The Atlantic and Ocean Boy

Hi All,

At the beach in Dalkey

We had a great day yesterday. We went to Dun Laoghaire where my Grandpa Gilbert is from. We saw the house he lived in. It is a protected property. It is being turned into 16 condos and has a beautiful view of the ocean.

From DunLaoghaire we took the DART (city train) out to Killiney. This is a small town on the very edge of Dublin. We sat on the beach for hours. We all stood in the Atlantic Ocean and had the waves and rocks crash over our feet. Morgan thought he would be tricky and get his feet cleaned off be the ocean and then get his shoes on quickly. The Ocean of course had other things in mind. It crashed in with a huge wave and gave poor Morgan 2 soakers. We now call him "Ocean Boy". We picked up rocks on the beach(it's amazing how many different types of rock can be found on one beach). Watched some paragliders jump from a hill above and land at the beach. From there we went into Dalkey. We looked at a few shops enquired at Finnigans about dinner (they only serve lunch). Then we made our way back to the hotel.

Grandpa Gilbert's house

Today is our last day in Ireland. We fly out at 6:10am tomorrow which means we will likely have to get up at 4am even though we are so close to the airport. It is already 11:35am and we haven't yet left the hotel. We are planning to head downtown to the post office and mail some things home. Although we packed fairly light (one knapsack each) we feel that we brought some extras that we don't want to haul around. (Not to mention the rocks from Killiney). We will not stay out long and will turn in early tonight.

One strange thing happened when we arrived back into Dublin from our days journey. We were waiting for our bus at the Dublin bus terminal when a young woman came up to me and said "Excuse me, did you go to Red Pine Camp last summer?" Of course I said yes and we talked a bit about that and then our bus came. Ever since then the kids have been remembering their summer at camp and looking forward to spending time there again.

Mitchell's at the Atlanitc

Hope all is well with you all.

Julia

View from Grandpa's house