Trip to Rockaway

Several months ago, my mom asked if we would be interested in taking their week at the beach. She had bazaars and Dad had meetings so they couldn't go this September. I jumped on it! So, ight near the end of the month, we packed up and headed to Rockaway Beach, Oregon for a week of family vacation time.
The thing I love about Rockaway, well 2 things really, is how peaceful it is. Quite a few towns on the coast are so touristy and busy. Rockaway really isn't. The other thing is how much beach there is. Not a rock for miles. At low tide it feels like you are in an entire county of smooth sandy beach.
The unit we stay in has a bed, kitchen, dining in one studio-type room, plus a bedroom with two queens. It was far from E proof--but nothing really is. So that kept us hopping. It also made sue we got out and about everyday! Lots of walks on the beach and trips to the swimming pool.
I never did get a picture of the kids in the pool. They were so cute. Baby M decided the pool was just grand. She splashed her little heart out. :)
Here's a few of the pictures from the adventure.

C helping E fly a kite

M on the same day. For some reason, when everyone else was in shorts, M was bundled. *shrug*


We took a morning trip to Oswald State Park. C took the older 2 over to see some tide pools. They naturally walked in the surf on the way back. Something happened (dunno what still) and G totally went down. Face first. Into a wave. That frosted look to his hair is all sand. His mouth is fine btw, he just needed, like, 5 crackers at once to feel revitalized. He was completely fine. We were just glad it was G and not M that ate it. Or the rest of the day would have been miserable. G is such an adventurer.

The evening walks were more apt to get chilly. Especially for wet little toes. Here's my little E and me, finishing up a walk.

G displying his kelp find. He was too chicken to touch it for awhile, but warmed to the idea eventually. Not long after that, we found a dead squid that had washed up. It hadn't been dead for long, but we don't have a clue as to cause of death. I didn't have my camera and C is a bit squeamish about that kind of thing. So we don't have pictures, but I wish we did. It was huge! And in perfect shape. M had a great time poking at it as we did a semi-science lesson. I would guess the body was a little over 2 feet and the tentacles a bit longer still.

Walking back from town. The boys are racing. You can see just how vast the beach is here. Baby M took all her walks in the wrap, of course. :)

12 years ago...

I was a college freshman, madly in love. He was too. He asked me to marry him. Ahhh, and the rest is history. I was scanning these pictures and thought I'd share. Please keep in mind that this was 1995--that's why my hair and glasses look like that. Of course, back then I had the time to use some hairspray and makeup. Yes, well....

Our Engagement photo at the Rose Garden in the winter frost.

A candid that looks posed. At the park where we were married.

The posed, formal pictures. Also at the park. The dress was my mom's.

And the rings. Very simple, but I love my wedding ring. We didn't do and engagement ring, and I picked out the wedding band myself. I have since added my inheritance from my Grandma L. Amazingly enough, the rings were the same size and style. She was married in the 1930's. We must have the same taste!

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, I've made it 31 years in this life. My mom says I can't be her daughter anymore. I have to be her sister or niece or something. That's okay. She'll still spoil me.
E has been up till midnight for the last 2 nights. Ugh. But when he woke up to eat this morning, I realized he had slept for 5 hours!! Yay! I'm hoping this means we've turned the tide towards sleeping for longer periods of time. I don't expect him to sleep for 5 hours consistently, but maybe 4? That would be lovely.
I got presents from the rest of the family too. C gave me a lovely 12" stainless steel omelet pan. It will be so nice to have a larger pan to cook for this hungry family of ours. And M picked out one of those herbal/rice hot packs that you heat up in the microwave. Sooooo nice for my shoulders which are getting mighty sore. Especially since G wants to be carried more. Whew, he's heavy.

You tell me

As per a discussion with some online friends about hair and such, I posted this picture. Is it long enough? Should it be longer? I'm considering dreads and/or dyeing it. Can't decide. Probably will turn out to be decision by default.
Its a crappy picture I know, but no one is here to take a picture of me. I realized in going through pictures that if something happened to me, my family would have very few pictures of me to look back on. Maybe that should tell me something about who's the camera hog in the family eh?

Bunches of pictures to try to catch up

Here's one more snow photo. I forgot to put it up earlier. It was our first Oregon snowperson!



Now that the weather is back to normal-ish, we get out to ride our bikes and such. G loves his trike and zooms around making "vroom-vroom" sounds.


Here's that pantry photo I promised earlier. I am proud to report that it still looks pretty much the same.


The three of us in the big cozy chair.



We had a great trip to Idaho. The boys were disappointed that there was no snow, but oh well.
I'd write more, but baby is sooo fussy.