At the beach

We are on "vacation" in Cannon Beach-- in quotes because both Danny and I have had to do a little more working than we would have liked. More of a workation. But better than a staycation, which is all the rage in this economy, but not as much fun for kids, who get tired of the same old routine day in and day out. Actually I have no idea if that's true of a two-year-old (and a four-month-old clearly doesn't care either way), but it's definitely nice to have the Pacific Ocean as your playground, especially if it's just a few steps away, and especially especially when there are grandparents to play with.



Except for the first day here, which was stunning (and during which I forgot to take out the camera, of course), the weather has been cool and overcast, but that hasn't slowed Jack down any.  Even with wind whipping his face or cold wet clothes clinging to his body from getting a little too close to the ocean or a little too excited about tidepools, he loves being there and absolutely hates to leave. If it's morning, he knows he'll go back after nap, and if it's afternoon, he knows he'll go back tomorrow, but it's still a very sad Jack Kramer every time he has to leave the beach. Remember last year, when we couldn't even get him to touch his bare feet to the sand?



Why does he love it so much? He runs and runs and runs down that beach, sometimes chasing birds, sometimes chasing the nearest grown-up, sometimes chasing the waves and/or running away from them, sometimes to just plain run. All this running has done wonderous things for his appetite. I don't think I've ever seen him eat so well. He ate an entire burger last night, holding it all by himself. He seems so old to me all of a sudden. And not just because he's started saying "Mo-ommm!" like a 14-year-old. Isn't two years old too young to stop saying mommy?

We did do other things besides the beach. A few other things. Here is some proof.

Ok, so it was mostly the beach. The kids are going to have a hard time readjusting to life at home, I think. Sadie has become so enamored of the fresh sea air she starts fussing if we stay inside for too long. And what will Jack do when there's no enormous sand pile he can walk to? The sandbox at the park just will not cut it.

I just realized I have no photos of Danny with the kids on this trip. Unless you count that one above with half his face (that was while he was carrying both kids in his arms all the way home from the park while Bill pushed the stroller because Jack wanted to be carried and Jack also wanted to "snuggle Sadie" and daddy is apparently as much of a pushover for the sweet big brother act as mommy is). Poor Danny. But here are some from our 5-year anniversary earlier in the week.

Five years! My advice to all newlywed couples is to write down where they think they'll be at their 5 year, 10 year, 20 year, etc. anniversaries, because I sure wish we would've done that. I don't think we ever could've imagined we'd be here, with two kids and a house. All that's missing is the dog. Does a geriatric cat and three chickens count? Anyway, we were offered an anniversary gift of a night to ourselves while the kids stayed with their doting grandparents. We thought about staying in one of the myriad adorable bed-and-breakfasts dotting the Oregon coast, but then realized what we really miss most in our lives as parents  is camping. Ever since that infamous night in the Sierras when Jack was eight months old (the one with lots of screaming and no sleeping) we haven't dared to try camping again and I really miss it. And Cannon Beach is practically inside Ecola State Park. So who needs a bed and breakfast? We packed up our things (and by "we" I mean Danny and by "packed" I mean strapped mostly to the outside of his too-small daypack that he insisted was sufficient for an overnight: see above), hiked a mile and a half, and had a sunset picnic overlooking the ocean and a lovely night in one of their little adirondack cabins (and by "lovely" I mean it would have been if our neighbors knew how to build a fire that didn't throw out more smoke than heat and/or we hadn't been directly downwind of the smoke). It's a great place, and I look forward to taking our kids camping there someday. When we're brave enough to take the kids camping.