Ireland Trip- Blarney and Maranatha Country Manor

 We were supposed to have  many hours at Blarney castle, but after the very slow start to the morning with my sickness and the protest, we ended up getting there just an hour before it was closing. It ended up being one of our favorite stops (my personal favorite!), so I wish we had had more time there, but the time we did have there was magical!

The walk up to the castle was lined with flowering trees:

And then it's almost like the castle appears out of the flowers, towering on a hill:

Ryan and the kids went in the castle, which had very small passageways:

And an even smaller and steeper stairwell to get to the Blarney Stone, which had to have a rope to hold on to so you can get up them:

Blarney Castle had a beautiful view from the top:

Ryan, Hyrum, Cora, and Zane all kissed the Blarney Stone! It ended up being a blessing that we got there so late, because there was no line at all and apparently sometimes the line can get up to 90 minutes or more!

You have to get into a kind of weird place in order to kiss it, but thankfully there are bars and a worker to help you:

This was from the bottom of the tower where you kiss the Blarney Stone-it was very high up!

The kids thought the idea of a "Murder Hole" in the castle was crazy, especially knowing it could have had feces thrown down it:

Then Ryan and the kids went to the Poison Garden, where they found some real interesting (and poisonous) plants:

The grounds had so many interesting things to see, we wish we could have had longer. I walked a little on my own (I wasn't feeling well enough to climb stairs) and saw this fairy ring and cute little waterfall:

Then we headed to our rooms for the night, which were in a B&B that had previously been a Country Manor for a knight! It was beautiful, and the kids LOVED it. It almost felt like staying in a more cozy castle:

Ryan and the kids headed into Blarney to get some dinner, and ended up getting burgers and chicken tenders. Burgers were big in Ireland, I assume because of their famous cows and endless grazing areas.

They also went to a local grocery store, where they found some interesting snack and treats, like these Prawn Cocktail Pringles:

That evening at the B&B, Zane was able to watch a live Liverpool match, and he was ecstatic! They're usually played in the middle of the night at home.

The next morning I was feeling a lot better, and we got to start off the morning with a beautiful breakfast provided by the B&B owners. It was an Irish breakfast buffet, and it was amazing. They even made the kids fresh hot chocolate and put it in the cutest teapot:

We walked around the expansive grounds for a bit that morning:

Then we had to leave on to our next destination!