Thanksgiving in Utah

We spent Thanksgiving in Utah and it was a great time. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and got to see the cousins, Zoe and Zachy.

The weather was good enough that Matty was able to play golf with Grandpa at their Club, which is beautiful.

Watching Aunt B Play Hockey

We also went to watch Aunt B play hockey in a pickup game. She has kept with it all these years and still has the skills to pay the bills. She scored 2 goals as a defense-woman and did great. It was fun to watch her and she played on the same team as her new beau, Vince.

Savannah and I left the main crew and went out to dinner Friday night with her and Vince, as well as all the kids: Bethie's (Zoe, Zachy), Vince's (Reese, Ella), and of course ours (Hayden and Ellie). It was a good opportunity to get to know Vince better and we really like him. We are glad that Bethie is happy.

Going Skating

After dinner we went ice skating at Aunt B's rink where she is the manager. It was Hayden and Ellie's first time skating and it was, um, an experience. That is to say a difficult one. Major kudos to them for trying so hard because they fell A LOT. But they kept getting back up and trying harder. I distinctly remember the pain in my back since I was bending over holding them up the entire time. It is quite a strain.

Thanksgiving itself was great. The food (the traditional spread) was terrific. Also in attendance were Aunt Diane, Uncle Brian, and cousin Kacie, along with Aunt Nina.

Fun with Grandma

Grandma also found some time to make both a gingerbread house and cookies with all her grandkids. It doesn't get any better than making yummies with Grandma.

Saturday was game day. My dad, since he is a CU booster, has gotten to know the CU Athletic Director pretty well so he not only had the AD as a guest at his Club for dinner Friday night, but we were able to go on a private tour of the brand new, first class Utah Football Facility with all the Colorado people. (Tour Photos)

The Utah Locker Room

My business sense was screaming since the Utah people will giving a tour of their new facility to the Colorado people. The CU top dogs were taking pictures and notes of everything as it was intricately explained by the Utah people. They are competitors in the recruiting world so I couldn't believe they did that. But apparently it is fairly common practice. Still, weird to me.

Nonetheless it was a great experience to see all the new stuff. The facility was amazing to say the least. And then even cooler for us, just 4 days after our tour, the CU Board of Regents approved a new $143 Million Athletic Center. Ha! We were part of that!! Very cool.

Confused

Then it was game time, CU vs. Utah. I love both teams so this game is always tough for me because a good offensive play means a defender did something wrong. So my emotions cancel out and I hate/love every big play. In truth, the game sucks for me because I don't get to express my true football emotion and I end up stoic the whole game. Savannah of course, wishes I were like that EVERY time I watched football.

On Sunday we had to leave. It was another great trip with our family and one we will remember for a long time.

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Aces Bowl XVII

Holy cow I can't believe we've had 17 of these things. Nuts. This one was in Athens, Georgia. Greg came through big and hooked us up with accommodations since his boss (Rick) is a big UGA fan and has a "cabin" about 30 minutes from the stadium. So we all stayed there.

Now this cabin is anything but. It has like 6 bedrooms, 2 fireplaces, a full kitchen, 2 living rooms, and sits on a pristine private lake in the middle of 800+ acres of land. It didn't suck.

Rick the owner stayed with us and he is a terrific guy. He cooked us food, set us up with golf, and played Mexico (a great dice game) with us late into the night.

On Friday morning we played golf at Reynolds Plantation which was a great, albeit difficult, course.

Then Rick took us on a tour of his property which spans some 800 plus acres as mentioned. It was a pleasant evening as the jeep motored through the woods and meadows.

The next day was gameday. Rick's son, Jason, met up with us to go to the game. He was a cool kid who had set up our attendance at a tailgate with his friends. We picked up some southern BBQ on the way to be our contribution. It was a lot of fun, and especially unique as we were close enough to the bars that we went bar hopping mid-tailgate.

The game was good times too as the Dawgs played Kentucky on Senior Day. We had great seats (booked by yours truly!) and most of the early touchdowns happened right in front of us! Unfortunately, the Georgia star QB, Aaron Murray, tore his knee during the game which will hurt his draft status for sure.

Georgia crushed them so the home fans (which included us for that day) went home happy.

All in all it was another great trip for the boys and one we will remember fondly.

Click to See Slideshow

Tin Cup Tour Season Finale

Matty and his caddie talk strategy.

The end of the Tin Cup Tour season is capped with the ever dramatic Tour Championship, followed by the Champions Dinner. For the Tour Championship, we wanted to class it up a bit so we decided to have caddies. We each asked a buddy or family Member to caddie for us and it was a blast. Most of us have never had caddies so it was a great experience to be able to play with one.

For me, my buddy Brock caddied for me and he did a great job. We also had a professional photographer come out to take some pics and he did such a good job that the photos looked PGA Tour worthy.

Jason Malcolm won the 2013 Tin Cup

The event culminates the season long points competition, which was won by my good friend, Jason Malcolm. It was a great time and everyone had a blast.

Then that night, we had the second annual Champions Dinner. It is fun because the wives were also there so we were able to share the fun with them. We gave out awards, thanked our wives for letting us out of the house, and crowned our Champion, Jason. It was a terrific night and another fantastic finish to the year.

Tin Cup Tour Championship

Tin Cup Tour Champions Dinner - 2013

Daddy Daughter Cardinal Game

I had planned on attending the Cardinals vs Texans game with some friends, but each of them cancelled for different reasons...either that or they found out how I get at games.

So I sold 2 of the tickets and Hayden and I took the other 2. This was not technically her first football game, as she had been to a playoff game when she was 7 months old. But this would be the first one that she could remember and the first where she had some idea of what was happening.

It was Veterans Day and the crowd did a sign trick which was really cool. That was the highlight for Hayden. Plus the Cards one so it was a fun time all around. We will be back.

All Hallows Eve

Halloween is such a fun time in Arizona. The weather is perfect and the community embraces the holiday beautifully. Adult costume parties are more common than kids parties. Savannah and I attend one done by her office every year because two of the main partners are HUGE Halloween fans.

Like huge.

They alternate who hosts but the house is always decked to the nines with crazy amounts of props, and scary lighting, and sounds, etc. It is most impressive.

We didn't know what to be this year so we went as Sully and Boo from Monster's Inc. This was at the suggestion of Savannah's boss, Ryan, who had an extra Sully costume.

I must say that for Savannah, this worked well. She looked super cute as Boo.

For me, not so well.

The costume was too small and tight in all the wrong places. Plus I looked like a giant, fuzzy, nincompoop. But the party was fun and the food is always great so I forgot all about it quickly.

Then we went to the Morris' for Halloween night. It was a lot of fun and it's always great to see the excitement on the kids' faces.

Click to View Slideshow

Pumpkin Patch Pleasure

In late October, when Oma was visiting, we went to the pumpkin patch and had a great time. See the pics and a video below.

Pumpkin Patch

Scooter and Tracy's Wedding Weekend

Scooter and Tracy were going to get married just an hour from Boston, and since Savannah had never been to Boston, we decided we needed go a couple of days early to see the town.

Savannah's Jump!

On our first day we hit the Freedom Trail, the 2.5 mile walk through the city that hits the historic sites. It was
a lot of fun to see some amazing stuff that helped kick start our country.

Mike's Pastry

The walk was a long one and it gave us a great work out. That night, we needed to refuel which was perfect since we had dinner scheduled with the Carmodys and Cyrus in Little Italy (The North End). Dinner was wonderful, and after dinner we went to Mike's Pastry, which is legendary. They feature a huge selection of desserts, sweets, and treats. We got 4 for the table and dug in. Not surprisingly, the Boston Cream Pie won our votes as the best.

The next day we walked some more, including to Fenway Pahhk, the beautiful Newbury Street which has some great shopping and strolling, and down to the Charles River.

Photos with Friends

Hayden and her friends, Eliana and Briana, had their pictures taken and the results were terrific. You can see how much they love each other through the looks on their faces.

Hayden and Her Friends

Kiddo Trip #2 - Mommy and Hayden

Hayden and I started out our kiddo weekend by doing some shopping. Her school is right around the corner from the Scottsdale Quarter so we walked around and picked up a few things; a couple of shirts for her and a couple of shirts for me. I love having a little shopping buddy.

After that we checked into our hotel, the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort. The room was nice and we dropped off all of our stuff before we drove to Aunt Chilada's for dinner. The weather was perfect so we sat outside on the patio. We colored and played tic-tac-toe. After dinner we went back to the hotel to change into our swimsuits and then walked over to the pool. The water was a little cool (for our thin Arizona blood) but that didn't stop us from going down the water slide multiple times! We also made our way over to the hot tub for a little soak before grabbing ice cream and heading back to our room.

Even though we had two beds I asked Hayden if she wanted to share a bed. She immediately said yes!  We never let the girls sleep in our bed so this was a super special treat (plus I love it too!)

The next morning Hayden woke up and told me that she had a loose tooth! She just lost a tooth a few weeks before (and it happened within a few hours of noticing that it was loose) so I wondered if this tooth would come out over the weekend. (It was actually about a week later but we talked about that loose tooth A LOT during the weekend.)  She asked if we could get bagels for breakfast so we ate at Bruegger's Bagels. Nothing fancy but exactly what my little gal wanted.

From there we drove to North Scottsdale to check out the new Butterfly Wonderland. This place is amazing. We started with a 3D movie about the monarch butterflies migration, then saw an entire room where butterflies are in different stages of metamorphosis, and finally into a huge atrium where there were thousands of butterflies. Hayden and I each got to "hold" a butterfly and we were able to get a bunch of really cool pictures of different types of butterflies.  It's definitely an experience I would recommend.

Then we drove to the mall to check out Build a Bear. I had heard about it before but neither of us had ever been to one before. We had a great time! Hayden picked out a bear, gave it a heart, stuffed it, cleaned it, dressed it, named it, and even got to make a birth certificate. She named it Princess Aurora and she loved the whole process. We grabbed a quick lunch at Paradise Bakery and then drove to get pedicures and manicures.

After relaxing and getting pampered we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then went to dinner at Sauce followed by fro-yo. The frozen yogurt place we went to was packed so we took our fro-yo back to the hotel and ate it in the room before heading back down to the pool. We took a few trips down the water slide, hit up the hot tub again, and then turned in for the night. We snuggled in bed and Hayden was asleep by 8:00. Not really a wild and crazy night, but a perfect ending to our very busy day.

The next morning we were up early and drove to Daily Dose for breakfast. We sat outside on the patio at a high-top table. Hayden insisted on having a bagel for breakfast (again) and she loved it. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to meet Matt and Anabelle for more swimming in the pool and a fun way to end our kiddo weekend as a family.

The best part of the weekend? Even after all of the fun stuff that we did, Hayden told me that her favorite part of the weekend was getting to sleep with me.  I'm so grateful for that one-on-one time that I got to spend with her and that her favorite part was time with me, not something material.

See pictures for more fun from the weekend!

Kiddo Weekend #2 - Mommy and Hayden

Kiddo Trip #2 - Ellie and Daddy

Ellie is excited.

For our second round of kiddo trips, Ellie and Daddy went to the far west part of the Phoenix Valley, for a stay at the Wigwam Resort. When we arrived the room was large with a patio and Ellie loved it. She was
excited about her own bed, but she really wanted to get to the pool.

We needed to eat first and she wanted cheeseburgers so we went to Freddy's which is awesome. We had cheeseburgers, fries, and frozen custard. Afterwards, we went back to go swimming, which she was so excited about. The pool was heated and had some cool streamers that she loved to play in. There was also a really neat splash pad that she spent a lot of time in. After a while we went back to the room and crashed, it was a great start to our weekend.

In the morning our stomachs were not so politely asking us to get a big breakfast so we went to the Black Bear Diner (one of my favorites). She wanted to sit at the counter so we did and we stuffed ourselves with amazing breakfast fare.

"Weee!"

We then went to the main event of the weekend, the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium. We went on a lot of rides including the carousel, the train, and the log ride. We also saw a lot of cool animals and Ellie loved it.

But it was hot so after we left we went back to the resort and got back into the pool, which she loved of course.

Then that night our resort was holding its annual Oktoberfest. The weather was gorgeous as the sun had set creating a magical evening. There were a lot of people out there as the band played some fun German and pseudo-German songs. Ellie
got a cool glow wand which she loved, and we ate some German food including schnitzel. Then we danced the night away. It was a great time.

The next morning, our last, we went to a local cafe and sat on the patio enjoying the weather. She ate Mickey Mouse pancakes and it was the perfect cap to our wonderful weekend.

See more pictures from our weekend here:

Kiddo Trip '13 - Ellie and Daddy

Ellie's 3rd Birthday

By the time our second kid turned 3, we had nailed down some pretty cool birthday traditions:

• Streamers hanging from your doorway when you wake up.
• Balloons on your chair in the morning.
• A donut on the birthday plate for breakfast.
• Going to Red Robin for dinner on your birthday.
• Getting your crib side rail off when you turn 3.

Some were created on purpose, some by accident and habit. All are awesome (to us). Ellie experienced each of them, along with a very cool party the day after at Imagination Avenue with many of her cute little friends.

The whole time Ellie was flashing her big, beautiful, natural grin. It is crazy that she is 3 already. She is growing up so fast and we are loving every moment of the time we spend with her.

Happy Birthday, Ellie!!!

Ellie's 3rd Birthday

The Happiest Place on Earth

For the third straight year we went to Disneyland over Labor Day weekend. This time we met Grandma and Grandpa and for the first time Bethie, Zoe, and Zachy joined us.

Since we had so many people, we wanted to stay in a house instead of getting a bunch of hotel rooms. Great decision. The house was tremendous with 5 bedrooms including the kids room complete with 4 bunk beds and a stage where the kids can use the supplied dress up clothes to put on some shows. The kids room also is Peter Pan themed and when the lights go out at night, the lights of London below and stars above light up.

The house also has a sweet man cave with a bar, TVs, and a pool table. But all this is short of the best feature:

The pool.

The backyard and the pool in particular are world class. And we wasted none of it by spending plenty of time in the backyard and its star attraction. The rock slide, grotto, and hot tub were all well frequented.

As for the theme park portion of our trip, for the first time we did California Adventure in addition to Disneyland. It was a great addition as the 'secondary' theme mark has matured and it worthy of a day. Overall, young and old had a blast and we will be sure to return again next year.

Enjoy the video which will help us remember our trip.

A Piece of Lake

Our friends, the Morris', recently got a new boat. Shaun had wanted one for a while and found a great deal on a sweet one. They invited us up to Bartlett Lake after I self-invited us onto his new boat (I'm famous for the self-invites but it works well for everyone: I have fun, and the other people get to spend time with me).

The girls were really excited to go, so it was sad to see the weather report showed that it would rain. Fortunately it didn't and we headed out on Sunday morning with lunches and drinks packed up.

Hayden and Taylor have been great friends for a while and Ellie has recently bonded with Colton, so it works well for everyone, especially since Matt and Shaun are close and Savannah and Holli are great friends.

This was the girls first experience on a boat and they loved it. Shaun zipped us across the water to a calm spot near some cliffs (the scenery is beautiful) and dropped anchor. The kids were life jacketed up and then we asked who wants to go in first.

No sooner did we ask did we hear a splash: Ellie had jumped right in!

She had never been in a lake before but she didn't need any encouragement or peer pressure. That girl is gung ho - love her attitude.

All the kids got in, but Hayden dind't like to jump in because the lake is "dirty". She didn't want that water on her face. Actually kind of makes sense.

All in all it was a fun day and we got off the lake just in time as the rains came soon after. Thanks, Shaun and Holli!

Click to See Slideshow

The Tooth Fairy's First Visit

I picked Hayden up from school and she told me her tooth was loose. I thought she was either joking or she didn't understand what she was talking about or something (in my mind kids didn't start losing their teeth until they were 6 or 7).

At a stoplight she showed me an sure enough, it was loose. Later that evening, I was on a work call in our study and I heard screaming in the kitchen. Apparently she had bitten into a banana and it created some blood which either scared Hayden or it hurt.

Then the tooth just came out. Savannah was with her but I missed it.

That night she put it under her pillow and in the morning, she saw that the Tooth Fairy had left her a whole dollar!

And the Phoenix Tooth Fairy likes to leave the tooth as well, she doesn't take them, in case anyone was wondering how they do it in our neck of the woods.

Ellie Breaks Her Collarbone

On my way home from work to pick up Ellie from school, I got a call from Savannah saying the office had just called to say Ellie got hurt. This is somewhat routine, they call for just about anything to be on the safe side.

But when I arrived, I instantly knew something was wrong. Ellie is usually all smiles, and even when she has a bad fall, she stops crying after just a minute or so and is back to being happy. 

This time she was curled up in the arms of the front office manager and still crying, about 20 minutes after the call. Not good. Apparently she had been playing and twirling around and just lost her balance and landed square on the side of her shoulder.

Hayden and Mommy comfort Ellie at Urgent Care

I immediately took her to urgent care where they x-rayed her and determined there probably was a break, but that we needed to get her into a pediatrician in the morning to confirm since they would have better equipment for kids.

That night we gave her some motrin but it was so tough for her to sleep. The poor girl could not get comfortable in bed so she woke up several times screaming in pain. It was heartbreaking as a parent to not be able to do anything to take care of your little one in pain.

More X-Rays

The next morning Savannah took her to get more x-rays and they confirmed the break in her right collarbone (a hairline). 

There is no remedy for this so she just had to grin and bear the pain, not fun. Savannah made a small sling for her which allowed her to keep it still. 

Every day the pain has gotten better and better, but we would often see her reach for it or say, "My boo-boo hurts, Dada." It made me hurt too.

Fortunately she is tough and just about back to normal now (2 weeks later). All the while, she kept her trademarked Ellie smile.

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Hayden's First Day of Kindergarten

Getting to Hayden's first day of kindergarten was no picnic. In fact, it was straight out of the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

We were in Wyoming the day before for the 80th birthday of Savannah's Grandma, Sonya. The party was on Sunday afternoon and the only way we could make the party and get Hayden to her first day was to fly in and out of Laramie (via a small prop through Denver). We usually fly to Denver and rent a car for the 2 hour drive to Laramie since it is often easier and cheaper, not to mention faster after accounting for the layover.

We should have known it would not be good when our flight from Denver to Laramie on the way in was delayed by 2.5 hours.

So on Sunday after the party, we got to the Laramie airport and the plane arrived on time. Yay! We were going to make our connection in Denver!

Then Savannah said: "Huh. Those pilots are really looking at the landing gear a lot." The tiny Laramie airport is situated so you can see the airplane right outside the window of the "terminal".

Yup. They were looking at the landing gear a lot. Because it was broken. Flight cancelled. Connection missed. Hayden misses first day. Everyone cries. Much sadness. It goes with out saying that the airline was United.

But no. Then came the hero of the story who would not have it that way. Pop left a dinner with friends and family to drive the four of us two hours down to the Denver airport, one way. We get there just in time for the last flight to Phoenix, a 9pm on US Airways (yay! Way better than United!!). The US Airways accepted us from the United transfer and the agents even moved us around so we could all sit together.

The girls were really tired but Hayden made her first day of kindergarten!!! Thanks, Pop!

Cowgirls Vacation in Wonderful Wyoming

This post is written by guest blogger, Coleen McNierney, aka "Oma".

While Matt and Savannah vacationed, Hayden and Anabelle went on their first trip without mom or dad.  How fortunate were the Wyoming grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc.  The girls stayed with their grandparents, Oma and Opa and Pop and Susan, and I get to be a guest writer on the Wolach blog! 

The girls flew out of Phoenix with Pop, and my understanding is there were many tears shed – by Savannah.  They had a great flight to Denver and then on the road to Wyoming.  Hayden and Ellie then spent the next ten days in Laramie with time shared between Pop and Susan’s house and Opa and Oma’s.  What an adventure it was! Following are just a few pictures during their time with us, but I know Pop and Susan took many more pictures of the girls at the Jubilee Days’ Parade, a trip to the Snowy Range, visits with Great-Grandma Sonya and Frank, and so much more!

Opa and I then accompanied the girls back home to Phoenix.  There wasn’t enough room for both Matt and Savannah to come to the airport, so Matt greeted the four of us.  Wish I had a picture of their reunion, darn it. Both girls ran to their daddy’s open arms.  Priceless! 

I know Pop had a full slideshow as well.

Hayden and Ellie in Wyoming

Savannah Drives on the Left Side of the Road

The entire trip, Savannah had been asking to drive so that she could say she had driven on the left side of the road. However, after seeing the crazy clifftop roads in Dingle, she changed her mind.

But I didn't take no for an answer.

Savannah on the right side of the car.

Saturday was departure day and we were 10 minutes and 4 roundabouts from the airport. Savannah was to drive. She was scared when I told her to do it saying things like, "I don't know, babe. Do you think I can do it?"

Savannah getting ready for the roundabout.

I told her she was fine so she took the reins in the driver's seat on the right side of the car. It was interesting pulling out of the driveway but as she went she gained in confidence. The roundabouts went ok too, though she had to double check each one to make sure she knew where to go.

We made it safely to the car rental drop off and she had done it! She successfully navigated the roundabouts and made it happen. She is an official ambidextrous driver!

Made it!

Dingle All the Way

Our last full day was spent in Dingle, the amazing peninsula on the western side of Ireland. In fact, not only is Dingle the western tip of Ireland, but it is also the western tip of Europe itself.

We knew we wanted to see it so we set out on the loop around the peninsula that is a must. First we saw a beautiful beach that would have fit in well in Southern California. There were shells, and runners, and the whole bit. It was another beautiful day so we spent a little bit of time and stood in the Atlantic Ocean soaking up the sea air.

After that the drive goes around the corner and we caught some great glimpses of the sea and the outer islands off the coast. The cliffs going straight into the water was so majestic that it took our breath away. We made several stops and at each one stood in awe looking out. The pictures just don't truly capture what it feels like when you are there.

The breathtaking views were plentiful.

At one turnoff we saw another smaller beach on the northwest side of the peninsula that looked like the Caribbean. The water close to the beach was a delightful teal and the contrast with the darker blue of the deeper water and the green of the landscape was spectacular. The 30 mile drive took us a few hours with all our stops.

We then had lunch back in town, where we actually found an entire additional part of town we didn't see the night before because it was situated above the rest of the town. Dingle Town was actually twice the size of what we thought.

Colm educated us on Dingle's ancient past.

Then we met up with Colm, our tour guide for the afternoon. He is a local who has lived in Dingle his entire life. He asked us what we wanted to do and we didn't really know, just so long as it was something we hadn't seen before. He knew just what to do and we set off by car. We also later found out from him about his fall off a nearby cliff in the car, which I wrote about in the previous post.

Savannah in a ring fort.

Colm took us to a summit that could see both the north and south coasts of the peninsula. It was an exquisite view from there. Then
we went around to several archaeological spots nearby while he explained what life was like in each area at that period. It was crazy to think of the lives people lived over a thousand years ago. Colm was very knowledgeable and provided great depth to the history which made our experience more rich.

Following our tour with Colm we bid adieu to Dingle and headed for our final B&B which was just 10 minutes from the airport. But not before we stopped at Murphy's, which is pretty much the best ice cream place in the world. So good, we did it 3 times in 3 days (once in Dublin, then twice in Dingle - one time after dinner, and once one the way out of town the next day).

Bunratty Castle.

When we arrived a couple hours later, we went out for dinner in Bunratty where our lodging was. We had a nice dinner and reminisced about the great times which capped the trip well. Then we walked a couple minutes to the Bunratty Castle nearby. The castle, which has been kept up and is now a banquet hall of sorts, was lit up and with the late twilight sky it looked stellar. There was a terrific pub right next door but with early flights, we had to pass.

Our last night concluded, and so did our wonderful trip.

2013 Trip - Day 8 - Dingle

Castles and Coasters

We rented a car and departed Dublin with the countryside as our destination. When telling locals our plan they all told us we were crazy to do something so ambitious in one day. So call us crazy.

Kilkenny Castle

Our first stop was the cute town of Kilkenny, a little over an hour out of town. It has been called Ireland's best inland town and we saw why right away. The shops and pubs line the street looking as beautiful as any and they all cluster around the Kilkenny Castle which stands majestically in the center of town. 

We parked and walked around the Castle which was remarkably well preserved. It also had grounds and lawns that were wonderfully well manicured. After snapping some pics we stopped at a local farmer's market that had been set up for the day and grabbed some crepes which were scrumptious. 

The Rock of Cashel

Following Kilkenny we took a quick drive over to Cashel to see that town's main attraction, the Rock of Cashel, which is an old cathedral at the top of a cliff and lies in ruin. There were some great views from the Rock and it was cool to walk through the ruins and feel the history. There was also a decent sized graveyard which was really interesting to walk through. 

After that stop, our plans had then called for us to venture to the cute little coastal town of Kinsale near Cork. However Savannah had other ideas.

She told us that her Grandmother (Shirley) had once kissed the Blarney Stone years ago and that she really wanted to do it. So we adjusted our plans to make it happen.

Blarney Castle

Blarney is just West of Cork and when we arrived we were famished so we stopped at a pub in the center of town to grab a bite (Savannah said it was the best sandwich she had on the trip). We then walked to the Blarney Castle. We had heard that it wasn't a great castle and that you just need to kiss the stone and leave. 

Wrong. We all loved the castle, which is in ruins, and the grounds around it were vast and gorgeous with large trees, colorful flowers and a stream running through the property. The castle is a tall fortress and it is 166 steps to the top in a spiral staircase. It was interesting to see rooms vertically oriented instead of spread out.

Savannah kisses the Blarney Stone!

After the long climb up we stood high above the forest and meadows. It was more precarious than we would have thought but we made our way to the stone on the edge of the upper wall.

To kiss it is no small task. One needs to lie down on their back, then bend backwards while lowering down to reach the stone which is through a hole, one that drops straight to the ground many stories below.

We all did it and by kissing the stone, we are now gifted with eloquence.

The road literally drops off a cliff.

After Blarney we drove to our destination for the evening, the remarkable peninsula of Dingle. Part of the road to Dingle is on the edge of a cliff dropping straight into the ocean and the whole time you drive right on it. I felt good driving and maintained focus during that stretch.

However, if I would have known the possibilities, it may have been more tense. The next day our tour guide told us of a story where he was driving one night and a truck coming the other way veered into his lane slightly. Our guide went off course just a bit and careened down the cliff 200 feet. He broke several bones but survived. Since it was at night and no other cars were around, nobody saw him. He had to climb up and wait for another car to come to help. Amazing.

Our journey was uneventful, save for the amazing views, which we experienced even more of the next day. That is to come.

See the pictures here:

2013 Trip - Day 7 - The Irish Countryside

A Day in the City

This was to be our only full day in Dublin so we wanted to make the most of it. We woke up and had a great breakfast at a cute coffee shop near our hotel.

One of the other patrons was a regular there because he is an official driver for the government. He was waiting for a couple of his people who had business in the Norwegian embassy next door. While we ate and he waited, he chatted with us and gave us great advice on what to do and where to go. He also gave us a map and a guide book! The locals here are so nice and this exemplified it. He must run into tons of tourists and yet he was very helpful and personable. 

We then went to a nearby park called St. Stephen's Green which was beautiful with vibrant flowers and ducks dancing on the tranquil lake in the delightful weather.

The Trinity College Library

After walking around a bit we made our way to Trinity College which is in the heart of the city. It is a famous college with 2 famous parts: the Book of Kells, which is a super fancy book from around the year 800; and the Old Library which is astonishingly beautiful and was the inspiration for the Jedi Library in Star Wars episode II (2002). 

Following Trinity College we took our hop on bus to the Guinness Storehouse at the Guinness Factory. We had heard that the tour was disappointing so we had low expectations. The rumors were that they don't actually show you the beer being made. 

The rumors in that sense were true, they don't show the beer being made which happens in another area of the giant complex. However, the tour was still great by all of our accounts. They went through the process in great detail with many terrific visual effect on both TVs and live items you can touch. It equates to a terrific modern exhibit at a science center or something of that nature. There were many levels and each he enjoyable. 

Vinny Pours His Own Guinness

The tour was capped by us going to the learning center and learning how to pour a perfect Guinness. Vinny was one of the volunteers so he was the first in our group to do it and he did great. It is funny how much art goes into the process. We then had a great lunch on the 6th floor overlooking the city before going up to the 7th floor which is a round room/bar overlooking the entire city. It was a great time and we really enjoyed it. 

Then we took the bus back to our place where we changed and got ready for dinner. Vinny had arranged for us to hang out with his buddy and former roommate who had moved to Dublin. He met us and took us on a pub crawl all over the city to some of the best spots. It was a great night and a fun way to cap our time in Dublin. 

See the pictures from our day below.

2013 Trip - Day 6 - Dublin 2