Our Coast Vacation

Well, we were supposed to leave for Lincoln City at 8 or 9 am Saturday but we were stuck at home waiting for the notary to show up so we could sign the refinance papers for our home loan. We started the process about five months ago and it has been taking forever! I'm not really sure why, I heard many different excuses. At least they worked it so we still got the interest rate we would have gotten if it had gone through in a reasonable amount of time. Anyway, we *had* to close by Saturday because the appraisal was going to expire and since they didn't let me know until Friday afternoon about 3, I didn't have much time to get things together. It is (hopefully) done now and I am pleased - the rate went down a full point and the payment is down about $200 per month which is nice.

So we hit some horrible traffic heading out of Portland and were in the car probably 1 1/2 hours longer than we thought we would be but the boys did pretty well. We got to the lake house around 3:30, took an inventory and the mister and J1 were going to meet his family at the beach and then go grocery shopping. We stay at the house for free but everyone who stays is responsible for replenishing the consumables - dish soap, paper towels, laundry soap - that sort of thing. It is quite nice! Anyway, I was stayed home because J2 needed a nap.

Off they went to the beach but the mister brought J1 back before shopping because J1 was throwing sand at people and wouldn't stop. Oh well, we had nice snuggle time. The mister made bbq chicken for dinner and we just sat around and relaxed. I never have a chance to do that - there is always laundry to wash and fold, work to be done, playing on the computer - you name it. So, with a few exceptions, I am relaxing this week. I did bring J1's computer along so I can type up blog posts. It doesn't have internet at the moment but I can still type and upload later.

The house is on Devil's Lake in Lincoln City and it is a great place. It is two stories with basically a bedroom and bathroom on the top floor and another bedroom, bathroom, living room, dining room and kitchen on the bottom. There is also a nice deck and property down to the water and a dock. With the kids, we generally just gate off the 2nd story and live downstairs. The bedroom is quite large and we all sleep in there. We set up J2 in his portacrib, unroll J1's sleeping bag on the floor and the mister and I share the king sized bed. We *need* a king sized bed - I love it. We have a queen and it is a nice memory foam one but still, our bedroom has room for a king. Won't happen though since we do have the memory foam one and a queen sleigh bed that matches our bedroom set but it is nice to dream.

The boys are back on ranch time - getting up at around 8 am. My theory is that they may wake up at that time at home but just turn over and go back to sleep but when we are away, they look around and think "where the heck am I" and get up. Oh well, I don't have things to get done in the morning so it doesn't bother me much.

Today (Sunday) we went to see if we could meet up with the mister's family at the beach and they were on their way back up to my MIL's timeshare by the time we got there. We stayed and had lunch and then headed back to the beach. I wasn't looking forward to it with J2 since he *loves* the water and I was worried he would make a beeline for the ocean. Well, he did but the mister and his BIL helped and it wasn't bad at all. He got completely soaked but loved every minute of it. After a while, he was done with the water and stayed in the general area playing in the sand. He needed a nap so I took him back up to the timeshare and he got a quick bath and then his bottle. Everyone else came back shortly after that and J1 and his cousin GG both took baths and J2 was trying like crazy to get in the water again. Never saw a kid like it. At home when he hears the bath running, he gets all excited and then bangs on the bathroom door screaming until both kids are ready and I open the door. Just a water boy!

We were supposed to have everyone over for a spaghetti feed but the mister's sister and her family wanted to get back home so they left around 3. My MIL still came over for dinner and we built a fire in the fire pit. We tried to roast marshmallows for s'mores but it just didn't work. Oh well, my MIL came in and made them in the microwave - almost just as good! It is time to head to bed now. Oh, a final note. J1 said his favorite thing about the day was the beach, seeing his uncle, his aunt, his cousins, the other girl (GG’s friend who does have a name but J1 called her “the other girl” so I will too), and his Gramma – basically everything!