Weekend of Fun

I think one of our favorite things to do is to introduce the Oregon Coast and Tillamook ice cream to those who come to visit. Even when we asked the kids, I thought they would turn their noses up at the idea of the drive out there-but they unanimously voted to go.
Grandpa John and Aunt Gloria came up for a quick visit and we wore all of us out at the first sunny day on the coast we (personally) have ever experienced. The kids ACTUALLY wore swimming suits AND their shoulders were kissed with sun by the time we were done. It was hard to pull ourselves away.
Aunt Gloria wandered down to water's edge for a minute:

I drove around for several minutes while looking for a parking spot. When I got down to the beach, I started counting heads (of course). I couldn't find Abbie or Justin anywhere. I walked out to Dave who was (of course), wading knee deep in the ocean-this is always where you can find him whenever we are on the beach. I asked where the two missing were and to my dismay, he had no idea. He said they beat him down to water's edge and he hadn't seen them. Not only is this the busiest day we've EVER seen on the beach, but it had been at least 15 minutes since I dropped them off. I bit my tongue for a minute and didn't instantly start panicking and before long, they were running down the beach towards me.

Jumping waves. The little boy who looks like might be Spencer isn't him. Spencer isn't fond of the waves, large or small, so I hang with him because at the drop of the hat, he just decides to head wherever he wants to head, and before long, he disappears. This little boy had a great time with Abbie and Justin though.

Grandpa John catching a snooze on solid ground.

Dave told Abbie and Justin he would buy them a Blizzard at Dairy Queen if the got totally submerged in the ocean this time and they both did it. The DQ we found was about 40 miles from everywhere and we went in to grab a bite. While eating, Dave leaned over to me and motioned to the family a few tables away and said, "They're talking about Kaysville." He said they were describing the way 200 North meets up with Highway 89 and just then, they started to talk about Cherry Hill.

Refraining from speaking up, er. . .talking across the restaurant (at the request of my husband), I kept quiet-although it was hard :)

Several minutes later, one of them wandered over in our direction and as I asked if they were talking about Kaysville, she not only said they were, but that she recognized Gloria. She and her parents had helped for years with the Special Needs Mutual Glo is a part of and she knew Glo and all of her friends.

It really is a small world.

We missed Ty on this beach trip because he was enjoying a fun filled week at Scout Camp.

Once at home, the boys enjoyed a rare pillow-fight with Aunt Glo. It was pretty great to watch.

Dad's birthday is on Friday and we decided to surprise him with a small party on Saturday when everyone was home and we still had Grandpa and Aunt Glo there.

Abbie decorated the top of the cake and we decided to go with the smoke-alarm setting off (not really) full 36 candles.

On Sunday morning, Ty and Abbie climbed in the car with Grandpa and Aunt Glo for a fun filled few weeks in Utah. They are really missed at home! It's only day 3 and I'm not sure I can live without them for that long!