Ah, summer solstice. In Ireland, it’s not exactly shorts-and-tank tops weather, but daylight sticks around even longer than in Minnesota. (Quick geography lesson: Dublin is as far north as the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Winnipeg.) The sun rose at 4:55am and sets at 9:57pm today. We have a hard time going to bed at a decent hour because the evenings stretch on so pleasantly. Twilight lingers and so do I.

The official start of summer felt like the perfect day for Kenzie, Zoe and I to check out Malahide Beach for the first time. The tide was out, revealing flat sand that stretched the length of a football field. We breathed in salty air and enjoyed the fresh breeze coming from the Irish Sea. Living near the ocean agrees with us.