a day at the beach

One of the unintentional perks of moving here five years ago is our proximity to Chris' family on the coast in Lincoln City. We had Maryn's first birthday party at Aunt Mary's house and we've spent many fun summer afternoons picking blackberries from the bushes that line their driveway. For one reason or another, it had been way too long between visits. And what better excuse to take us back to the coast than a graduation party?

Chris' (second) cousin Tom graduated from high school last weekend. A huge congratulations to him for all he has accomplished thus far, and for the many adventures to come! And also to his parents for raising such a kind, thoughtful, talented son!

 

While we visited with family at the graduation party, someone mentioned that a birthday party for another cousin was taking place right after at the beach across the street. So off we went to celebrate little G's first birthday where the kids had fun flying kites, playing ball and spending time together. Thanks to Tracy and family for being so welcoming to us at the last minute. We were so grateful for the chance to visit with everyone!

 Great grandpa Jim, S and birthday boy G.

 Aunt Mary and Lucy

 Uncle Steve should have a business entertaining as Donald Duck at kid's parties.

You can probably tell in the photos that what began as a slightly overcast day soon became sunny and simply gorgeous. While we were at the party, someone else made mention of Chris' cousin Craig who operates a charter boat for fishing and whale watching excursions. He had just returned from his last trip of the day and graciously agreed to take us out on his boat for a bit. We even saw a whale not too far from shore and Maryn wins the quote of the day award with her excited exclamation upon seeing her "first ocean creature!"

 Lucy and Steve clowning around on the boat

After all that fun it was time to head home, but not without a quick stop for ice cream bars and some time playing in the sand and waves. It was a perfect day at the coast!

Dying Egg-stravaganza

Here's another set of photos I uploaded last month but never posted. We dyed eggs at Grandma's house after our walk and had so much fun doing it! I think I mixed the colors wrong so we had to let each egg sit in dye for a long time and they still were kind of light. Of course we cracked a few that we then had to eat - I think the photos of Lucy eating the egg are my favorite. That girl has some hilarious facial expressions stored up! It was a day of fun spring memories as we spent time looking forward to Easter.

 

Spring walk

These photos are pretty old now, but they're already uploaded so why not share them? This was from a walk with my mom way back in April, when the spring bulbs and flowers were just beginning to bloom. I love just walking around the neighborhood and pausing to observe all the beauty of unfurling buds and blossoms. Ordinary, but memorable, the little routines and traditions we create that become regular parts of our days, months and years. A simple 20 minute walk becomes a lovely memory of stopping to smell the proverbial roses (or tulips).