Fourth of July Beach Vacation!

Randy, Trey, and I were fortunate to spend the Fourth of July weekend in Rockaway Beach with Julie, Tim, and the boys.  We were there for four nights and the weather was fantastic!  I don't know if I've ever stayed at the coast where it has been that nice, warm, and sunny for as many days in a row.  My dad came and spent two nights with us, and it was really fun to have him there for the holiday.

The beach house Julie rented was just a stone's throw from the ocean.  Sitting out on the deck listening to the ocean and reading my book is just heaven to me.  My family spent a lot of time at the beach growing up, and I think my mom loved sitting on the deck reading as much as I did (if not more).  I definitely had my share of moments this weekend thinking of my mom and missing her (in a good way).  

Julie and her family did not arrive until Thursday morning.  It was so nice to spend some quality time with them, especially the boys.  I really loved watching Trey and Grady play together.  I hope they love each other like brothers since Trey won't have any of his own.  Their bond definitely seems to be forming.

On the morning of Fourth of July, we walked into town for the annual parade.  The parade was a little hysterical to me because it consisted mostly of cars with random Rockaway Beach people sitting in them and throwing out candy to the crowd.  Trey thought he would see clowns, horses, and monkeys in the parade.  He did get to see one horse, but that was about it.

Trey chomping on his lollipop 

I managed to finagle Kris's margarita recipe out of her, so on Thursday afternoon the four of us enjoyed margaritas on the deck.  Julie managed to get Trey down for a nap, so we had a good chunk of child-free time.  It was delightful!

Here is Randy after an afternoon of drinking margaritas on the deck. 

The town of Rockaway Beach has a great fireworks show.  We were able to see it from our deck which made it my favorite kind of fireworks show - watch it from the comfort of your own home, don't have to deal with crowds, and get to go to bed immediately after.

Friday morning we spent some time on the beach.  Trey is really in to making sand castles right now, but I think after a few days of making them, he was even more interested in destroying them (picture is at the bottom of the blog post).

Sitting out on the deck while the kids were napping was definitely a highlight of the trip.  I got to finish an entire book on this trip.  It was called Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and is about the plague in England in 1666.  The content was quite depressing, but I couldn't put it down.  I highly recommend it.  After reading about the plague, I moved on to lighter topics like the mental anguish that soldiers go through after being in a war.  Good times.  However, I always enjoy Maisie Dobbs, and this book is no different (even if it is depressing).

This is what the sky looked like at the coast.  For those of you who live in Oregon, you know this is a freaking miracle, even in July.  And we had four days of it!  (Well, some of the days were partly cloudy, but it was still warm, so that's good beach weather in my book.)

On Saturday we took the boys to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company.  They got to feed some animals and they were delighted.  I thought it was a little ho-hum, but I kept reminding myself that my three year old was thrilled, and that's what matters.  

I love this one because it looks like the goat 

is about to take a chunk out of Grady's ear. 

Trey had fun directing Grady around and being the boss.  If their growth pattern continues, Grady will soon be the boss of Trey.  

Hugs or entrapment? I'm not sure. 

We stopped at the store on the way back and I love the following two pictures of Randy.  Poor guy always gets the short end of the stick.

When we got back, it was time for Trey to take a nap, so I made a quick escape.  Sitting on the beach with my book and a beer watching the waves...made me happy for maybe the first time that I'm the only one who can't put Trey down for a nap.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Manzanita to see Kris, John, and Porter who were staying for a few nights.  The beach was so unbelievably windy that we had to sit near the entrance to the beach behind some rocks.   Unfortunately, I forgot the kite I bought for the beach in my car at home, so we didn't get to fly kites.  Trey keeps bringing it up which might mean another trip to the beach is in order.  Sounds good to me!

Manzanita has very few restaurants, so we decided to get a pizza to go and eat on Kris and John's deck of their hotel room.  It's hard to tell from these pics, but the deck was quite cozy and we didn't have much space.  If anyone is in the market to open a new restaurant, I'd say Manzanita is the place to set up shop.

 Run, Forest, Run!

Sunday morning was our last day at the beach.  I pretty much forced Randy to go back to the actual beach with us for one more hoorah.  Sitting on the beach with my family and playing in the sand?  Why would I want to skip a day of doing that?

Little monkeys watching some Sesame 

Here's the one of Trey stomping on the "sand castle."   

All in all, I think our trip was fabulous.  We had great weather, great company, and great margaritas!  I loved making memories with Trey, and I also loved watching him with Grady.  Vacations rock!