Muckross Park Hotel...

We spent four of our five nights in southwestern Ireland at the apartments at Muckross Park Hotel, outside of the tourist town of Killarney. We did a big grocery shop on our first day so that we could make breakfast and dinner each day.

Not only was our two-bedroom apartment much cheaper to stay in than the five-star hotel, but we still had full access to the luxurious spa where we spent a few hours each day soaking in the pool and hot tubs.

Jimmy sweet talked the staff to let us stay after closing to take a few family photos.

He also surprised us girls with a high tea in the garden followed by massages at the spa. We felt very spoiled!

Views from the Top...

We stopped for a snack at the high point of the hiking trail on Torc Mountain. After taking photos for a group of girls, we were happy that one of them took some photos of the four of us.

Of course, there’s never a lack of photos of our sweet girls.

After the waterfalls in the Lakes District, the 60-foot (18 meters) Torc Waterfall was a bit uninspiring but at least we enjoyed the hike. That evening Jimmy and I went to the pub at the hotel to listen to some Irish music.

Hiking in Ireland...

We were unsure where to go for our family summer vacation, so when Veronica found out about an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Dublin in August, the decision was made. Just a day after Veronica’s return from Africa, we boarded a plane for Ireland, rented a car at the airport and headed to Killarney, where we stayed within walking distance of Killarney National Park.

The day after our arrival, we went on a hike to a waterfall in the park.

We opted to take the longest and most difficult route. Despite the warning that the first 1,775 feet (540 meters) was quite steep, I thought the C2C would have definitely prepared me, but it was much more strenuous than I expected.

 While the girls powered up the hills, I staggered slowly behind.

 The views along the way were beautiful...

...and we were all happy to be back in the woods.

Ashlynn Has a Visitor...

The day after Ashlynn returned, Gabi arrived from London for three nights. Ashlynn and Gabi met via Instagram after they were both scouted by IMG and became online friends. Unfortunately, Ashlynn was still sick from Africa for the first two days, so Gabi went off exploring on her own.

On Gabi’s final day, Ashlynn was feeling better and went along to Utrecht where they met up with two other IMG girls: Alyssa (who’s also signed with Dune along with Ashlynn) and Immy.

The girls enjoyed renting a pedal boat to explore the city from the water.

Our Adventurers Return...

Two days after Jimmy and I returned from England, Ashlynn returned from Tanzania. She was all smiles for this photo, but she was actually sick, having come down with a bug on her final day at camp. Poor kid vomited at the airport, but luckily was still allowed to fly. She was feeling much better once she saw her puppy.

Four days later we went back to Schiphol to meet Veronica. It was such a relief to have both our girls home safe and sound. And as you already saw, they both had fantastic trips.

Ashlynn’s Nudibranch Report and Interview...

My apologies, but I forgot to include this photo of Ashlynn’s new favorite sea creature: the nudibranch. Often erroneously called a sea slug, nudibranchs are soft-bodied molluscs which shed their shells. Personally, I’d never heard of them, but learned a lot in the blog entry that Ashlynn wrote for Frontier.

On a separate note, while we were in California in April, Ashlynn was invited to do a photo shoot for Florum Fashion Magazine, an online eco fashion magazine. I posted the results of the shoot in June on this blog after photographer Stephen Sun released the photos to us. Just this week, the interview itself was published and you can find it here.

More of Mafia Island...

Unfortunately, Ashlynn didn’t have a chance to help write these blog entries, so we’ll have to settle with some beautiful photos with no explanations.

Final words from Ashlynn: Same same, but different.