Noah is our climber.... he just started climbing up the door frame recently... he make it look easy, but I tried it myself and it was definitely not.
A full day in Dublin!
We met up with the Facchini family again in the morning and went to the Dublin Zoo. Their son Rocco was also turning 4 so we celebrated his birthday with lunch & cake inside the Zoo.
Since we were in Dublin, I couldn't leave without going to the Guinness factory, so that was our outing for the afternoon after returning from the Zoo.... kids included! Your ticket includes a free pour from the bar, but only on the adult tickets:) The kids got soft drinks.
In the evening I booked a babysitter in advance for a Saturday night out. The Facchini's (Christine and Pete) were also with us for the evening. We went to the oldest pub in Ireland - The Brazen Head (dating back to 1198!) for a dinner event that included traditional Irish food, Irish storytelling and music. Kelly and I are now an expert in such topics as Irish Fary's! After dinner we walked back to the Temple Bar district and listened to live music and drank beer in an Irish Pub until it was time to relieve the babysitter at Midnight.
A great day in Dublin Ireland!
After Oxwich, the weather started to clear late morning and with the low tide hitting about mid afternoon, I wanted to take the boys to beautiful village of Rhossoli and see if we could hike across to Worms Head. Worms head is a tiny spine of rock that hangs off the Western tip of the Gower, and you can only cross over to it at low tide when a rocky land-bridge is exposed. Historically 'Wurm' is another word for dragon and the rocky outcrop is called this due to its resemblance to a sea serpent.
Worms Head off in the distance and waiting for the tide to recede before making the crossing
The crossing and pictures taken from the Island
Looking at the seals far below. Third shot you get a good view looking back to the mainland with the land bridge exposed
Shots of Rhossoli bay - considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK
On Sunday after packing up our campsite, the plan was to head further west on the peninsula and do some exploring. A few miles from the campsite we decided to take a detour to check out Oxwich Castle. Not much different than other castle ruins we have been too, but the boys love to climb around (as long as no-one is looking:) Bit disappointed that they charged £3 per person to get in to this one...
This past weekend I took Hunter and Noah camping on the Gower Peninsula of South Wales. The Gower is a beautiful are with amazing beaches. People come from all over to stay there. The site I booked was a place I tried to get to last year but was full. It is called Three Cliffs Bay Campground. In 2006 the Independent ranked it the best campsite view in the world. Its definitely must be up there for sure.
View from the Campsite and our setup
Hiking and playing at the beach and nearby Pennard Castle
Beach Day and climbing up to the highest of the 3 cliffs
This weekend, we wanted to get out and enjoy the summer sun. It was a little cool for the beach so I packed a picnic lunch and we headed over to another one of the castles in our home area - Coity Castle near the village of Bridgend. We first ran across Coity Castle last year when we were going to a baptism at the church next to it, and took a mental note to visit it again when the kids were in proper play clothes.
More pictures of climbing on the walls
View out through one of the broken castle windows towards the church with the surrounding countryside
Abbie was asked to tell her playgroup today all about what the 4th of July is and how we celebrate it in America. She was very excited! We will be celebrating tomorrow with a BBQ/party at some American and British friends. Kelly decorated the cake pictured below for the party!
