Day 6: Friday June 10th We headed out that morning for County Cork to see Blarney Castle and grounds. We made it there just as the park was opening. The timing was great! No line at all at the top of the castle to kiss the stone. Only Ryan and Meri actually kissed it. The rest of us had done it 7 years ago and it wasn't a priority for us. Meri didn't want to when she finally sat down, but with everyone's encouragement, she went through with it. We got her a commemorative t-shirt to celebrate! When we finished letting the girls pick out their rooms in the castle for when they live there, we visited the gift shop. Maddy purchased several post cards and I found the last poster of Toilets of Ireland. Since it was their only one and taped to the wall, they gave it to me for free. It was perfect for my one of my friends back home. Ryan bought more Guinness stuff. We hadn't explored the grounds last time, so we took advantage of the opportunity. The woods were beautiful as well as the plants that look like rhubarb, but aren't. After the woods were the witches kitchen and the druids cave. The kids climbed all over both and even stood in the chimney. There is an interesting stone shaped like a witches face at the top of the hill and some druid circles. Lots of huge rocks and formations sitting around. So beautiful! Then we drove into Cork City. What a mess in both traffic congestion and general construction! After driving and not finding anything resembling fun, we stopped at the mall and let the kids walk around some. Meri had a great time on the escalator and elevator. I bought some candy and Meri some new pink shoes. We had a lunch in a little restaurant there. Meri got the waitress to dance. Ryan started keeping count of all the cute girls in Ireland on Wednesday and by this day, he was already in the hundreds. He kept his eyes peeled. We drove to Kilmallock and got some take away food for a picnic in Bruree. We sat at the picnic tables on the other side of the river overlooking the Mill and our cottage. After we ate, Meri & Maddy ran down the hill to get close to the edge. There were some kids playing on little rafts in the river waterfall. Meri fell and looked like she hurt herself. As I ran to her, I slid down the hill, bending my leg back. So my leg was sore for a couple days after that. Meri was just fine. Getting back to the cottage, I decided to take the girls and attend a variety show that we saw advertised in Kilmallock. Robb and Ryan didn't want to go. After getting lost just a little, we found it... a block away from the take away place. It turned out that the local community club for kids puts this show on once a year. This year it was at the local Catholiear it was at the local Catholic school. The girls and I sat there on the benches feeling very out of place. People from the town sat all around us and Meri kept asking why they were staring at her. As soon as it finally started (a half hour late) we realized Ryan would have loved this show! There were lots of cute girls on the stage singing and dancing. We had some trouble understanding their accents and humor, but enjoyed it none the less. There was a young girl dressed like Dolly Parton and singing "9 to 5". Hilarious! Meri whispered, "I think those are fake!". I think she was right! We left at intermission because we had an early start the next day. Too bad.

• published: 27 Dec 2006
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