in a separate room (are you noticing a trend? ;)).

We conquered a nearby state park on Wednesday, our last anticipated sunny day. We drove 30 minutes on a one lane wide, but two lane road into Gleninchaquin Park, actually a private park owned by the same family for as long as anyone can remember. We parked and walked through fields where sheep were grazing to a picnic spot right smack dab at the base of an amazing waterfall. Its truly our best picnic spot to date. We did a bit of hiking over bridges and splashing through some water spots ('but dad, Peppa jumps in muddy puddles!' - Greta). We grabbed a snack and coffee before coming home for burgers on the grill and Moana (score!!) on TV. The kids were all in bed early thanks to minimal car/quiet time today.

Our true full final day was on Thursday and we had originally planned to bag any plans as heavy rain and fog was in the forecast. At the last minute, Dave suggested heading back to Derrynane (1hr drive) to see if we could find a treasure trail, I conceded, although was so sick of the car (the kids, specifically Piper, were too). We ended up a this small pub beyond where we had landed last weekend and it was literally a room, no larger than a hotel room with a few benches and an actual bar. I asked the man where the restaurant was and he said 'this is it!' So, we stayed for cheese sandwiches, pringles, and soda. Fortunately we had the place to ourselves (I can't imagine capacity was much more than 15). Following lunch, I suggested we make our way to the beach up the road, just to check it out. Before we knew it, we were all out, playing in the sand, busy and content when Dave and I simultaneously noticed blue sky. It was another Julie moment and it was just what we needed to wrap up our holiday. We returned and had take out pizza in anticipation of travel days ahead.

Today is Friday and we left Kenmare at 12. We stopped at Kilarney for lunch before driving up to Shannon. We arrived at about 4, there isn't much to do here besides eat and veg, and thats about all we have done. It is obvious we are at the end of a 4 week adventure, we got into the room and everyone was glued to an iPad, iPhone, or tv screen for a solid hour. We are wiped out. We did venture out for dinner to a place called Durty Nellys about 15 minutes from here, but made our way back to tackle bedtime with all 5 of us on in one room, not something we do very often ;). Tomorrow will be a full travel day with stops at JFK and MSP before arriving in Sioux Falls at 8:45pm.

We've had an incredible adventure. Im grateful to Dave for having the dream and to the kids for being so go-with-the-flow (most of the time). They have really made this trip special for us We will always be so grateful for the memories, photos, blog entries, and travel journal (which we have been so diligent about keeping up). I am ready to get home, to have my space, and to not live out of a suitcase, but I know another adventure awaits (not quite as long) in the next few years (Dave is already brainstorming, I'm not quite ready, yet ;)).

Fingers crossed for a smooth travel day tomorrow.