Oregon Coast

Before I forget to do this...

Last weekend was kind of crazy. Crazy FUN!!!

In anticipation of going to Portland I preemptively made some plans with Max and family, to go have some fun at the beach. I was surprised they wanted to make such a trek. When I asked if they were doing anything fun I thought it would be like...going to a park. Haha.

Well...Mitch got invited to a birthday party for that Saturday.

 Since the only reason we were going to Portland was to take Mitch to Pat I thought I would have to cancel my plans...however, after a few minutes of me stressing about everyone I would have to call and cancel on, Carleen called. 

She had rented a hotel room in Newport, to celebrate Abram (my nephew) turning 14. 

Apparently Eric couldn't make it out and they were meeting up with Abrams school peeps. 

She asked if I wanted to come out and stay at the hotel with them. 

Uh...yes!!! 

Mitch stayed home with Grandma and Brayden, August and I left.

We re-loaded up the car with our stuff and hit the road. 

It was late.

 By the time we got there it was around 10 o'clock.

The next morning we woke up lazy. 

We just jumped on some hotel beds, talked, and tried to decide what we wanted to do.

We found a cute little cafe in Newport and ate breakfast there.

 

 We ordered the kids hot cocoa. Which as you can see below was more whip cream than cocoa...

 Abram and Brayden were having some pretty intense conversation at their own little table...

After we ate we headed to a park that we had passed. 

It had a pirate ship with a giant tube slide coming out of it...

This seems way more dangerous than the traditional merry-go-round from parks I grew up with. I mean the kids kept twisting their legs back and smacking their hands on those bars...

August was a little unsure of the slide. He kept going up there and then not wanting to do it.

But, in true Aug fashion once he did it he loved it!

And then went down it again, and again...

It was at this point I let Max and Rebecca know that I would not be coming over to help out with yard work ( I still feel bad about it), because I was already at the beach...

It was after this park that Ely and Carleen decided they wanted to go to Lincoln City for the "Outlets". Anyone who knows me, should know I do not like shopping. At all.

But, I love my sister and niece, so I was happy to oblige them by making an exception.

After shopping we went to eat lunch at Mo's. Brayden wanted some clam chowder.

We were going to try and find a good hole-in-the-wall type place, but just decided to stick with the classics.

The line was pretty long and it wind through the little gift shop.
 When you have hungry kids it can make for a not fun wait...
or it can be wildly entertaining, you choose.

 After getting our family style cauldron of clam chowder we headed to yet another park.

This park looks just like the one in Prineville ( I blogged about last fall when we moved here).

I swear the same guy/company must have made these.

(This is a little video of August at the park in Prineville)

The kids had a lot of fun. It was set right there boarding Devil's Lake.

 This park is where Max and Rebecca finally met up with us. Carleen was taking off. She was not at all interested in going to to beach. It was pretty cold.

She took Brayden with her and I got Elysia.

We didn't stay long after Max and Rebecca got there. They wanted to get some beach time in!

So I followed them to a spot of beach they had been to previously.

Let me just say I have the worst beach luck ever. Everyone else seem to have some random lucky good weather days at the Oregon Coast...not me.

Every time I go it is freezing. Windy and miserable. 

This day was no exception.

It is worth it though, to see your children so elated.

 It is worth it to get the sand slamming against your skin. Numb toes and a runny nose, just to see the wonderment in their eyes looking out at the ocean. Playing tag with the wave and burying feet in sand.

I tried to take some photos, without getting the camera embedded with sand.

 This is just a little example of how windy it was.

Max was just holding the towel up and it was flying like a flag!

We had to try and anchor everything down so it wouldn't fly away.

 And the poor seagull was spotted by the excited 4 year old...

The sun created some pretty dynamic lighting.

It would come out as the clouds blew past.

It got a little foggy as the sun peeked through for a moment. I tried to capture it on the cliff side in the distance.

 Max and Charles the wave runners...

 Rebecca with Miles all bundled up on her lap...

This is probably my favorite of Max and Charles by the water.

After getting a little sand in our hair and salt in our lungs we decided it was time to eat dinner.

Max and Becca led the way and we ended up back at Mo's. 

Which was fine by us!

I really wanted to get lobster or crab, but just couldn't justify spending soo much on a "just because" dinner. So I ordered clam strips!

Bray and August took some photos to document this occasion.

August slept until we got sat at the table...the wait in line was a lot shorter and smoother.

(Rebecca just posted this blog and had a pic of us at the table)

 Then, August wanted me to take some pictures of him and baby Miles...

 Miles had some conversation with Daddy...

The water outside Mo's had come in a lot from when we were there for lunch...

And that was it. We called it a day after that. Apparently...somehow it was already after 8 o'clock by the time we got done at Mo's.
So we will definitely have to do that again...when it warms up a bit.

Double Digits ~ Brayden is 10

Generally Brent makes a pretty big deal about birthdays. Brent is always taking the day off work and making sure the kids (or I for that matter) feel super special.
I am less glamorous about it. Of course I like to say to the kids I am more realistic. Because, after-all in the "real world" we do not always get our birthdays off and the world revolving around us...

Brayden's birthday has been a tricky one to plan for a couple reasons. ONE= Tyler (his cousin) birthday is only 3 days before. TWO= it is around/on Memorial Day.
We have rented bouncy houses for him...

TWO YEARS OLD

 FIVE YEARS OLD

 SEVEN YEARS OLD

We have done camping trips, rented pools, and have had low key BBQ's too.
Well...
This year Brent had to work on Bray's birthday so, yes, I made the little guy go to school.
I did make a valiant effort to make it special for him.
I asked him what special breakfast he would like me to make, anything at all.
His reply, "donuts".
Well, I am not a donut maker by any means and by the time I got out of class the night before the bakery was closed. I did the best I could.
I decorated the table with his recent favorite color: Gold.

 I set out some of the cards he had received so he could also open them in the morning.

This year all he really wanted was to have a couple friends over, eat pizza and play video games.

So Brent arrived home the night of Bray's birthday and stayed thru the "party".

We got wwwwaaaayyyyy too much pizza!

A few salads,

and an ice cream cake.

Special drinks,

and queso with chips.

I didn't take many pictures because running/entertaining a bunch of ten year olds is harder than it seems. I wanted it to look festive, so I got 20 balloons to fill the boys' living room. It made for an interesting car ride home...

Something about balloons and kids just brings out the crazy!

There were some mini dance parties that erupted at different times throughout.

We went to the park and the boys caught their own crawdads.

I ended up leaving early with August after a tire swing ride left him a pale green and he said he was going to be sick all over...Yay being a mom!

I thought the boys just wanted to keep the crawdads to keep them...

But, apparently Brent had "Okay-ed" the cooking and eating of them.

They each took turns placing theirs in the boiling water.

Then of course after that we played some more and worked up an appetite for the cake!

The boys watched Despicable me 2 and called it a night...slowly.
The next morning there was more balloon play along with some outside fun.
The slip n slide came out in full force.
Bray still won't really slip on the slide. He will run on it.

And that was that.
Nice.
Simple.
And our boy felt very special.
Mission Accomplished.
Happy Birthday Brayden.

As you leave your single digit age behind you don't forget how much we love you!
Even though you are older and wiser now.
And you dodge my kisses and run from hugs,
there was a time not long ago that you would cry when I put you down and would ask for kisses again and again. You will always be my Mr. Burr.
You will always be loved,
forever.

BBQ at Jays

While in Portland I also received a text letting me know about a BBQ at Uncle Jay's house.
Like many of these function we are made aware of them either day before (if we are lucky) or day of.
I was able to make it.
It took some rearranging and tons of driving, but I was there! To REPRESENT...as Brent calls it.

That morning I had to drive Brent to Corvallis (to work) from Salem which is like 37 miles.
Then from Corvallis I had to drive to Tigard to let my sister's dog out to go potty 76 miles.
Then while in Tigard I had to go to the store to buy something for the BBQ and get Ty some birthday $$. From Tigard we headed to SE Portland to drop Mitch and Bray off at the birthday party, 17 miles.
Then after dropping the boys off I drove to Jay's for the BBQ with August, 13 miles.
After that we went and stayed the night with my niece in Tigard (6 miles).
So only about 150 miles in one morning! Whew...

Back to the BBQ!
We used to have a May Birthday BBQ every year since all of the guys have birthdays in May. Jay, Evan, Max, Brent, Bray, and I am sure I am missing some others.
I wasn't sure what this was though...It turned out to be a birthday BBQ for Big Max.
Still fun to see everyone. I got there early enough to help out with the food too!

I guess for Jay there are several perks to being a cattle rancher, but for us one of the definite perks is getting some wonderful nutrient dense meat from his grass fed cattle.

 Mum-z was all dressed up and shiny.

 Miles hangs out with Honey.

 Jordan brings out his dad's cake.

 ...and this is when August started coughing dramatically from all of the smoke from the candles flying in his face.

Later he and Charlie sat together for a second in these blue chairs. I wasn't quick enough to get a good photo...These kids are fast.

 August insisted we find worms. I was holding Miles so I didn't get too down and dirty...for awhile anyways. We still managed to find some worms. August was thrilled.

 August tried to show Charlie the worm, but Charles was less than impressed. 

He just cringed, shrugged his shoulders and ran off.

I put a potato bug in his hand and he just flipped his hand over and dropped it and said "drop".

Guess he isn't much of a bug guy.

 The frisbee was flying too. Nothing like a good game of backyard frisbee toss. Charlie was pretty good at throwing it.

August was busy getting lost in all the bushes and trees.

 There goes Charlie about to scale the rock wall...

 Justin started pushing the boys in the hammock.

It was pretty cute.

They were giggling so loud.

I am always thankful when I can actually attend one of these functions. Although, without Brent it is very tiring. I definitely needed a nap when it was over.