It's a Birthday at the Beach!

Today is Lon's birthday. It is hard for me to think that  it has been 6 years since he entered this world.  The time is going by so fast, and I have been told it gets even faster down the road.  I am trying to hold on as best I can!
Today we went to Pig n' Pancake! Mmm!  For breakfast, first time this trip!

Mommy held back three presents from his party (as if he missed any) to give him at the beach. I did not want Legos at the beach. Too many little pieces for the beach, and I do not want to spend precious beach time building legos. I wonder what this present could be that thrills Lon so much but Mark, not so much?  It is an extreme hand held bubble machine!

The wait staff at Pig n' Pancake sang happy birthday to Lon! Brought him a balloon with a Pig n' Pancake ornament attached to the bottom. Lon will keep the ornament in his room for a while and then it will become part of his Christmas stuff.  A  very cute memento

Blowing bubbles at Mommy on the trail to Agate beach. I had heard good things about this beach. well, it was not the beach for us.

This photo makes me laugh.

Beauty at the beach.

Yaquina Head Light. I was not up for the climb this trip.

No one was really having fun at Agate beach. So we decided to leave. We needed to find some fun!

Yaquina Head Light from the other side on Moolak beach. This beach was way more fun. I found the fossil impression of a scallop type shell in a rock. That is one cool looking rock!  No photo of that yet. For a while, we thought Moolak might be the native word for stinky beach. There was something we could not see rotting near us. It was not as pleasant a smell as we would have liked.

Lon finally found his beach treasure! Even if it was two broken shovels, it was beach treasure!

The stream was boy heaven. Lon loves playing in the water.  I asked Mark to get me a walking stick, he searched all the driftwood and got me a can shaped piece that works wonders. I am going to keep it and sand it smooth when I get home. Lon had the idea to see if I can inlay an agate in the handle. I might try that.

After some play time and rock hunting, we went into Depoe Bay for lunch. We found a parking space right in front of the Sea Hag. Thinking this was a fortuitous, we ate there.  Lon got a coloring page. That was fun for him while waiting for his lunch

After eating his entire grilled cheese sandwich, he got a piece of chocolate cake. They did not sing to him here. Even though we mentioned it was his birthday.

All gone.

Out to Road's End Beach in Lincoln City. It has a stream!  Lon had grand plans for that stream

This little boy is just so darn cute! Lon did not put the sand on his head. The little boy's sister did that. They were waiting for their Dad to come in from Portland.  Little Michael wasted no time getting messy and wet in the stream. He was SO happy!

After they left, Lon made friends with another boy and they played in the stream.

Lon made friends with lots of little boys at the stream.

Lon kept his beach treasure and dug trenches and channels with them.

Road's End Beach.  The sun had come out and it was wonderful! It got up to 65! I know that doesn't sound like much to those of you having a real summer, but to me, it was warm and wonderful. Best of all, it was dry!

After a clean up in the jacuzzi, we went to dinner at Mo's.  They sang to Lon and brought him a wonderful ice cream sundae with a candle and a frisbee!  It was fun!  Do not know why Mark has that sour expression, we were having fun!

 After dinner at Mo's, we went back to Surftides. It was still light so we went on another agate hunt. This is the agate I found!  It is so much fun searching for the pretty rocks. Lon is getting into it too. I had a pretty little cocker spaniel come nose up to me as I was picking up a stone. Her owner said she is in training to be an agate hunter too. 

The sun is going down on a very good birthday for Lon.  He had a wonderful day, and told us so.

Night night my little six year old Lion. I hope you sleep well and may all your dreams come true. Happy Birthday

Rainy Day

The weather did not clear up today like it did yesterday, even now it is still raining. But we are at the beach, so it is all good.

A new mini fig to help with the wait for breakfast. Lon has decided the only breakfast food worth eating is pancakes. Buttermilk pancakes. No other kind. Nothing other than butter and maple syrup. And only real maple syrup. Don't even try to pass off imitation on him. It just won't work.

After our breakfast, we gave the gulls a breakfast!

Rodea Point. Nice. Just a drive for the morning, hoping that it will clear up for the afternoon!

Cape Foulweather from Otter Drive.

I think that black dot is a whale, but I am not sure. They said there was a mother whale and a baby going slowly up the coast. Most of the whales have already passed through on their way north. The Moms and babies are taking their time.

Goofing off at Cape Foulweather. Lon knew his Dad would not throw him over.

We kept going south to see if we could find the sun. We went up to the Cape Perpetua day use trail heads. It was very pretty up there. The boys walked down to a hut that they used to spot submarines in World War II.  Me, I stayed and took some nice photos. The knee is not yet better.

Reading about what they are seeing.

The trails. I think I would like to try them next time we come down.  The views are amazing!

Pretty.

We left there and headed back north. We had lunch at the Grand Central in Waldport. We all got pizza slices. Then we saw the signs for the Waldport wednesday market. We thought we would give it a try. There were some nice booths there.  Lots of beading people. Someone who was selling Japanese fishing floats they found up in the Bering sea. We got a little one. She did not have any big ones. There was one bakery there. If you are ever in Waldport go to Voltas. (I am pretty sure that was the name, if not it is close) She is an incredible baker!  I had a cashew tartlet, so buttery, so wonderful.! Wish I would have gotten three!

Depoe  Bay.  Looking for those whales. We went into the Whale watching station, which they are remodeling, and that is where I learned about the Mom and baby that were meandering up the coast, close to shore.

A seal in the harbor!

Which is what Mark was filming. The seal was following a fisherman who had a bucket of bait. The seal's thoughts were clear. DROP THE BUCKET. DROP IT! NOW! DROP IT! but the fisherman did not and the seal went under the dock to pout.

We walked around Depoe Bay for a bit, bought a cashew turtle for Lon and I. We both love them. Then we went back to Lincoln City, to walk around in the rain there. These little glass thingys were in the sidewalk all up and down the street. We stopped in at Glass Confusion and Lon got me my birthday present. Which Dad will wrap up for me later. I would tell you but that would ruin the surprise.

The scenes are different in every plaque.  This one is Pirates! ARG! It was still raining,  so we had another jacuzzi in the room, a dinner at Mist (the hotel restaurant) and had an early night.  We hope tomorrow will not be rainy.  But a rainy day at the beach is still a darn fine day!

Our First Full Day at the Beach

We started this morning at the hotel restaurant. The sweet potato pancakes were wonderful. Filling, but oh so yummy. They had pecans on them too! Lon had a regular pancake and Mark got the German pancake, what we called a Dutch Baby. mmm, yummy.

COME ON MOM! Hurry up! Even though the weather did not look promising, we hit the beach right after breakfast.

Digging at the beach. Lon's favorite activity, well after running

Beauty shot from in front of the hotel.

After our morning beach time, we got some shoes for Mark at the outlet mall and a super cool pair of Darth Vader shoes for Lon. Then lunch at Lee's. Mark loves the Chinese-American kitch of the place. The food is not bad, but the kitch is better.

Lon had chicken fingers. More like a real piece of chicken, very un-nugget like.  Lon enjoyed them. We saved the fries for the seagulls.

After lunch we went across the street to the D river wayside park.  Lon is playing in the D. They call it the World's Shortest River. Lon loved playing in the river.

So much for even staying a little bit dry. Lon was moving rocks around the D river.

Telling Daddy all about it as the sun is coming out.

Mark is ringing out Lon's sweatshirt. They played well while I took a half hour nap.

Sandy boy front

Sandy boy back

A little rinse before being allowed in the car. We had him change before getting in the car. The wet things are in a grocery bag.

After a quick change back at our room, we went to the beach in front of our hotel.  Lon likes playing in water and sand.

We moved away from the water and down the beach to a log. Lon's big plan was to tunnel under the log and then go through the tunnel.

Then he saw the girls playing near us. Joy and Daphne. He could not remember Daphne's name so he called her Velma.

Running in the water with new friend Joy

They were having so much fun, but the girls had to go.  We might meet up with them later

We got cleaned up and went to dinner. At Gallucci's Pizza. It is still not as good as that first night, but I am thinking that maybe we were just wildly hungry back then. Lon still likes it. It is not bad pizza. Lon is starting to get a little tired. All the beach running in the sun! 

After dinner we took a drive down to Siletz bay. At first we thought those were just logs on the beach. Nope, not logs. Sea Lions!

A beauty shot of Siletz Bay.  The clouds were rolling back in.

Lon was very interested in the beach treasure. But we saw the little one who owned it retrieve it. Lon was sort of disappointed. He has not found any beach treasure yet!

Beauty shot.

Lon was getting cold, so he wrapped up in the blanket that we kept in the car.

You would think that the day would be over, but you would be wrong. The weather was okay, not raining so it was S'mores time!  We got a sweatshirt for Lon. Yes, those are the giant size marshmallows.  They were good.

Lon has convinced himself he likes them burned black. Tiny torches before he blows them out.

Lon working on his second s'more

Some of the s'more did get into Lon. Really.

A little clean up and off to the pool.  Daddy and Lon had a great time

Loves the water. His summer swim lessons start on Tuesday!

The sun was finally going to bed and so was Lon. He had a busy day and I hope he will sleep a little later than 6:30am.  We have another full day planned. Lots of things we want to do and see. The beach is wonderful!