If I were to do it over again, traveling to Ireland with a group of 15.

My Mom just took her four kids, three d/s-in-law, and her seven grandchildren aged 10 months to 21 years to Ireland. We left on Friday, May 22 from Kansas and arrived bright and early on Saturday morning. Our own bus and driver, Mick took us to the most wonderful spots you can imagine and the weather cooperated beautifully. We were busy a lot, we traveled in and through 20 of Ireland's 32 counties.  Overnights were in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Adare. Oh so many breathtaking sites. But we loved Glendalough, Cashel, Yeoghal, Cobh, and Broadford. Blarney Castle, Bunratty Village and Castle, Guinness, Jameson, Dublin Zoo and The English Market.

(l-r) back Finley Weber, Declan Brennan, Elliott Weber, Liz Emmert, front Clare and Michaela Emmert. Abbey Tavern North Dublin, Ireland, Sunday, May 24, 2015

(l-r) Me, Michael Brennan, Mary Brennan, Patrick Brennan, and Kate Weber at the top of Blarney Castle, Ireland, Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

What would I do differently?  I think our little family of five packed well, but there is always room for improvement. We packed for layers as the weather goes up and down. That way we could add or subtract as we went through out the day and be more comfortable.  I think we should have tried to stay better hydrated. Traveling can really wear a person down and if you aren't drinking enough water it can be rough on your mood and then things can degrade quickly from there.

We seemed to have plenty of familiar snacks for the plane trips and it was fun for the kids to see what their aunts had that their moms didn't. Airports and hotels can be ridiculously expensive and why not take one less pair of shoes and pack a few more yummy treats. It makes your traveling Euros go farther too when you aren't buying snacks all day, then you can buy one more pint in the evening.

I think the hardest part of the trip was the traveling with the little children. It wore on their little nerves. They just wanted to run and play and squeal, you know, like kids.  What anyone traveling NEEDS to take with them though is a plug-in adapter for charging your phones, iPads, iPods etc. If you have any of these devices I highly recommend bringing a surge protector and then you can plug in several items at once. We only brought one adapter and had devices and power banks that were forever needing a bit more charging.

It was the trip of a life time for sure. If you ever have the chance to go to Ireland, take it.

Sláinte (good health)

Who Am I

l-r Clare (12), Liz (13), The Momma (Me), Mike The Pop, Michaela (21)                                                                              My Little Family off the Coast of  Youghal, Ireland.

I am Jenn Emmert. I retired last summer after a 20 year career as funeral director and embalmer and decided to go back to school.  My parents and I opened Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home in 2001. I worked many, many long hours and missed a lot of fun things that my kiddos were doing. I am pursuing a B.I.S in Web Utilization, fancy phrasing for graphic arts, mass media with a small dash of computer science. I hope my postings will be of use and even a bit fun.