Everyone's Vision: Trip to Ireland Part 5

Friday was the first morning of this trip that I awoke in my late grand parents cottage in Buncrana. The house already starting to buzz, I could feel the electricity in the air. That night would welcome many family and friends to the cottage in celebration of my father’s 60th birthday. My older sister had already asked me to assist in decoration and I knew that my many aunt’s would be taking care of the food. The day was slow getting started and I felt worn down from the lack of sleep catching up with me. My parents were heading to the beach for a walk as it was such a nice day and I decided to join them, figuring it would be a good opportunity to get some footage of the movie I am making about this trip. I walked along the lonely beach, listening to the calm waves from the bay of the ocean. The cottage falls on the west side of a northern peninsula of Ireland, with another peninsula to the west of ours. These two forms of land form a coast and, thus, calm ocean waters. I did tai chi with my dad on the beach right before he went into the water for a quick swim. And, although this was the warmest day of the vacation it still was cold for swimming. I, of course, could not join in due to my foot, and my mother refused due to the cold. After the beach I opted out of a walk with my uncle John as to take a much needed nap.
Awhile later I was pleasantly awoken by the sounds of my two cousins Elliott and Mora. My cousin and their mother Collette was with them along with her dad and my other uncle John. I played around with the kids for awhile, kicking soccer balls, playing guitar and drawing. Soon after I started decorating the house with my older sister and we got Elliott to help. In need of more balloons I went with my uncle Joe to the shop and bought some of the balloons that clowns use to make different animals, hats, and shapes. Elliott was quite intrigued with the balloons and started asking for a sword. Before he left with John and his sister I told him I would have a balloon sword ready for the next time I saw him.
Shortly after my aunt Kathleen, Maranna, and Irene arrived with the food and party supplies. My sister and I finished hanging some banners around the house and got to finishing the balloons. Already having a string of traditional balloons over the bar we now decided to use the long skinny balloons to make my dad’s name (Paddy) and the number 60 to hang on the windows. After breaking many balloons the decorations were complete. To the compliments of many, my sister and I were thanked for making everything “look excellent.”
The party was excellent and beautiful. I have to thank my aunts Kathleen, Maranna, Irene, and Pat for handling the food. My cousin Collette for the cake. Mark and Maureen for coming from Belleville Ontario (a surprise to me and my Dad), my uncle Joe for his comedy, my uncle John for staying calm, my two sisters for all their patience and help, my cousin Phillip for being a gentleman, Catherine for keeping him in-line (and looking beautiful), my Grandfather and step-Grandmother for coming from the USA, Katie for coming with them, all my other relatives that I rarely see but love to have around, Tony for the accompaniment on guitar, his wife Collette for looking great and being so nice, and any other guests I may have forgotten. Each and every person helped show my dad how much he is loved and made the evening fun, enjoyable, and memorable. I’ll try to describe the rest through pictures.