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On our last night together we took a picture of all our kids. They became friends so quickly and really enjoyed each other’s company.

Morgan enjoyed their guinea pig named Donut.

One last ambulance.

Walking to board our plane.

Hanging out on the plane. Joel generally sat with me and Morgan and Leah sat in front of us.

Though we were back in Canada, Joel still found some more interesting vehicles. We arrived at my mom’s house just in time to get dressed up for my brother’s wedding. We weren’t there long before this limo arrived.

Morgan and I.

My Uncle was happy to show Joel his nice wheels.

We drove up to Northern Ireland to see the Giant’s Causeway. First stop was a local convenience store to pick up some Timmy’s coffee.

Then it was off to the ocean to see some amazing rocks.

There are tens of thousands of naturally formed, interlocking rocks, mostly hexagonal.

We all enjoyed walking and climbing on the rocks.

It’s hard to believe that these are naturally occurring. They are only in Northern Ireland and across the water in Scotland.

These were very large columns of the rocks.

Then we drove nearby to a rope bridge.

The ocean was so clear and such a magnificent colour.

It was an amazing last day to spend with our friends and see such amazing sights.

We had a lovely, quiet, rest day. We spent the day just hanging around and joined in my friend’s normal rhythms of life. These two sure hit it off.

Joel ‘fed’ their cat Smokey a piece of ham. I love how kids are so excited about the simple.

We went for a short ride over to visit my friend’s mother in law. The Irish are so friendly and kind. We sat on her couch and she told us all sorts of stories about her history and the history of her house. Her husband lived his entire life in her current house and it has been passed down throughout the years. She lit her old stove with newspaper and some twigs and threw in some coal to keep it going. She used to cook in it and still hangs her laundry above it to dry. It felt like we went back in time. It was nice to relax before one more grand adventurous day.

A cool ‘boat’ right next to our bus stop.

We took the bus out to Phoenix Park which is an expansive park in the city. They had a neat visitor centre highlighting the features of the park as well as its past. It was great to visit when it started to downpour. Thankfully the rain passed quickly. There was a garden with a large wall around it to keep the deer out. There were many vegetables growing alongside beautiful flowers.

There were lots of lovely, large bumblebees.

We spent some time at the playground before going off in search of the deer.

We found the papal cross. Morgan is standing at the bottom. Pope John Paul II held mass here for 1.25 million people.

We also found this vehicle.

After some more walking we found the deer.

The park was commissioned by a Duke for royal hunting grounds.

So a large wall was built around the entire park and pheasants and deer were placed within the walls for the royals to hunt. The deer from that herd hundreds of years ago still reside there.

Then it was off to my friend’s house where we ate a lovely dinner and spent the rest of our evening outside. Their neighbour was wrapping hay bales in the field so we had to check it out. (It’s hard to see unless you enlarge the picture.)

They have a metal fence in their front yard to keep the sheep out.

We roasted marshmallows by the fire.

It was great to be back at my friend’s place and share all about our journey and see familiar faces again.

We spent a couple of days in Dublin on our own. We decided to check out Dublinia, a hands-on, Viking museum. We had learned a lot about Egyptian, Greek and Roman history throughout our travels and now we were ready to learn about the Vikings.The castles and churches in Dublin had a lot more of a block feel to them.

This museum was a breath of fresh air after visiting so many other museums and churches where touching most objects was strictly forbidden. There were so many opportunities for hands-on learning and interacting.

Joel cooking in his viking house.

We learned the good, bad and the ugly. (Fun fact – they used moss as toilet paper)

Watch out for these not so mighty, happy warriors. We got to hold their weapons and learn all about viking raids. Joel was so intrigued about all the different kinds of swords along with an axe.

Inside the museum.

The buildings in Europe are unique to each country and so neat to see.

We had so many picnics in so many beautiful places with amazing scenery, including this lawn.

The diversity among the buildings that are built right next to each other makes for a great view.

After learning all about the Vikings, we went off to visit Morgan’s work in Dublin.

Every city we visited had a major river running through it except for Amsterdam which had canals everywhere.

Morgan in front of Temple Bar, a super old bar.