More of Ireland

After seeing the coast, we headed inland to Killalohe. That night we walked through the cute little village and ate traditional Irish cuisine. The next morning we went hiking around the huge lake there. I know that I have mentioned like five or six times how green Ireland was but I was so amazed by it. I almost felt like I was back in a rain forest.

The lake had all of these private docks that jetted out. There was many people fishing off of them but I would rather just take pictures.

I could have stayed here all day. It was so peaceful.

Another shot of the lake.

One more picture of us before we headed off to our next stop.

So where did we leave off....

We got up the next morning and took a train straight across Ireland to the other side. We rented a car over there and started our driving adventure across Ireland. Our first stop was the coast. Shocking I know coming from me. Anyway, we started out at the Cliffs of Moher. I love the picture above. It was breath taking.

Jarod at the castle ruins that overlooked the cliffs. How would you like that view from your window?

Another shot of the cliffs.

I don't remember what he thought was so funny but I am sure he was up to no good.

This is one of our only shots from our trip that we did not have to do the arm shot with. I think it is a great shot with the cliffs in the background.

Here is another belly shot for all of you. The Jostes family in Ireland. Jarod got splashed with a wave so don't pay attention to wet shorts. I thought it was hysterical.

The cliffs are behind us. What is really cool is this is the area that my ancestors are from. Now I see where I get my love of the sea. The Flaherty's were royalty and owned much of the land in the area that we are standing.

Who knows maybe one of my ancestors stood in this exact spot many, many years ago.

Another beach in Ireland. I love how green everything is even the rocks at the beach! The one thing that I wanted to see in Ireland was the Irish coast and I am so glad that I did. It was one of the highlights for me. We drove along the coast for many miles and it was so pretty to see the green rolling hills run into the ocean with the Irish mist rising. It was exactly how I pictured it!

Flash Back to High School

I have been meaning to post this but keep forgetting.
A few days before we left for Europe, we went to a street fair on our street. Connor was here visiting and we met up with many of our other friends. Anyway, we went to this concert and during the concert I looked over and was surprised to see Matt Dickson! Yep, he lives here in Chicago not far from where I live. How crazy is that! He looks exactly the same time and was just as surprised to see us as we were to see him. I couldn't believe that I saw a guy from high school in Idaho who I hadn't seen since in Chicago. Too funny! He is doing good and looked exactly the same.

Trip will continue...

Hi Everyone,
I promise I will post the rest of our trip pictures soon. We have been a little busy and I have not had a chance. You know how it is when you get back from vacation with work and everything else. We also had one of Jarod's buddies and his girlfriend from Texas come to stay with us last week. We had a great time and they even get engaged while they were here. It was fun to be a part of it.
Tomorrow Jeff is coming to stay with us. We are so excited to have him!! We have lots of fun things planned so I am sure I will have pictures of that as well.
The baby and I are doing great! I have finally started to feel better. I am 20 weeks this week. I can't believe it! How time flies. We have our big ultrasound next Monday and I am excited to see the baby again and make sure everything looks ok. I am already a nervous mom. We are still not going to find out unless we see something completely obvious in the ultrasound though.
That's it for now.

My Baby a Boxer??

Sorry everyone had to break up our trip pictures to tell you a funny story. So today I was on the phone with my mom and Michael and Boden were at her house. Michael came out with the ultrasound picture of my baby that is in a frame at my mom's. She asked him what it was. He said "a picture." She asked him of who and he said "Sarge." Sarge is my brother Derek's HUGE boxer. It was so funny! I heard the whole thing over the phone. I can't wait to tell my baby that his cousin thinks that it looks like a dog.

Dublin, Ireland

Jarod and I were so excited to go to Ireland. We both have a lot of Irish in us so we were excited to see where our ancestors came from. We took a ferry from Wales to Dublin across the Irish Sea. The boat was amazing! It was like you were on a cruise ship that your trip only lasted two hours. We wanted to see as much of Dublin as possible in the few days we were there so we got the double decker bus passes that gives the tour of the city. It was really neat and we learned so much about Dublin and Ireland. The first stop on our tour was Trinity College. This is a picture of one of the buildings. I love how old everything is there.

We love the big parks in the big cities so we had to check out Dublin's.

This is the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral. So here goes one of my history lessons. In the old churches they usually have crypts under or near the churches. This church is built on an underground river so they could not have a basement. So since they could not have a crypt anyone who died is actually buried in the walls and floor of this church. There is over 500 people buried there. Isn't that crazy!!

You gotta love the one armed shot.

Jarod and I went and toured the old jail. This played a huge part in Irish history. They had photographs and information about the people that had spent time in here and Jarod and I were just relieved that we didn't come across any of our ancestors. We were definitely looking at least for Jarod's side of the family :)

One of the many hallways. During the potato famine, people used to get caught doing a crime on purpose to go to jail. They knew they would at least get two meals a day. They took a big chance though because the jail was so overcrowded that sometimes there punishment was to be shipped away to Australia or America without allowing them to say good bye to their families and knowing that they would never see them again. I can't imagine being so desperate. I didn't know it when I was there but that is when my ancestors left Ireland for America but we think it was by choice not a jail sentence.

Many people were jailed here for fighting for Ireland's freedom from Britain. I had no idea how much they went through in order to gain independence.

Jarod thought that if he was in a cell these might be two of the positions he would stay in. I think the second one is the best.

London and Wales- Day 3 and 4

We got up the next morning and went and saw more sights in London. I don't think Jarod could see much through his looking glass though.

Since the English and Irish are the only crazy people that drive on the wrong side of the road, they have these great signs on every corner telling you which way to look for oncoming traffic. Boy did they come in handy!!

Jarod and Big Ben. The bells were ringing when we took this shot.

Westminster Abbey
Some random piece of modern art surrounded by all the 0ld stuff in London. It really looked out of place but Jarod looks like he is 4 in this picture and it makes me laugh.
Later that day, we took a train to Llandudno, Wales. Ll in Welsh sounds like an F, which makes perfect sense to me. Anyway, this was such a cute coastal town. We came and stayed at this fancy resort behind Jarod in this picture. It was a beautiful hotel and location but it seemed to be the Florida of Wales. I think the average age was 78. Not even joking.
Ah, the anniversary shot. For our anniversary we went out for a fancy meal and took a stroll along the coast. I cannot believe that it has been five years! It has been the best five years of my life and I owe it all to my wonderful husband who takes such good care of me and keeps me laughing every step of the way.
The next morning we had to go and enjoy the coast a little longer. I love the ocean!! Every time we see a new body of water we get a shot of me usually in the water but it was too cold this morning so I just stuck a finger in it. Now I can say I was in the Irish Sea, even if it was only one of my fingers.
These beaches were a little different than San Diego. I don't think it would be very comfortable to lay out and get a tan but it made for some great fun skipping rocks.
Me trying to find a good selection of rocks for this next shot...
The rocks were the brightest colors. They don't show up near as well in this picture but they were purple, green, orange, etc. I still prefer the white sandy beaches though.
Jarod wanted to know where this car was a few days earlier when we were trying to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road.
We thought this sign was so funny. It doesn't take much to amuse us if you haven't figured it out yet. Anyway, every where we went in England, Wales and Ireland they said they were 'probably the best' instead of saying that they were the best. They are not nearly as confident as Americans.

I loved Wales and wish we could have spent more time there. It was beautiful and you felt like you had stepped back in time.

Day 2 in England

On our second day in England, we took a train to Oxford to see the University and then we rented a car. I had no idea what good entertainment this would be. First of all, you drive on the opposite side of the street as well as sit on the wrong side of the car but the best part was they were out of automatic cars so it was a stick as well!! That combination was the best!! Oh did I mention that it rained on and off all day? Or how about the fact that the British do not believe in street signs?

I had to take a turn just to say I drove in England. I drove about 4 miles on the highway and that was enough for me.

When we picked up the car we asked them how to get to Cotswald area from Oxford. The guy told us in a really strong accent and I looked at him with this really dumb blank stare on my face that I get every time when I have no idea what they are saying but I looked at Jarod and he was nodding his head like he understood. We go to get in the car and I asked Jarod if he knew where he was going and he said he thought he did. Well he didn't have a clue. He understood as much as I did out of the conversation. We ended up going the wrong way down a one way street that was a dead end. Let me tell you how fun it was to reverse a stick shift on the wrong side of the street out of an alley with a bunch of English people looking at you like dumb Americans. I thought it was so funny! Jarod at the time did not think it was very funny. We survived with minimal damage to the car.

We finally found our way to our first destination which was the castle that Winston Churchill was born in. This place was amazing! They started building it in 1100 and relatives of Winston's lived in it until the 1940's. We took a tour of the inside as well and it had all the original furniture. It was beautiful!

This is a very small portion of the English Gardens at the Churchill Palace. I loved seeing all of the English gardens all over England. They were so pretty!

Jarod's favorite part was the back yard. Who wouldn't want this as their back yard? He kept telling me how fun it would be to play football so he finally posed for a picture. Too funny!

Jarod crossing the bridge to the castle. It was situated on a private lake that they were actually having a wake boarding competition on that day. It was fun to watch but the best part was the announcer. He sounded just like the Ali G show for anyone that has ever seen that before. We could not stop laughing. Just think of an Englishman with a strong accent trying to rap and sound hip. It just doesn't work that well. Yo, yo, yo!!

Look how huge this place is! Wow!

King of the Castle! Or so he thinks. This was the Broadway Castle that a family actually lived in until just a few years ago. Now it is being taken over by sheep and deer. Every time I look at this picture it makes me laugh.

Sitting on the top of the world.

You can see Baby in this picture! Yep, I have definitely started showing. View of the valley down below.

A typical street in the English country side.

If you ever have go to England, this is one of the must take pictures. All the stereotypes are true.
The beautiful view of the Cotswald that we drove through that day. After our sightseeing we took the car back, had a great dinner in Oxford and took the train back to London.

The Other Side of the Pond- London

Two and a half years ago, Jarod and I went to Europe and explored France, Germany, Czech, Italy and Austira. It was an amazing trip and we didn't want to leave. Our last night in Europe we were in Paris under the Eiffel Tower as it was all lit up and told each other that we would come back to Europe for our 5th Anniversary so that is exactly what we did.

We took a red eye out of Chicago and got to London very early in the morning. We spent the first day taking in the sites of London and trying to adjust to the time change. This is Jarod in front of one of the many churches we went to on our trip.

As we were walking along the streets of London, we heard music playing and I jokingly told Jarod that the British were throwing a parade because we were in town. Sure enough the British were having a parade even if it wasn't for us. We were right in the middle of the changing of the guard that takes place at the castle every day. What timing we have. It was really cool but so over the top. I guess that is what you get when you are royalty.

We watching the parade with the Quenn's house in the background. Who wouldn't want to live here? Hundreds of people were all lined up and down the street. We think that the Queen was out front as well. We tried to get a zoomed in picture to see if it was her but all we could see was an older lady in a funny hat so it really could have been her!

Just when we thought it was over another group with different outfits would march up a different street. It was very impressive. I told Jarod that I would buy him one of these hats but than I decided against it because everyone knows my husband would actually wear it!

We have so many pictures from Europe that I am going to have to do several posts of our trip. I must warn you though that I love the history in Europe so I am sure I will include a lot of it.