making the most

On Saturday we were all set to visit the Oregon Coast. We have a routine we love to repeat whenever we make this drive. We head up to a tiny little coast town call Yachats that's about two hours from our house. Once we arrive, we eat at the same charming cafe every time. Then we drive back down the coast for about ten minutes and stop at a beautiful little piece of beach that has tide pools and boulders and a sick view of both the ocean and, behind you, the dense Oregon forest that grows right up to the cliffs that lead down to the beach. Oregon beaches aren't like the So Cal beaches we always vacationed at when I was young. The Coast is rocky and windy and cold. Somehow kids are impervious to the cold and willing to wade through the water (holding a hand, of course) and search out nature specimens in the water pools and dig in the sand and just have the time of their life. After the beach we make the drive back home and stop in a town called Florence for homemade ice cream at a little parlor named, of all stupid things, BJ's. Then we cross our fingers the kids will nap while we make our way home and as with any road trip, we play a little radio game where you try to guess the artist before the other person. I know my 80s power balladists like whoa. Rob's super good at telling the difference between Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, and Matchbox 20. He wins life?

So you can see why Otto was so excited for our trip to the beach yesterday.

Sadly it was not to be. About 30 minutes outside of town our poor hero came down with motion sickness and we had to head home. We were all a bit disappointed and vowed to try again next weekend with Dramamine on board. So yesterday turned into a day of yard fun instead. We whipped out the credit card for an important purchase we've been putting off for a while: a long hose that would lead all the way to the back and a sprinkler. We cleaned out the kiddie pool and, after an early afternoon nap, we sunscreened the moppets and headed out back for a really great afternoon.

Our yard pool party was followed by a summertime blanket picnic (also in the yard) of local organic sweet corn (hard to find!) and watermelon. We tried the new Tofurkey chicken/apple flavor sausages and they were a hit. And on the beverage front I am living on lemons lately. I've been putting jam jars of water with lemon in the freezer lately to get super cold and having glass after glass of icy lemon water. And in the evenings, it's all about Twilight summer ale with a wedge of lemon.

It ended up being an amazing day despite the morning setback. And can this mama just say that it is wonderful to see Otto loosening up around water. Just a year ago he would have never, never EVER, run through a sprinkler. This year he is a sprinkler maniac! Hopefully this means swim lessons this year will be more productive as well, since last year he just opted out of each lesson, ha.

ps. Otto's adorable shorts in first pic are c/o Duchess and Lion Etsy shop.