A little pain for great gain!

Hello Ireland!
Our first major experience flying with a toddler went WAY better than expected. I don't know if it's because we were so excited or just feeling positive about the trip, but we were both very impressed in how well Izzy did. (So this definitely wont be our last trip! Yay!!!)

We managed to have 2 flights without any meltdowns, loss of minds or any major conflicts. We overcame the annoying delays and the stress of exhaustion and just took care of Izzy. It wasn't all that bad - She was super excited to get on the airplane and the look on her face when we took off was priceless. Her eyes got as big as her head and she was grinning form ear to ear. We had all those new toys to keep her occupied and plenty of snacks but she spent her time wanting to talk to everyone. For our 8 hour overnight flight from NY to Ireland, Izzy slept a majority of the time, from before take off until right before arrival. It was tough to have her sleep across our legs, as she is getting to be such a big girl, so we were kinda glad when she woke up, especially since she woke up in a good mood.

It was so awesome to walk out of the airport, feeling the cool breeze and seeing our dear friends, Craig & Merschon. There were hugs all around and then off we went!

It was 8:30am and we set out to stay awake for another 12 hours or so (after being up for 19 hrs already). We spent most of the day in disbelief that we were all hanging out together. They did great in keeping us awake for the entire day - started us off with a hike to the park near their house, stopped to feed ducks, toured a rose garden, a playground stop and trip to the farmers market. We were pretty tired after staying up the majority of 2 days but we all did and managed to adjust our sleep schedules over in no time. Izzy did awesome with almost no signs of jet lag! I guess she might grow up to work night shift like her Mama someday.

The views in ordinary places were impressive!
We also enjoyed lots of fun trees!
We had lots to catch up on!
Izzy had lots of smiles at the Rose Gardens
Park near their place was incredible!
with Merschon at the bakers' at the Farmers Market!

Needless to say, we had NO trouble sleeping in the next morning! I loved having our friends to stay with - best hotel ever! They had everything we needed and seemed to have thought of everything to make our stay enjoyable!
Izzy and Robert especially enjoyed the bread C&M got at the Farmers' Market!
We got up and going around 10 and went to Ardgillan castle before church.
If you know these guys, then you know how blessed we were to get to hang out with them for the week!
I especially loved how the background to this castle was the Irish Sea - it was a gorgeous place.
Izzy enjoyed running all around the open spaces
And next to this castle was another of the amazing Irish parks we played at!

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