Ireland Part I: Cliffs of Moher

Here weeee go! Part I of how-many-posts-it-takes to cover our Ireland trip! 

When Joe and I saw that Penn State was playing an away game in Ireland in 2014, we took it as our sign to embark on our first international trip with a kid. It seemed especially do-able since I have a large extended family in Ireland that we could stay with, and my parents would probably be up for joining us. 

We booked our tickets in Feb 2014, and got Nolan his passport this spring (getting a toddler to look perfectly forward in perfect lighting for the photo is no joke!) We headed out the week before labor day and stayed in Ireland for 1 week.

I was particularly nervous for the flights to and from since this would be, by far, the longest Nolan has had to sit still for traveling (6hrs to, 7hrs from). The flight there was overnight, which could be great if he slept the whole time, or horrible if he was noisy while others were trying to sleep. We purchased his own seat, installed his carseat so he'd be comfy, I packed a gigantic tote bag full of every trick in the book (new toys, stickers, puzzles, coloring, play doh, iPad, books, etc) and hoped all would go well. The flight there was mostly good. Unfortunately, Joe wasn't able to sit in the same row as Nolan and I (the man next to me was elderly and required an aisle seat so wouldn't switch), but Nolan slept for a good 4hrs... albeit only on top of me in the middle seat sandwiched between his carseat and a stranger. So not the comfiest 4hrs for me, but I happily took it to have a sleeping toddler. The man next to us was friendly towards the end of the flight and even gave Nolan a 2 dollar bill for good luck (he said he gives one to all his grandkids). I was pretty amazed that our flight was completely packed with Penn State fans - we weren't even flying into Dublin, where the game would be! The flight attendant played along and there were several "We Are... Penn State" chants at the beginning and end of the flight. Our alumni are awesome!

Upon arrival and a lengthy negotiation for our rental car, we walked over to our hotel, rested for a bit, and had dinner. The next day we met quickly with the first (of many) cousins, Regina and her husband, and continued on to the cliffs of Moher on our way to County Galway and my family's farm.

Meeting Cousin Regina at our Shannon Hotel

The cliffs of Moher were absolutely stunning. I had been there once in 2003 when I went to Ireland as a post-graduation present from College with my sister, mom, and aunts. This was Joe's first trip to Ireland and my dad hadn't been back since my mom was pregnant with me in 1980. It's pretty cool to be repeating my mom's footsteps 34 years later with a trip to Ireland being pregnant with a baby due in February. :)

Walking to the cliffs from the parking area

Beautiful!

Our family. Nolan fit in great with all of the other Penn State fans touring the same day!

With the parents - windy and squinty!

Irish coastal countryside

Nolan hates posing for the camera!

He loved being able to roam free though!

We have a similar picture from Ireland in 2003!

Nolan's favorite place to be! On pop pop's shoulders!

Mom and Dad watched Nolan run around a bit while Joe and I did more hiking/exploring further up the cliffs

This photo is not edited (actually none are because it takes too long!) - it really is that green!

Living on the edge

I'm so glad we took the time to detour over to the cliffs of Moher! It was one of the only "touristy" things we did the entire trip since so much time was spent with family, but it really gave us an appreciation for how beautiful Ireland is. Lots more to come - we took a lot of photos over the week!