This was a long-awaited trip, for sure! I’d been wanting to bring Matt to Ireland since I visited in 2014- we were thinking of going before Felix was born as a babymoon, but we were matched with his birth mama so quickly (two weeks after going live) that we joyfully never got the chance!

Then we planned a trip for summer 2020 🤣, then we tried again for summer 2021 but the quarantine requirements meant we’d spend between 5-14 days in a hotel room. We thought about summer 2022, and then our sweet Teddy was born, so when we finally arrived at Dublin airport in May of 2023, I was SO READY!

This was our first trip overseas with both boys (we took Felix to Spain in 2021 when I was flying out for Lindale Studio’s brand shoot in El Puerto de Santa Maria!), and I’m so grateful we have the chance to travel with our kiddos. It’s a different head space for sure than when we traveled pre-kids, and adventuring with littles means adjusting my own expectations of what we can do, how quickly we can move, and how restful the time will be. It was fulfilling in a different way than solo travel ever was, and I’m so, so grateful for the chance for our boys to be exposed to new places, people, and cultures!

We were in Northern Ireland in County Londonderry, and with the smell of farmland and the sounds of nature, and all that green as far as the eye can see, I just feel like I can breathe better when I’m there. I wanted to experience that with my family, to slow down and take long walks along a narrow, rural road, to breathe deeply and be present with my kids without worrying over needing to get back up to my office.

Does anyone else with a toddler/pre-schooler + an infant feel like their older kid has more photos? I was wearing Teddy in the [Harry Potter!] Ergo for most of our adventures, so most of my photos are OF Felix & Matt. Sorry, Teddy darling!

I have like, a WEIRD number of photos of cows from our trip. The home where we were staying (owned by friends of ours) was across the street from an open field where these sweet girls were stationed every day, and Felix took a real shining to them. This one in particular was christened “Bessie” and we had so many quick walks down to the gate to say to our favorite cow.

This one. The sun didn’t set til almost 10pm, and I looked out the window one night and saw this and IMMEDIATELY ran outside. Felix was still awake (thank you, jetlag), so after a few minutes out there by myself, I got him out of bed and took him outside, too.

At home, we talk about how beautiful sunrises and sunsets are a gift from God, that they’re never the same from one night to the next. I also love that there’s no *purpose* to a beautiful sunset, other than to allow us to stand in awe at the majesty of it all- for me, sunrises and sunsets are an opportunity to sit back and marvel at God’s creativity!

Felix has taken to pointing them out on his own, so I couldn’t miss the chance to experience this one with him!

Felix fired the shutter for this next one!

We headed to Giant’s Causeway for a morning- I wish we’d had more time here! It was SO beautiful and  the basalt columns are so curious. We walked the half-mile path down from the parking lot (but took the 2 euro bus back up, and Felix had fun scrambling along the columns while Teddy enjoyed the selection of Northern Irish dirt & rocks :).

Later we went for a drive in the mountains and ended up at the spectacular overlook- these photos don’t do it justice. I could have stayed there for hours with a journal and my camera- maybe next time!

Later in the week, we headed to Mussenden Temple, an absolutely breathtaking expanse along the coast- you’ll see the temple itself below (the rotunda with steps leading up), which sits RIGHT at the edge of the cliff and looks down onto the strand below. This was maybe my favorite morning in Ireland- the grounds were HUGE, and we took our time walking along the paths.

I actually loved this spot so much that I came back that afternoon for my run so I could see even more of the park!

We packed up the next day and headed to Normandy (by way of Dublin > Paris, WOOF that was a long travel day)- that blog post is coming shortly!

Traveling with kiddos is a different ballgame, but gosh, it’s worth it. I’m already dreaming of going back!