Beautiful Northern Ireland!

  Everyone in my family has a bit of wanderlust in them, but my brother, Nate, is the absolute king of travel and he makes the rest of us look like homebodies by comparison!   He had a goal to make it to 100 countries by the time he turned 50, which he accomplished and now he is going back to visit his favorite places and occasionally adding new destinations when it fits into his plans. So when he found out that we were visiting Northern Ireland on our trip (a place he'd never been), he spontaneously  added it onto his itinerary for a trip he was taking at the same time.   Where were the other destinations on his  trip to?   Cape Verde and the Azores in Portugal...you know right on the way to Northern Ireland!   Haha!  

Our overlap with Nate was about a day-and-a-half, so we reserved a spot for him to come along  with us on our day-long tour, which included  stops at Carrickfergus Castle, some Game of Thrones filming sites, and Giant's Causeway. 

You all probably didn't know this about me, but I am a bit of a geology nerd.  I took several geology classes in college and I LOVE visiting places in the world with unique geologic features.   Basically that means that Giant's Causeway was on the very top of my list of all the things to do in Northern Ireland and it did not disappoint.   I was nervous as we approached as it did not look like much from a distance, but up close it was as AMAZING as I had expected!    

Can you believe this place is real?!    😁

I was seriously enamored with this view and in awe at a great God who set into motion the natural processes that created such a masterpiece...

 I think I took more pictures here than at any other single location on this trip...

In case you're wondering how these striking hexagonal basalt columns just naturally formed on the Northern Irish coast, here is an excerpt from the UNESCO Heritage page about Giant's Causeway that can explain it way better than I ever could: 

"The Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast is a spectacular area of global geological importance on the sea coast at the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. The most characteristic and unique feature of the site is the exposure of some 40,000 large, regularly shaped polygonal columns of basalt in perfect horizontal sections, forming a pavement. This dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. Celebrated in the arts and in science, it has been a visitor attraction for at least 300 years and has come to be regarded as a symbol for Northern Ireland.

The property’s accessible array of curious geological exposures and polygonal columnar formations formed around 60 million years ago make it a ‘classic locality’ for the study of basaltic volcanism. The features of the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast site and in particular the strata exposed in the cliff faces, have been key to shaping the understanding of the sequences of activity in the Earth’s geological history."

I could have stayed all day, but eventually the tour moved on and we explored  a couple other interesting spots before heading back to Belfast! 

The next day we bid adieu to Nate, who was heading back to Dublin for his flight home and we explored Belfast.  We logged A LOT of steps that day and enjoyed seeing everything we could possibly squeeze in.  

We particularly enjoyed the Titanic Museum {shown below} and were fascinated to learn about the construction of the Titanic, which took place on the museum's site right there on the port in Belfast.   

We thought this street was super cute and we loved the quote arched across the way, "There's only seven types of rain in Belfast:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday..."   Thankfully it only rained a little while we were there! 

Northern Ireland ended up being one of our favorite spots on the trip, so I will finish up with a few random facts about Northern Ireland that we learned while we were there:

1. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, while Ireland is not.   They use the same currency and same postage as most of the UK (including England, Scotland, and Wales...but not including Ireland).  

2. Though Northern Ireland has its own culture, it does not have its own flag. 

3.  As mentioned above, the Titanic was constructed and launched from Belfast, though it did not pick up any passengers until reaching England/France. 

4. There is still a lot of conflict between Protestants and Roman Catholics.  

5. Game of Thrones was filmed on location in Northern Ireland for almost a decade.  The Northern Irish are very proud of this connection and it ended up being a great boost to their economy.  We've never seen the show before, but didn't have a hard time imagining why it was chosen as the backdrop for a show. 

We stopped by several Game of Thrones filming sites--including Dark Hedges (shown below)--on our Giant's Causeway tour.  

And that's it for Northern Ireland!   Thanks for following along with our adventures...stay tuned for 2 more segments to come!  

A {Semi} Spontaneous Trek to California

At some point during the summer, my sister, Kristina, got a bee in her bonnet about us coming to visit them in California.  And by "us," I mean she really wanted Cami and the kiddos to come visit them and was willing to tolerate Ellie and I coming along as well.  😆

As luck would have it, Cami was equally as excited about the possibility AND was able to easily change her flight home without penalty.   I worked on getting us some cheap tickets and thus our trip to California became a reality.   I think Cam and kids enjoyed the change of scenery about as much as K's family enjoyed doting on Lucie and Oliver.    

Oliver loved having all the floor space to scoot around and both kiddos enjoyed the attentions of  Madeline, Kristina, and the King Boys, especially Jesus and Manuel, who loved to snuggle them and try to make them laugh.  It was quite sweet to see their soft sides shining through.  

We arrived during one of the hottest weather spells they'd had in a year, with temps around 100* the whole time we were there.   The searing heat meant it was a little too toasty for hiking and such, but it was perfect for visiting Newport Beach--especially since the temps were a good 15-20* cooler at the beach too.  Here are some pics from our day at the beach. 

My nephew, Jesus, skipped school and came along with us too, a fact which made Lucie quite happy.  They played well together and I think they kept each other entertained far longer than either would have been on their own. 

It had been quite a while (maybe Hawaii in 2022) since I'd spent any time at the beach and it was a delightful day. 

I also enjoyed recreating this picture with Oliver...

Another day we headed to Balboa Island, where it was also 15ish degrees cooler.  We found some good food and enjoyed walking around together.

We also went on a whale watching cruise where we saw zero whales, but lots of baby dolphins and sea lions.   It was a bit disappointing not to see any whales, but it was still a delightful trip. 

We were only there a few steamy days, but we made a lot of fun memories together and Lucie keeps asking to go back to California, so we are calling it a success!  

Within 24-hours of  returning from California, we put Cami, Ellie, Lucie, and Oliver back on a plane and sent them back home to Birmingham, where Ellie has been nannying for them for the last month.  Our house is way too quiet and lonely without them here, but I am forever grateful for the fun memories we made while we were all together!  💗


 

Hawaii--Part 9--Helicoptering Adventure, a Blowhole, and More Good Food

Alright, alright, this was our last full day in Hawaii and it was a good one (mostly planned by Glen)!   Here's the recap:  

TUESDAY MAY 31

• First things first, we woke up and took a long overdue  50th state photo before everyone started scattering. Yes, don't mind the tired faces....we spent the last week playing hard and we were all exhausted. 😑
  
  
  
  
•  The next thing on our agenda was a quick trip back to the Lihue airport to drop off Adam for his trek home.  His FSY counselor training was originally supposed to have been a week earlier (meaning he would have had to miss our time in Oahu completely), but thankfully they opened up an alternate training week, which meant he only had to go home a day early.  I may have single-handedly prayed that alternate training week into existence. 
  
  
• After the airport run, everyone, except Lucie and I, headed out for a HELICOPTER RIDE along the Napali Coast!  Glen planned this activity and they were all beyond EXCITED!    They had an absolutely amazing time!  

• ... the views were pretty spectacular.  

• While the rest of the family was off on their grand helicopter adventure, Lucie and I hung out at the hotel.   We walked around the resort and along the beach, enjoyed lots of snuggles, had a little nap, and had the cutest giggle fest ever!  

After coming off the high of the helicopter ride, we did our last Hawaiian taste test of some It's-It ice cream sandwiches.  They were a favorite of Aunt Mika's growing up in California and we highly approved...though to be totally transparent...they were glutenous, so I didn't actually eat any...though I feel confident that I definitely would have enjoyed them too!  haha! 

•   After the taste test (our final in Hawaii),  the kids headed to the beach/pool, ate a picnic, and  Glen and I  went on walk and out for lunch to The Plantation House by Gaylord.  This lovely meal was a gift to us from the kiddos and we very much enjoyed the delicious food and time to be alone for a while!  

• Chill time at hotel (this is the view from our balcony...so even staring out the window is relaxing).  😍

• After researching one more thing to do in Kauai, we decided on Spouting Horn Beach Park...a crazy place where the incoming waves interact with some lava tubes and water spouts up like a geyser!   It was a beautiful drive to get there...
  
  
  
   and a unique place to see that "one more Hawaiian thing".  

• I'm not sure if I've mentioned all the wild chickens in previous posts, but we were struck by the wild chickens EVERYWHERE in Hawaii...but especially in Kauai.  Local lore has it that a big hurricane in the 1990's destroyed many commercial chicken coops, setting the chickens loose into the wild.  They've spent the last couple decades doing what chickens do and there are cute little chicken families wandering all over the place--in the cities, in parking lots, on the beaches, wandering under your table at restaurants with outdoor seating,  etc.   I understand that they're quite a nuisance to locals, but we found them quite endearing and wondered if there were little nests full of free eggs for people willing to look.  Probably not, since they're likely fertilized eggs ready to grow into baby chickens, but it still made for good suppositions.  haha. 

• Here's one more shot of Spouting Horn with a lovely rainbow in the spray of the blowhole!  

• After enjoying the blowhole for a while, we headed to our final Hawaiian dinner at Kalapaki Joes!  They served good burgers and the  fries may be the “best ever” ( according to a couple kids).   

• Though we weren't really hungry, we decided to get some ice cream at Skinny Mike’s—an ice cream shop right across the street from our hotel!  The sundaes were amazing and we left satisfied that we'd eaten our fill of Hawaiian goodness!  

• Thus ends our final full day in Hawaii.  Stay tuned for one more post, before venturing on to real life, which has been far more eventful than usual of late. 

Hawaii: Part 8--Kauai, Waimea Canyon, etc

When we started planning this trip, we knew we wanted to spend the bulk of our time on Oahu to see  the iconic Hawaiian sites our family had never seen before, but we also knew that we really wanted to see another island at least briefly as well.  We did a lot of research and debated about which island that would be and ultimately we opted for Kauai. We only gave ourselves a couple days here, but here is the recap of the arriving there....

Monday, May 30

• We packed up our stuff, said goodbye to the lovely home we were renting, and headed to the Honolulu airport.  We had heard stories about the inefficiency of the Honolulu Airport, so we got there nice and early...which turned out to be a good thing, since the lines were crazy long!  

• Eventually we made it through the craziness and boarded the short flight to Kauai.  We sat next to a very nice local on the plane, who gave us the rundown of the best places to visit/hike.  
  
  
• WE arrived several hours too early to check-in to the hotel, so we decided to start off with a drive to Waimea Valley.   
  
  
• We got hungry...perhaps even a little hangry....along the way and stopped for lunch in the town of Waimea.   Kauai is much more rural than Oahu, so we didn't have great cell coverage there, so we just stopped at the first place that looked good...which was a place called Island Taco.  It was surprisingly delicious  and I definitely recommend it if you ever find yourself hungry and wandering around Kauai!    

• After lunch we decided to try a shaved ice place called Coconut Corner, which was right across the street from Island Taco.   Although we just happened across this place without reading any reviews, we once again were very impressed.  Waimea for the high quality restaurant wins!    

• After refueling with the good food, we continued on our journey to Waimea Canyon.  Waimea Canyon was described to us as "The Grand Canyon of  the Pacific" and we were excited to see it in real life.  It's 14-miles long, 1 mile wide,  3600 feet deep, and the nickname is well-earned!       As we drove from sea level to the overlooks, we started  to get a glimpse of the Valley!   The "official" overlooks have bathrooms, ample parking, and great views, but they also charge a per car AND per person fee.   Luckily it's a one-time fee that gets you entrance to all the overlooks along the drive, so we did we were happy to pay it.  

I don't remember which pictures came from which overlooks, but here's an overload of a whole bunch of photos....

• After thoroughly enjoying the drive and overlooks and unsuccessfully attempting a hike, we headed back to Lihue, where we could finally check into our hotel.   Apparently we were staying in someone's unused timeshare, so the check-in process was obnoxiously long (almost an hour long).  The Marriott resort was lovely though and, other the the inconvenience of not being together, we enjoyed our stay here.  While we got checked-in, the other cohort got us some pizza from Scorpacciata Neapolitan Pizza, we checked out the pool and beach access, and thus began our grand Kauaian adventures....