Gearhart, Oregon

Having four days off last weekend allowed us to get away and enjoy a much needed mini vacation. The vacation itself was reason enough to celebrate. Being that it was the 4th of July added that much more excitement to the weekend. It was also our friend Kristi's wedding, which provided "the icing on the cake!"

Admiring the flowers and Auntie Analisa after the wedding ceremony.

Friday, Day 1 - Exhausted from the family wedding the weekend prior, I struggled before failing altogether to get geared up for another big weekend on the go. Therefore the artful and careful planning before any and all trips (for which I am known and take pride in), DID NOT happen. Period. I must have been in denial that the weekend was actually approaching. Friday morning rolled around and instead of getting into a packed car and driving away, which was "the plan," Steve headed out to an early morning meeting and I began frantically throwing things into bags. Peyton gleefully took things out of the bags. So, as you can imagine, our packing was incomplete. Random. Haphazard, at best. We brought spaghetti sauce for example, but no noodles. We remembered hiking shoes, but did not bring proper hiking clothes. In fact, Steve did not have anything warmer than a t-shirt. I (aka Snack Girl) didn't pack a single snack! Poor, poor planning indeed. One way or another we managed to fill the car with "stuff" and several hours later than we planned on leaving, we drove away.

Peyton granted my wish and napped in the car. In between naps we stopped first to enjoy a picnic at the park in Clatskanie and then later to gulp down a quick power shake and enjoy the swings at the Hill Top playground in Astoria. This was a welcome find as we were navigating our way around the weekend traffic heading to the beach, with a fussy baby in the back seat. Sedated by breast milk, Peyton settled (I won't say willingly, but settled he was) back into the car seat and away we went to complete our drive and day 1 of our trip.

The first touch - perplexing!

Day 2 - At the beach

Saturday, Day 2 - As is expected at the beach we experienced a mix of weather (only for some reason - see explanation above - we didn't pack accordingly). Even on the coldest, wettest and windiest day we had a blast. Peyton was slightly perplexed by his initial sand experience, but quickly warmed up to and dove right into the sand, tasting a bit here and there as well. The wind tickled his face and the sand tickled his toes. I'm sure all of his senses were wide awake during this play time. Mine sure were!

Diving right in!

Wedding start time: 5pm. Peyton bed time: 6pm. What was I thinking? Another oversight in my weekend planning. While today, he still seems to be recovering from this late night party, he did surprisingly well during the event. He clapped throughout the entire wedding ceremony and appeared to be sleeping throughout the reception, well, sleeping with his eyes wide shut anyway! Limp as can be, he displayed every sign of sleeping except that every time we peeked at him his eyes were wide open, glossy, but open. Hysterical! Note to self: as hard as it is to make, keep bed time at 6pm. Even when he goes to bed later, he still wakes up around 5:30/6am. Later to bed = less sleep. A lot less sleep in this case.

Family photo op at the wedding.

Sunday, Day 3 - Day trip to Cannon Beach/Trial run. A turn in the weather and sheer exhaustion made it difficult to get out of the house. Shortly after lunch we finally got ourselves together and energetically set off on the short drive to Cannon Beach to enjoy a nice afternoon hike. Peyton had other plans. Only minutes before our arrival he fell asleep in the car. Unwilling to disturb his sleep after our previous nights disruption, we drove around and around and around. For an hour we drove through the beach town until finally stopping the car to read our books, looking out at the ocean. It was late afternoon when he awoke so we disgarded our hopes of hiking and instead braved the cold and wind (really, really strong wind) for a short beach walk. Even with plan B (the short beach walk vs. hike) we barely made it home by 6pm for Peyton's bed time.

A windy day on Cannon Beach.

Monday, Day 4 - Cannon Beach/Ecola State Park Hike/Indian Beach adventure. Practice makes perfect and this time we got ourselves up and out of the house bright and early. While it felt quite cold, especially with the gusts of wind and teasing rain, once we were hiking we warmed right up, well, kind of. The weekend crowd had dissipated, the fog had not. It was eerily quiet and mysteriously dark along the trail, but peaceful all the same. With real ocean waves crashing to shore in the background and the gently bounce of Steve's step as he climbed up the trail. Peyton fell almost instantly and deeply asleep in the backpack.

Moments like these: Priceless.

Refueled with all the warm and fussy feelings that being in the great outdoors provides, we decided to call it quits around noon and head back to our home, sweet home.

One last look: Indian Beach - Ecola State Park