Happy 40th Bjorn!

To celebrate Bjorn's 40th birthday, we traveled with our good friends Emily and Steve, across the "pond" to beautiful Ireland. Thanks to the generosity of my fabulous mother, who stayed with my three kids, we enjoyed 6 wonderful nights in a fantastic country. We got a fabulous deal on a total package that made this trip possible. Thank You Adare Manor! We loved your fabulous grounds and the home away from home that you provided us with. Here are a few pictures of the beauty of this country.

(Our first stop was Dingle. It's one of the last few places in Ireland that still speaks and teaches Gaelic in school. They have some signs in Gaelic too, but since it's a large tourist spot many have english translation under it. This area once had a population of about 40,000, but because of the potato famine they now have only about 10,000. It's a very sleepy little sheep village. We really enjoyed our time there. )

This is a common sight along the coast of Ireland. There are some cliffs that are even taller than these.

The "rock of Cashel", a beautiful spot that was taken by many over hundreds of years.

Is this road one lane or two?! Silly me, it's two! And don't forget that we drive on the left, from the right side of the car, and shifting with the left hand. Good job Steve!

The beautiful Manor that played host to us. It's a fabulous 800+ acre estate. We didn't stay in the manor itself, we had an entire villa to ourselves. We did tour the Manor and we also had a fantastic three course dinner in the main dining hall complete with candle light!

These are the Villas. They are a 2,000 Sq. Foot home with 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, kitchen, dining, living and sunroom. We all loved it.

This ruin is on the property. It sits on the Maigue River, a world class trout and Salmon river. We even saw two fly fishermen one morning.