Beach Day

With the weather getting nicer and me being a shut-in by choice...I have really been getting anxious to go on a beach trip. I have kept my two year old indoors too much lately and I get excited to see how happy he is with all the space he has to run when we go to the beach. I kept throwing the idea out at Max but I know how much he loves to do yard work and property projects on Saturdays which we are very grateful for. Once we got our new car it seemed that we needed to take it on a good long drive. Our decision was finalized  when Lisa told us she would be in town and was looking for something fun to do. 

We started the Saturday like usual, Max worked on the property and I entertained the boys. I was abe to get everything ready for the beach and provide the Elders with lunch after they so graciously helped Max build this wall. 

We were planning on leaving at 12:30 for the beach but with my chatty husband and a baby that dictates feeding time it was nearly 2 when we actually left. and then as we were going down our street, our neighbor who has 5 year old twin boys, was having a garage sale. We had to stop. We were sure they had things we NEEDED :) We, of course, chatted with our neighbor for awhile then went away with some awesome steals. As in, things that I had at some point in my life almost paid full price for. We got three puzzles and a pair of shoes for Charlie. All in excellent condition and all specifically types I had shopped for. Anyway, enough about our garage sale finds, you know we get pretty giddy about those. 

Anyway, Lisa had gone up the night before and stayed with her sister for her nephews birthday. They were at Newport but were traveling up to Lincoln City because Newport was so cold and windy. 

We met them at this amazing park on the bay in Lincoln city. It was exactly like one my parents took me to when I was little somewhere here in Portland. I must find that park now! 

We only played for a little while because it was already getting late and we wanted to have enough beach time. We headed to the secluded spot that we found last year hoping it would be just as secluded this time. Max took Charlie down with Lisa, August and her niece Ellie. I stayed in the car to nurse Miles but he kept falling asleep and I felt like I wanted to see my boys playing on the beach so I bundled him up and we walked down to the beach. Oh, boy it was cold and windy. I sat down and held Miles close in a blanket At one point a huge gust of wind got him in the face which was probably the most frightening thing he experienced in his short life. I stayed bundled up with Miles on our chair so it wouldn't fly away (the chair... and Miles) I took pictures of Max and Charlie running around and in and out of the freezing water and loving every minute of it. I had ambitions of taking family photos and pictures of Miles' and Charlie's feet in the sand but that just didn't happen. I didn't want to let Miles out of my tight arms. I loved watching these guys run and play though.

In case you are wondering why Max is wearing a bright pink sweatshirt....It's because it's mine but I was plenty warm with Miles in the blanket so I shared it with Max, he can definitely pull it off though!

This boy was so happy, even with numb feet!

Don't let the sun and shadows fool you, it was cold!

And we didn't even stay for a full hour. It was so cold and windy. Miles was getting fussy again and after a lame attempt of nursing him in high winds I decided to go back to the car. August was pretty much done too. Charlie probably could have played for hours and hours.I fed Miles in the car and in the meantime Max and Lisa cleaned up and brought the kids back to the cars. Max cleaned and changed Charlie. His lips were blue and we hoped he would warm up soon.

We then went through town looking for a place to eat dinner. I love eating at Mo's but Lisa and the kids had gone there for lunch. They said they would be alright going there again. We looked in town to see if anything else looked promising but somehow we were led back to Mo's. I blame it on my fear of change. I hate the idea of wasting money on a lame meal and I knew Mo's would be great!

We ate our seafood watching the bay. 

This kid is awesome!

And that's my little handsome man!

We filled up our bellies and got some saltwater taffy to go. We parted our ways, put pajamas on the boys, fed Miles, buckled up and headed home. The boys slept most of the way and transferred nicely to their beds when we got home. 

The drive was enjoyable finally having time alone with Max to discuss life and the future and hopes and fears for our boys. Those are precious moments. One of my favorite moments from the drive home was when we were about 10 minutes away from our house driving through the heart of Tigard, our home town. It was nearly 11pm on a Saturday night and a car pulled up next to us playing loud music. It gave my a very real flashback of our high school days when we would drive down that same road together with loud music going to the random restaurants, or the movie theater, or grocery store. Then I compared that with our current situation, and how we spend our Saturday nights now. Max and I sitting in our quiet car with our two beautiful and healthy boys silently sleeping in the back while Max and I discussed grown-up topics in our new SUV. 10+ years ago I could never have imagined my life turning out this good. I feel so blessed and I love our little family adventures. Life truly does continue to get more rich and wonderful!