Spent the morning being lazy and getting stuff together for the beach and left out in the afternoon.  It is only a short drive to the coast, maybe two hours. This drive across 26 to the Pacific is what people take drives for,  the pine trees that create a tunnel of greens and the afternoon sun peaking through.  I actually drove the speed limit to make the drive last.  The excitement from B as we were closer and closer was too much.  He needs the ocean.  It must be his English/NewFoundlandish ancestry.  Maggie spotted the ocean before us and it was fun to watch the big blue edge get closer and closer.  Then we saw it–the Pacific–in all it’s glory and beauty.  The Oregon coast is unmatched in my mind with any other I have seen. There are no words–but we do have pictures.  We arrived at the house and the rest of the family arrived soon after.  So the place was full–the parents(John & Sandy), the kids (B, Jason, and Angie), their spouses(me, Jenn, and Chris), and the grand-kids(Sol, Blake, and Amara).  We ate and talked and tried to sleep.  Saturday we hung ate the beach!!  Too much fun with the kids!  That night we went down and had a fire on the beach…perfect.  The night sky was a little cloudy though and blocked our view of the stars.  We got a little sleep and then up again.  Sunday was a little cooler and rainy.  The parents and Jason/Jenn/Sol had to go so we went down to the beach before they left.  Wish we had more time with the parents:( They all left and we took a fat nap.  Awoke to find Chris and Angie’s friends had arrived.  We hung with them, played some cranium and watched the meteor shower.  Holy crap!!!  It was amazing –I hope at least some of you saw some of it!  That finished off our night pretty well—that and having our own room:)

Okay the guest bed at Jason and Jenn’s wins!! It is the %^*&$@% bomb! King size time sucker. We could easily never leave this room. We do because a) we have an awesome nephew named Solomon and b) we love this town. I think six year olds are way smarter than they used to be, but also Sol is smarter than other six year olds. Blake has a new prodigy–he already rocked the melodica after just one day. He also has a guitar and a old school Casio keyboard.(B is loving it) So first day I got up and went blueberry picking with Jill and Jake(I love this dog). We went out to Kruger farms(http://www.krugersfarmmarket.com) were you can pick your own, plus they have a market with all kinds o’goodies. Jill is gonna make some jam. mmm jam. Other than that I hung out with the peeps then later the boys went down to the Moon and Sixpence pub for some beer. Blake got to watch a local band called Trash Can Joe. Check them out at http://www.trashcanjoe.com. They rode bikes down to the pub(that is what you do in Portland) and Blake had a long tired ride home at one in the morning:)

Thursday we went exploring. Blake is on the hunt for a small accordion and the guy from the band suggested a place down on Hawthorne. It was a really cool place with a ton of rare finds and no accordions. They did have a back room full of organs and B3’s and Leslie speakers though. Trouble! B is in love with an old Ann Arbor pump organ, and I have to admit it sounded so warm and beautiful I was ready to find a way to make it his. Alas we had to leave the shop sans organ and head back to the house. I made yummy fish tacos and we bummed around the rest of the night.