traveloehrs

Ireland is perfect for a road trip. There are some beautiful drives and amazing wide open spaces. The kids loved looking for animals on our drives. We also stayed at a few farmstays so the kids could get up close and personal with some of the livestock along the way. Here are 2 animal stories from our time in the Emerald Isle.

“I’ll Never See Any Sheep!”

The day we arrived in Dublin started out rough. Lianne and I hardly slept on the flight. Then the car rental agency took over an hour to get us sorted with our vehicle. The kids were cranky at this point. Once we finally got on the road, we still had a few hours to go to get to our Airbnb. We passed a field with sheep, and I said, “Look, there are the first Irish sheep!” Somehow Junebug missed them. She began crying, “I’m never going to see any sheep!” She was upset. I assured her there would be plenty of opportunities. She was distraught and continued to cry until she passed out a few minutes later from sheer exhaustion.

Over the next 2 weeks, I was vindicated multiple times as we saw thousands of sheep. On more than one occasion I gloated to her that I was right as I pointed out yet another field full of sheep. During our last two nights in Ireland, we posted up at a farmstay where the kids got to feed lambs with the kids who lived on the farm. I took my last opportunity to rub it in her face again as she fed a lamb another bottle of milk. Juniper rolled her eyes. “Ya dada, I get it…you were right.”

I Got Hit by a Cow

Junebug ran into Lianne’s arms looking confused and scared. She was obviously shaken. “Mama, I just got really spooked!” Lianne tried to figure out what had just happened. Juniper said, “I think I got hit by a cow but I’m not sure how they did it!”

After verifying that she was indeed fine, we walked outside to assess the situation. We were at a rural Airbnb that had cows next door. Juniper and Lennox loved walking over to visit and pet them. The cows were very interested in the kids and would hang out by the fence. Upon further inspection we realized the top of the fence had an electric wire. Junebug had gotten real cozy with the cows and grabbed the top wire as she was petting one of them. The ensuing buzz “shocked” her and had her running for cover.

We explained what had happened. She was relieved that it was just a shock from an electric fence and not a beloved farm animal that had given her the scare.