Ireland: The Rope Bridge

Up along the northern coast, there's this rope bridge. Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge started out traditionally as a temporary bridge during fishing season for salmon fishermen to check their nets. Now it's just for fun, since apparently there are very few salmon left. It was a good walk down there, and of course Maeve insisted on walking herself, so it took us quite a long time. But, man! Have I mentioned before how beautiful it is up along the coast?

There's the bridge... Z actually ditched us all as we were almost there and ran UP the path past the bridge to take this picture. Of course, after we crossed the bridge and wandered around Carrick island we exited up that-a-way anyways. Gotta admire his enthusiasm, though! And my ability to safely entertain/contain three children loose on a precarious cliff while wondering where in the world my husband slipped off to.

A closer look.

The tykes and I crossing it.

Maeve sporting the cute and effective little rain coat that Auntie Helen couldn't resist buying for her.

Shots whilst on the island. It was very small, and very rugged. And I was semi-paranoid that one of my small and fearless children would explore too close to the edge. All survived.

You can see Scotland from this area of the coast, but not necessarily in this picture.

Aaaaand... back across we went. This time Z carried Maeve. And she could not have slipped through the ropes, because there's all sorts of netting, etc., in place. But still... though my mind knew it was safe, my heart was in my throat just seeing the tykes on a bridge like this.

The walk away from the bridge. Maeve's energy was NOT, apparently, endless, and we "got" to lug her back. REALLY wished I'd not forgotten that baby carrier... Well, honestly, I wasn't kicking myself too much at this particular time, because, as you can see, Z had the honors of carrying her back. Good thing she's such a featherweight.

Bran presenting me with a flower... Awwww... he's just a really sweet little guy. :)

The bridge behind Z and Maeve.

The bridge behind Nuala. Obviously this is just to show off the cuteness of Nuala, since once you've seen the bridge... well, you've seen the bridge. Nuala, on the other hand, is worth seeing over and over and over... ;)

See? Also, the coast is (still) pretty.

Showing off the t-shirts they got at Dunluce Castle. Bran's says The Dunluce Castle Defender and Nuala's says I am a Dunluce Castle Princess. Also, Bran is doing a "defender" face. Very tough.

Then we continued on to Carrickfergus, which is going to be the very LAST Ireland post (along with Dublin)! Yay! Only two months later! These are just a couple of shots of the countryside, and a sign that we found slightly humorous.

THIS was more-than-slightly humorous. Nuala would fall asleep and her head would flop over into Maeve's foot-space. Maeve found this offensive. "No, Noona! NO!" she'd yell. Then she would kick her head. Over and over. Luckily, her aim is not the greatest, and the angle of kick is not the most effective, and Nuala's head would remain peacefully flopped despite Maeve's desperate attempts to oust it. On previous trips, Maeve has attempted to gouge Bran's eyes when his sleeping noggin would unfortunately droop within her reach. And she regularly kicks me in the face during her early morning nursing sessions. I'm pretty sure it's on purpose, because when I sleepily redirect her legs or completely rotate her back around (yeah, she'll be nursing upside down. I get her rear in my face often, too), she's back in about 2.7 seconds. Just a little insight into sweet little Maeve's personality.