Oregon Coast 2009

Our family, along with my parents, just returned from a 4-day weekend on the Oregon Coast. Parents of small children will understand when I say this: vacations, although lots of fun, are NOT relaxing. They are a LOT of work. But this vacation was about as relaxing as it could possibly get!!



We rented a condo at Gearhart, OR through http://www.vrbo.com/ I don't know about other situations, but this one was great! The condo was perfect. It was literally as close to the beach as we could get, just a small hill away. Joe and I learned a painful lesson when Maddie was just 5 months old: Staying on the coast without a kitchen is a very bad idea with kids. So, from that experience, we made a meal plan and packed it all with us. It actually worked out really well! The kids played outside or flew kites while I cooked and Joe barbecued. We really only had to buy lunches and treats.

The weather was GORGEOUS!!!! It was high 60's and sunny almost the whole time. This does NOT happen on the Oregon Coast. In fact, I was so convinced that it wouldn't be *that* nice that I didn't even bring shorts! I guess there are worse things to not plan on, right? The one drizzly morning we had, we went down and did some shopping and sight seeing at Cannon Beach. The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent on the beach.



....Ya know, I called this "Oregon Coast 2009" but it should really be called, "Ben's vacation." We all had fun. But Ben? Wow! He had a blast!!! I don't think that kid cried once...except when we left the water each time. There was a smile plastered from ear to ear from the time he woke up to the time he went to bed. He LOVED running through the waves with Papa. He loved running FROM the waves with Grama. He loved flying kites and building sand castles with dad. He even loved shopping at all the sweet shops that seem to invade the coastline. The kid was just happy. Ben is a hard one to read at times, and has a great poker face. As a mom, I often wonder if I'm making an impact on him. If he's happy. If he likes something. This weekend was therapeutic for me as I watched him being a boy, having a fantastic time, enjoying the sun, and the waves, and his family. The simple pleasures are not lost on this child :)



As there were just too darn many pictures to post, I decided to break it up into sections. So be watching the rest of the week for our Oregon Coast 2009 picture gallery!