Summer on the Coast

I know I was just here to tell you all about Park City. However, we've only been on the Oregon Coast for a few days, and I already have a ridiculous amount of photos to share. I thought I'd better get caught up before Blogger imposed some sort of limit on the number of images I can post.

If the photos make it seem like we're in a quiet, blissful, happy little beach town it's because that's exactly where we are. Our visits to the Millers' house never, ever disappoint. Everyone is so happy and relaxed here, and we are soaking up the cool weather as much as possible. I already get sad thinking about going home, and not just because of the oppressive heat. I think I just didn't realize how badly I needed a vacation until we left, and I wish I had an entire summer away from real life. But alas, people have to go to these things called jobs and attend to the business of life, so we'll get back there at some point. Anyhow, we still have several days left on the Coast, so I'll just focus on that. Dylan flew back home today to do a trip, but he'll be back late tomorrow night. I took the opportunity to put the boys down VERY early because they were exhausted and needed it badly. I'm debating opening up a bottle of Two Buck Chuck or possibly taking a solo dip in the hot tub. I don't know...the possibilities are endless.

We chowed at Chipotle in Portland while Dylan figured out the car seat situation.

Graham loves his Portland car seat...or maybe it's just because he is finally forward-facing.

A long anticipated visit with the geckos that live at Grandpa's house.

Yard work!

He's still having a blast on Grandpa's tractor.

Frequent visits to the gecko corner.

Woohoo! Jumping down the stairs to get to the beach.

Gavin and I took a walk on the beach while Graham napped at home with Dylan, and we had so much fun.

Picking wildflowers for me to and from the beach. This kid is the best.

We took a family field trip to Pacific City to climb the dune at Cape Kiwanda.

We hiked to the top of that sand dune. And we carried 25-35lbs of human the entire way. I count that as my full week of exercise.

Love this silly baby!

We made it!

We slid down, but it went pretty slowly. Lots of fun, anyway!

Gavin's favorite thing was finding crabs and mussels in the tide pools.

Gavin misunderstood and thought it was the Annual No Pants Day in Pacific City. I guess that's next week.

We left Pacific City in time to stop for ice cream in Neskowin and then visit Cody and Abby's property. Gavin and Judah played in "Judah's forest" and had a fantastic time running around and picking berries while we checked out the new house.

Hot tubbing on the balcony with Daddy.

Visiting the tide pools at Yaquina Head on Wednesday. These boys could have stayed here all day touching sea urchins and sea anenomes and starfish.

It was crowded at low tide!

We carried Graham around the tide pools but it's slippery and unsteady and not exactly safe. So after a while, we took turns hanging with him on the beach where he delightfully threw rocks.

Afterward we had lunch in Newport with all the C. Millers.

Then it was off to the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Guinea and Grandpa met up with us, and Grandpa took all the boys in the hurricane simulator.

Just a normal family doing normal things at the aquarium.

A quick stop to play before leaving for the afternoon.

G & G took a photo with all 5 grandchildren. 

Mornings with G-pa. Haha, I love this photo.

Time to feed crickets to the geckos!

Again, just doing totally normal stuff on a Thursday morning.

We picked up sandwiches and had a picnic at a park on the lake. Then we moved across the street to hunt for salamanders, and Graham fell in the lake within 2 seconds. After removing his wet clothes, I only had a jacket to put on him, so he rocked this look the rest of the day.

This guy....he's a spirited one. But I couldn't adore him more!

Gavin caught a salamander all by himself with his bare hands! The boy is obsessed with bugs and reptiles, so I'd better get used to the creepy crawlies, I guess.

We caught 3 all together, and Gavin had a blast dumping the whole thing back in the lake before we left.

I've never known anyone to have such a difficult time keeping his bottom in his pants. Tiny butt problems, I guess. I wouldn't know anything about that.

Hiking back out to the car.

Dressed to the nines, obviously.

Afternoon at the beach with my boys after dropping Dylan off at his rental car. Please notice Graham still wearing the diaper/jacket combo.

My sweetest thing.

Our bellies were filled with salmon berries by the time we finished the walk back home.

We picked up a greasy pizza from a dive bar in the next town and called it a night.

The boys were so spent after an exciting couple days with their cousins, so I will embrace this short-lived change of pace. It's so sweet to see them having such a fun time, though. I just love it. I'll have to figure out how to spend an extended amount of time here in the coming years, like Gavin and I did two years ago. I sleep better here and feel better here, and I think everyone is a touch happier.

Last year, after we wrapped up our summer travels, we changed up just about everything in our routine. Graham was only 6 or 7 months old, and I had spent much of my time at home with him up until that point. I don't know where I got the patience to keep that baby by my side every second of every day, but somehow I did it, and I don't regret it. I actually handled his infancy quite well, when you compare it to my first experience. I was patient and not easily overwhelmed. And then, after our summer vacations, Gavin started school, Dylan went back to work after a couple months off, and I started back at work after 14 months away from the pharmacy. Graham started daycare a couple days a week, and with Dylan flying an insane schedule, I fell into this vicious cycle of sleeplessness and unrelenting anxiety and overwhelm, and it continued for the entire year.

Now that we're here again, and I am being reunited with what it feels like to be well-rested and calm and relaxed, it makes me sad for what has been going on in my head all year. It seems so simple...like I should just quit working if that's the problem. But it's more complicated than that, and the job is pretty necessary right now. Hopefully, this trip will have pushed some sort of re-set button in my brain and I'll continue to be a non-insomniac on our return home. I'll keep you posted. Or maybe I won't...I'm sure that's more than you ever cared to know about the goings-on inside my head!