Emerald Isle (part 2)

The less sandy part of our beach week involved stuff around the house or down at the beach while we weren't wet (and therefore the sand didn't stick to us as well). Early on in the week, we celebrated all the August birthdays in our family (me, Papa Laser, Joanna, Eleanor, Ashleigh, and Jessie). It was a nice celebration, as it always is when the entire family is present all together. Eleanor, of course, had no idea what was going on.

Here's a video of Eleanor clapping, for your entertainment:

Clapping from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

We ate delicious dinners every evening. Unfortunately Eleanor's favorite was lasagna, so she ended up looking like this after dinner and most lunches after that night. Erika and Jonathan also made wonderful breakfasts a couple mornings including breakfast sliders (a la The Pretzel Bakery) and something Chris referred to as "quinoa surprise," which was not surprisingly yummy.

In the evenings after Eleanor's afternoon naps, we would head back down to the beach and attempt to stay somewhat clean. We would play some corn hole or just hang out chatting.

We completed a couple puzzles at the house, and played Balderdash and Ticket to Ride:

The family also made a "violation chart" in order to encourage everyone to clean up after themselves. I think it was successful for about a day.

In the mornings, we would hang out waiting for everyone to wake up and get some music lessons from Eleanor's auntie and uncle. We also played with bubbles that Gmom brought.

In the afternoons, we walked around outside with the walker, or played up on the porch.

We made s'mores one evening while the grill was still hot from dinner, and spent some time hanging out on the lower patio of the house.

On the last morning we were there, Eleanor and I went out early to the beach with Ashleigh to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy, but wonderful.

Goodbye, Emerald Isle! We hope to see you next summer!