Part of my desire for this extended holiday was to see and spend time in parts of Ireland I have never visited before, and Kerry was a county I somehow had never set foot in! Therefore, we couldn't spend a week in Kerry and not go to Dingle. Dingle and Kerry go hand in hand.

As Kenmare was our base, it was a bit of a drive to Dingle - clocking in around 2 hours each way. Hats off to Ed for the driving. I owe him some serious miles when I eventually get round to lessons and (hopefully) passing the test! Luckily, it was a bright sunny day and the drive was pleasant with gorgeous coastal views.

I've added Dingle to my list of places to return to when we can settle in for the evening and have a good session. This trip was a daytime visit only. We had lunch in a place called Chowder due to Ed's love of the dish. Their signature dish was a hit with Ed. The plan was to have a bit of a look around before taking on The Conor Pass road but the look around was somewhat curtailed by a Paddy special!

I'm conscious that poor Patrick is getting named and shamed quite often on this blog, but he really has produced some killer nappies at inappropriate times!! This episode of Paddy s***s his way around Ireland features me holding him at arms length walking (running) down the Main Street of Dingle looking for the Strand Hotel which we were told had baby changing facilities. As I weaved in and out of the crowds filling the pavements, I overheard snippets of conversations reacting to the mad lady and pooey baby passing them by!! One older American voice drawled 'aaaah honey, I've been there!' It turned out that the Strand Hotel was actually a shop! Taken by surprise, I made a snap decision that the toilets must be part of the cafe so up the stairs and through the cafe I ran. They were not. The sweat and panic increasing, I asked one of the shop assistants where the toilets were, she took pity on me and told me that it was fine to change Patrick on the couch in the ladies shoe area right next to me. If I hadn't been holding a wriggly baby like a kettle ball, I would have kissed her!!

Crisis averted, we rewarded ourselves with a visit to Murphy's ice-cream. All handmade in Dingle and with flavours that shouldn't work, but really do, we really enjoyed tasting the different flavours before making our final choices. I (predictably?) went for gin flavoured ice cream with peppermint - like a mojito in ice cream form . Ed went for their best seller - sea salt. Sounds so wrong, tasted so good. Ann selected caramel honeycomb and not to be left out, Betsy had a classic vanilla.

The Conor Pass is a road that links North and South on the Dingle Peninsula and passes through mountains reaching 1500 feet. The road is narrow and twisted and provides 360 degree views of stunning scenery. Again my descriptions won't do it justice, so take my advice, and go for yourselves. Do as we did; stop for a while, wander around and take it all in. Natural, wonderful beauty.

Before heading back to Kenmare, we stopped off at Inch strand - a never ending stretch of beach. The best of the day was behind us, but Betsy dug some sandcastles, Ann tucked Patrick into her coat to keep both of them warm, and me and Ed braved a paddle. Well, we thought we were brave until we witnessed a mad man dressed only in speedos frolicking in the water!! We hit the road for home, got Betsy down to bed. Ann kindly babysat and Ed, I and Paddy (in the baby carrier) went out to order Chinese takeaway for us all and had a couple of beers in a local pub whilst they prepared it. As parents of young kids, it was a big treat to get out for a few jars on a Friday night. We headed back and enjoyed our Chinese and good chats with Ann before we all hit the hay.