Oregon Trip-Part 3

Wednesday we took a day trip to the town of Seaside to visit the coast. In all the times I have been to Portland I had never been to the Oregon coast, so this was my request for our vacation. It was amazing. We had such a great time. I have already mentioned how wonderful the weather has been, but really this was a PERFECT Oregon beach day. We got on the road ahead of schedule and made a stop at the local Dollar Tree before heading out of town because (drum roll please) Weston pooped in the potty earlier that morning! His reward was that he got to pick out a prize from the dollar store. He ended up picking a mini monster truck. We also found the best one dollar investment ever: a handheld electronic version of the game 1 v. 100. We picked up a dollar pack of batteries and Ian and I played trivia a good part of the drive. Yes, we are nerds. :)

Both the boys fell asleep about half an hour into the drive and napped most of the way. When we got there I had my doubts about our day. Weston was whining, it was kind of chilly, he didn't like walking on the sand and he had to go potty (with no public restroom in sight). So, we walked down to the water carting both boys and a little bit of our stuff.

We ended up deciding to do the non-shore Seaside stuff first, so we loaded back up in the car and drove in a big circle to end up one block from where we started and found a bathroom and the main drag of shops. This included the Seaside Carousel Mall. Weston did a ride on the carousel, which he LOVED. He was also very brave and took one hand off and waved every time we passed Daddy and Davin.
We continued wandering the shops and stopped in The Buzz, a big candy store, and picked out treats. Ian had a chocolate dipped twinkie. Wow. It was pretty yummy. I picked some homemade fudge, naturally. Anyway, after walking the rest of the interesting looking shops we got back in the car once again and drove over to the McDonald's to grab some lunch, feed Dav and use the potty again. When we got back we loaded up all our stuff and headed back to the shore. It was a much better timing. We were all fed and pottied and it had warmed up quite a bit. There was just a light wind and it was almost cloudless.

Weston started digging and seriously just sat there digging all by himself for a good long while. He filled up all his buckets and then would dump them out and start over. He said he was building a castle where people could get married. There was a little swing set on the beach too, so both the boys took a turn there too.
Davin hung out in his little cabana we made him out of a towel draped over the footstool of the camp chair. It was perfect!
After some major digging, Weston and I walked down to the water. We took our time getting through the sand. I showed Weston how to make his own footprints. It was cute.
At first Weston wasn't completely sure about the water and I had to hold his hand the whole time. After about 15 minutes and me showing him how to chase the waves and jump in the shallow water he was having a ball. He would run WAY out past where the waves would get him and then finally hear me calling him and stop. Then he would run all the way back and jump in another wave. We just had so much fun playing in the waves. The water didn't even feel all that cold.
Davin spent a lot of time in the Snugli at the beach and after this picture was taken we switched and put him on me. After about 5 minutes he conked out and I had to hold his head up. It was hilarious. Poor kid was worn out. Here are the handsome men in my life playing at the beach.
Back to diggin! At this point he was calling himself, and requesting that we refer to him as, the Digger Man. What a cute nutter.
At the end of the afternoon Ian busted out the kite and Weston did so well helping to fly it. I was kind of chair bound with a snoozing Davin in my lap during this part, but I could still see the whole kite-flying experience.
We ended up staying at the beach longer than we planned and decided to just stay in Seaside to eat dinner and then head out post-traffic. It was a good decision because I was totally craving a bowl of hot clam chowder and I got it and it was fabulous. Weston played hard and was starving. He scarfed his mac and cheese at the restaurant and ate all of my oyster crackers. Here is our family at the end of our day in Seaside. Big contented sigh. It was wonderful day. Good times.
The boys slept all the way home and Ian and I got some good conversation in. I knew it was a successful family trip when the first thing Weston said at 5:30am this morning (yes, AM) was, "Playing at the beach is fun. Thanks for the fun outing Mom." You're welcome.