Beach Memories

Ahhh.... the Oregon Coast. One of the most beautiful, most peaceful places on earth.  God made the sea on the third day of creation.. and said it was good. Really good, in my opinion! There are few places where I can go and almost instantly start to relax, and the beach is one of them.

We just returned from our annual week away to Lincoln City. Again, it was such a fun and special time for us as a family. Being away from the hubub of every day life is just so refreshing and needed for all of us, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time away.

We arrived Sunday afternoon (we left right after church) and the kids wasted no time in getting down to the sand.. in their nice clothes!

It really is pointless to expect my silly husband to smile "normal" for a picture! ;)

The kids each brought a bag of toys and got their room all set up once our condo was ready! :)

MONDAY

Feeding the sea gulls is so much fun... they do fly-bys on our balcony and catch the bread in the air! The kids think it is hilarious!

I wish I could remember what theses faces were about! :(

We usually take one afternoon and head to Gleneden Beach to play and have a beach BBQ with dogs, beans and s'mores. We headed there and Matthew was whiny and fussy, saying he wanted to go back to "our beach" (the one right in front of our condo). Nothing made him happy at the beach and I could tell he was tired but he said he wasn't. I was snuggling with him and he fell asleep.. for over an hour! The waves were crashing and Evelyn and Doug were playing and he slept through it all. He really needed that nap!

I thoroughly enjoyed this time with my baby!

Sadly when he woke up he still wasn't in the best of moods and still wanted to go "home", and Evelyn wanted to go also, so we changed our plans and headed back. We stopped by Papa Murphy's and picked up pizza for dinner instead (it was one of our planned dinners anyway, so we just did it that night instead!)

The kids got "Mini Murphs" and made their own pizzas!

Where we stay is right where the D River (the smallest river in the world, if you must know!) joins the ocean. The "river" winds thru the beach and the water is much warmer than the cold ocean water.  After dinner, we headed back to the beach and had SO much fun playing in the water..both the river and the ocean!

Yes, she is always dancing! :)

"Sisser" and "TT" (What they call each other). They really are best friends!

He loves the water!

He loves rocks too.. and spent lots of time finding them and throwing them into the water!

Both kids fell asleep within moments that night (even with Matthew taking a nap) and all of us took naps the rest of our time there.. and it made much happier kids! Playing on the beach is hard work, ya know! 

TUESDAY

At 6:30 in the morning, Evelyn woke me up and said "Mom.. I just lost my tooth!".  We have been anxiously awaiting the loss of her very FIRST tooth for some time and she was so hopeful it would happen at the beach..and it did! She was so excited and will probably always remember where she lost her first tooth!

And yes, the Tooth Fairy DOES come to the beach! :)

We had fun feeding the sea gulls on the beach, too!

There was some serious sand castle building happening while we were there!

Relaxed daddy!

The weather was perfect!

Some of Evelyn's art she drew in the sand!

Her sign says "2013 Bech" :)

"King" Matthew kicking back after dinner enjoying a twizzler.. silly boy!

I am blessed!

Told ya she is always dancing and posing! :)

WEDNESDAY

We decided to do something new this year and headed south to Newport to play around. The kids were excited to see a new "beach place".  Our first stop was the Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center. Both Doug and I have fond memories of going to this place as kids, and it was fun to share it with our own little people! 

The famous octopus!

The kids REALLY had fun exploring and learning about sea life. They want to come back next year!

We headed to the historic bay front area of town and had lunch at Mo's.. the original one!

Then it was time to find a taffy shop.. and we succeeded!

We visited Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.. what a very cool place with such great history. Evelyn enjoyed it more than Matthew but he did like it.. "kinda"!

We headed back to Lincoln City and spend our last afternoon there playing in the sand.

Doug showing the kids how to skip rocks

Happiness!

Evelyn is quite the sand artist!

Evelyn's other "Beach Trip" sign

I pretty much love him to bits!

We left the next morning, filled with fun memories and full hearts. The kids are already counting down until next year. 

And, if I am being honest, I am too!!

Oaks Park Fun

Oaks Park is the oldest amusement park in the United States (cool!) and it is right here in our fair town! Doug's company used to have its annual picnics there and I have been to a few wedding receptions, but we had yet to take the kids there. That all changed yesterday! During the summer the park has "preschool mornings" where the little kids can come and for a pretty good price, they can ride all the kiddie rides as much as they want for 2 hours. We met up with some friends and had a great time!

Evelyn going down the big slide. She loved it. Matthew... not so much!!

Carrossel time with Juliet!

Love her!

Girlfriends on the train ride. 

They enjoyed trying to shoot me as they went around on this ride!

Matthew and his "fwend" Colin. It was good for him to hang with his buddy!

Motorcycle ride...a favorite for the boy!

Love my boy!

I happen to think she is pretty lovely! 

And he is so stinkin' cute!

For their last ride of the morning, the kids picked the shoot 'em up plane ride and enjoyed shooting at me. Again!

A very fun day with friends!!

A Special Reunion

One of the highlights of my "youth" was spending the year after graduating high school in Alexandria, Virgina as a nanny for the Bailey family. Sarah and Perrin were 6 and 4 at the time and being their full time babysitter and living with them and Anne & Russ, their parents, was such a special time for me. A year of fun, growth, adventure, and life lessons that I will always cherish.

It has been fun being able to stay in touch over the years via Christmas cards and now facebook. I have seen the Bailey's twice since I left Virginia in 1990, the last time being soon after my wedding. Perrin, the youngest, was married just last month although I was sad to not be able to be there, I was excited to hear that they were going to be in Washington last weekend... ALL of them, including Perrin's new husband David. Better yet, they were going to make time in their jam-packed schedule to see us!!

 We met them for breakfast last Saturday and had the most amazing time chatting and catching up. They enjoyed meeting the kids and were regaled by many of Evelyn and Matthew's adventures. Perrin's husband is a Brit and is postively delightful! We seriously could have chatted all day, but alas, they needed to head back north to Seattle for a Mariners game. It was a sad goodbye, but such a lovely visit that made me cherish my time as a part of their family even more!

Me and the Bailey clan

Me and "my girls"! All grown up and lovely in every way!

The whole bunch!

What a special reunion.. one I hope happens again soon!

Fourth of July Fun

We once again went to Enchanted Forest for the 4th of July, and once again had SUCH a great time together! I cherish family time and soaked it up as much as I could this day!

Ready to go!

They were not happy that I wanted to get a picture at the entrance.. they just wanted to go IN!

Happiness and beauty...

Joy and charm....

Being crooked outside of the "Crooked House"

Matthew didn't want to do the bumper boats, but Evelyn did and she had fun even tho she was by herself!

They loved this silly train again this year!

Once again we spent most of our time here.. the beloved "Shoe Slide"!

Such a fun day! I will be sad when they don't want to come to this magical place any more!

Happy Fourth!

Another Retirement

My mom's husband officially retired last week! He has worked at Intel for almost 20 years and there was a lovely reception for him that we attended. The kids were so excited to see where "Grandpa Doug" worked. They even got to have name badges AND got a special tour of the building (which is amazing, if I may add!). It was a fun afternoon to celebrate with Doug and his coworkers!

 They think he is pretty neat!

These are people from the very first group he worked with when he started at Intel!

We are so proud of Doug and thankful for his dedication and hard work over the years. We are so fortunate to have him in our lives!!

Congrats Grandpa Doug!! We love you!