Irish Vacation - Day 2

 Since everyone only slept about 5 hours on the plane I thought for sure we'd get a good night's sleep and be on track for the next day.  I was wrong.  First of all - when we landed we found out that Aunt Alissa was in labor with cousin William.  That pretty much guaranteed no sleep for Mama until William arrived.  Then Denbigh decided that this couldn't possibly be bedtime - only naptime - so she was up after 3 hours.  Jacob & Joseph quickly followed.  Around 4:30 am we gave up, turned on the lights and a rousing playtime ensued.  We went downstairs for breakfast about as soon as the restaurant opened and by then everyone was tired again so we headed back upstairs for naps.

Once everyone woke up we caught a cab and headed the the City Center to the Temple Bar area.

 We made it to the actual Temple Bar where we met friends for lunch.

 Our waiter was awesome in dealing with our three tables and various orders and changes.  

Denbigh was still a bit fussy from her lack of sleep so Nikko brought her a whole plate of desserts.  She especially loved the carrot cake.  After I finished lunch I loaded her up in the Ergo and we went exploring a bit while the others finished.

 We found a leprechaun with his pot of gold!!

 After the others finished we headed over to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the library upon which the Hogwarts Library was based.

 They were having a "Mythology" exhibition in the library while we were there.  They had on display many different books with mythological themes from all through the centuries - including current ones.  I had to snap a picture of The Hunger Games.

After the library we walked across town to the Guinness Storehouse.  Here were some of our sights along the way. . . 

  . . . among them - Dublin Castle.

We finally reached the Guinness Storehouse where we spent the rest of the afternoon. Joseph declared it "the most amazing place I've ever been."

 A couple of the kiddos were worn out from our long walk so we took a break while waiting for our friends to get through the line. (we had pre-purchased our tickets.)

 The tour concludes with a free pint at the upstairs bar.

This is the lease for the Guinness Storehouse property.  Denbigh thought it was a dance floor.

After all of our walking and exploring we caught cabs to Graffton Street for a late dinner before heading back to our hotel for the night.