Spring Break 2013

Well we survived a totally unplanned, unscheduled spring break this year. We got to enjoy the quiet neighborhood as so many folks seemend to be out of town this past week. We had fun exploring new neighborhoods on foot and we took advantage of free swimming lessons at the community center. We ended our week with a trip to the ocean and a visit from Aunt Amanda. We got lucky and had beautiful weather at the coast and amazingly warm temperatures when we got back to Portland. Windows open, park loitering, outside margarita  drinking kind of weather.

I finally got my belated Birthday trip to the aquarium. I could watch the moon jellyfish swim for hours, amazing and unreal. Ben and I got the kids to cooperate long enough for us to visit the Rouge Brewery for dinner, one of our favorite Newport places. My all time favorite Newport haunt  is the historic bay front and the barking sea lions on the docks, my animal loving baby Nalah though they were pretty great too.

Solomon got to fly his new kite with great success after a frustrating attempt earlier in the week on the Columbia river. Kite flying was a little too easy and he lost interest leaving me to take over the job. I don't fly kites nearly enough.

It is going to be hard to get back into the old routine if the weather stays this beautiful next week.

A faerie throne and lighthouses

Well our first day provided an optimistic light for our short spring break. Sunshine on the coast?! The many rain showers we drove through simply vanished into endless blue sky. The rest of our trip proved to be wet and cold. I am very happy that Ben and I purchased a new sleeping bag for the trip, we needed it. The yurt was COLD! Much,much colder than the yurts in Oregon. I slept like a baby though, both nights, must have been the sound of the ocean, best white noise ever. I am usually a night owl, trying to sneak in a few hours of drawing,sewing,or knitting while my motherhood is momentarily at pause while the kids are asleep. On our trip we pretty much went to bed when the sun went down and woke up just as it was rising,quite a change for me,but refreshing.

I pretty much expected the rain so I looked up the local thrift shops before our trip and we spend a good part of our Monday hitting thrift shops all up and down Hwy 101. I scored some fabric,Sophie found several books, Ben got a bunch of records, and Solomon is the proud new owner of a wooden Semi-Truck. On the last day we drove back down to the Oregon beaches before heading home. I was a bit disappointed by Cape Disappointments lack of rocks, it was nothing but one heck of a long sandy beach(there was however, quite an amazing selection of driftwood), so we had to hit my old reliable spot in order for me to feel satisfied. However,it was high tide and many other folks had the same idea. I only left with two small milk agates after braving the tides and a sideways blowing rain shower.
Maybe next time........

p.s.I made a faerie throne with the hopes of suprizing Sophie.She found it in the car before I could. We put it in the woods behind our yurt and the faeries left Sophie a whole sand dollar in return.