I dare you to find one cloud in these pictures

No matter the weather, the Oregon coast is beautiful, but I have never experienced two more perfect days beside this ocean of ours. Ron and Cathy invited us to join them on their overnight to the coast when they learned that their rental had an extra bedroom. We thought about it for about two seconds, then promptly rearranged our Monday plans and said yes! The purpose of our friends' trip was a deep sea fishing excursion, so we stayed in Garibaldi, a little fishing community on the Tillamook Bay that we drive through to get to Camp Magruder, but in which we had never stopped.

The outfit is run by the family of a Deacon in the UMC, Carol, who I recently met but who didn't happen to be in town while we were there. Her husband, Joe, is the boat captain. You can't see it in this picture, but there is an apartment upstairs from the office on the far side of this building and that's where we slept and cooked and watched Saved By The Bell in the morning. The back windows and deck of this vaguely fishy-smelling place look out over the gorgeous bay and the "front" windows look out over the fish-cleaning table in covered area of the building. Yuck. Thankfully, Eric and I weren't around for that. At first sight, it wouldn't have been the first choice for this vegetarian non-fisherwoman, but I loved being close to the water and it turned out to be a really great place to stay. Very hospitable. We had lots of fun being there with Ron and Cathy and are so thankful that they invited us!

I have always wanted to stop by this place but, alas, it is no longer in business.

The view from our bedroom. Below the window was a giant fish freezer, stacks of crab traps, and some fisherman driving forklifts and using some rather salty language as they shouted at one another above the noise of machinery. It lasted a short enough time to be pretty funny.

There's a passenger train that goes up and down the coast that I'd love to take sometime.

Eric wishing his dad a happy birthday. Happy Birthday, Brody!

The next morning, after bagels and cream cheese and counting the number of hours that Ron and Cathy had probably already been on their boat (it was an early start for them!), Eric and I drove 12 miles up the gorgeous coast to Manzanita to have coffee at a favorite cafe from our last visit. But apparently Tuesdays are not big days in small coastal towns and lots of stuff was closed, including our dreamed-about place, Bread and Ocean [tear]. So we grabbed coffee at another little joint and found and even better place to drink it--the beach!! Did I mention that it was the most perfect weather ever? 80s all day and I did not see a single cloud! Amazing, really.

We did stop at Bread and Ocean afterward to dump the sand out of our shoes. Cute, no?

Next door is the coolest little book store that I could have stayed in for much longer if it hadn't been for that sunshine.

Manzanita is a very cute town, something we didn't really get on our first visit to our friends' Leah and Mat's family cottage there five years ago, when it poured rain without a single pause for two days. Without the hood covering our eyes, it is easy to see how cute it is.

We then continued north, to Cannon Beach, where we just walked and splashed and talked and soaked up the sun on our faces and marveled at how happy the beach makes dogs and children and all other people, really.

Haystack Rock, featured in The Goonies.

What a wonderful day. Once their boat was in and their fish and crabs were clean and ready, we hopped in the car to head home. Ron and Cathy had had a great time, and, thankfully, they didn't smell too fishy. As usual, we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory to eat the most amazing ice cream ever made.

The perfect end to a lovely little trip.

Miracita and Cessie La Loca

Since Mr. Weaver's homeroom class in 7th grade, Cessie and I have been dear friends, and we still share everything and make each other laugh like we we're twelve, often at inappropriate times. I'm thankful to Cessie's brother for having a baby and living in central Washington so Cessie and her mom have another good reason to come west from Michigan. It's hard to compete with a cute 4-month-old, so I'm happy to have made it as a stop on the tour. It was so fun to have Cessie and Cindy at our place and have them experience a bit of our life in Cornelius and to just hang out. I sure miss living in the same town as my second family. There is something so special about being with people who have known you almost your whole life.

Waiting *patiently* for me to take the picture so we could eat Eric's special pancakes:


One of my favorite drinks in one of my favorite mugs from Barn Happy, Eric's cousin's family's store in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Big tree on Pacific University campus:

After lunch and a ginormous cinnamin roll at Maggie's Buns, we wandered around McMenamins Grand Lodge, which is a former Masons retirement home and orphanage and is full of cool, funky, sometime freaky artwork.

One of the freakiest paintings/descriptions in the whole place. Click on this to read the words painted on the wall and see the strange expressions on some of the faces--including the doll.

Cessie and I in 40 years:

That evening, Cindy headed to Tualatin to visit old friends and Cessie and went to Oaks Park, a tiny amusement park along the Willamette River in Portland with my Little Sis, Alondra, Alondra's cousin, and Eliser, who turned 28 that day!

Though I loved riding all the carnival rides as a kid and could spin and twist twirl for hours never get sick, my amusement park experiences as an adult have included dizziness, nausea and even a little bit of upchuck, so I was a little nervous. But we had the best time! Our bracelets allowed us unlimited rides but I only had to request a break once before getting back in line. And at one point we sat down at ate a nutritious dinner of nachos and ice cream before immediately lining up for the craziest (and best) ride at Oaks Park: the Screaming Eagle. Amazingly, not only did I feel fine afterward but I couldn't stop smiling.

At the end of the night, the kids, happy and a little woozy, conked out almost immediately in the car (there was even a bit of snoring) and Cessie and I got to talk the whole way home. Yay for lifelong friends.

In the woods

Between our town and the coast lies the beautiful Tillamook State Forest, and within that forest are many, many trails that we have yet to explore, so we decided it was time to start checking them out. We started at the Deyoe Creek Trailhead, west of the little town of Gales Creek, and continued onto the Gravelle Brothers Trail (named for twins, Edmund and Elroy and apparently took good care of these trails in the early days). It was warm and mostly peaceful, with some occasional rumbling and whining from the nearby dirtbike and 4-wheeler trails.

Our lunch spot:

I love summer.

Friends with babies

We know some cute babies. Their parents are good people, too. We sometimes hang out with Chase and Kayleigh Bea while their parents are out, and I'll be starting a regular weekly gig with them now that Emily and Bobby have taken on the practice of running together. I'm really looking forward to it! Chase will be turning three soon and loves to read and construct elaborate train track configurations (he calls us Meewa and Ewick) and Kayleigh, at 4 months, is into giggling and cuddling and chewing on things. Oh, and drooling.

So sweet.

Another favorite baby of ours is hardly a baby anymore! Freya is 16 months, is saying all kinds of words (in English and Spanish!) and often seems to be trying to escape! She just loves to run. A few weeks ago was her dad's birthday, so Leah and Mat had a delicious bbq dinner to celebrate. Eric, Andy, Mike, Joannah, Maria, Leah, Freya and Mat.

Just the ladies.

The next week was Family Fiesta at the Forest Grove United Methodist Church and Freya helped us with craft time.

She also got to hang out with her buddy, Audrey...

who is definitely a hugger.

A new baby around these parts is Daniel, who has a pretty unique birth story. Evan and Jessica (friends and members of Cornelius UMC) were expecting their baby at the end of August. On the 5th of this month, Jessica headed to the hospital with pain, but was sent home. After a sleepless night, they decided to go in again, but didn't make it to the hospital. Jessica's said that the baby was coming and her mom, who was driving, pulled into the fire station. Evan ran in, the fire chief came out, and little Daniel was born in the front seat of the car! Thankfully, all were fine and healthy and Evan and Jessica named their little guy Daniel Kinkade, his middle name after the fire chief's last name. Pretty neat story, I think. They were in the newspaper and everything! Here they are in the hospital where they went for a bit after the birth:

We are thankful for all these sweet babies.

The goodness of water

This past spring was full and wonderful and challenging and exhausting. With my three jobs, I was working way too much, but one incredibly bright spot (in addition to getting to work with great kids every day) was that I made two lovely friends in the process. Connie, the ESL teacher I assisted, and Cathleen, the other ESL assistant I spent my days with at the elementary school, are incredible people who made going to work fun (honestly!). We enjoyed collaborating, shared lots of parts of life with each other and laughed a lot. It helps that kids do and say hilarious things pretty much constantly.

So this past week, while Eric was on a mission trip in San Francisco with a bunch of youth, Cathleen and I spent a couple of days relaxing and exploring at Connie's place in Eagle Crest, near Bend in Central Oregon (about 3 1/2 hours away). We had such a wonderful, restful time and were amazed by how gorgeous the area is. All of our activities centered around water, which has a magnetic-like pull anyway, but which seems even more refreshing on hot, dry days in a high desert climate.

Our welcome (and evening ritual): margaritas and guacamole.

Our first morning there, we drove up to the Metolius River and enjoyed a hike along this gorgeous water. I could not get over the color and the clarity! Incredibly gorgeous! At some places, the flow was peaceful and slow and at others, it rushed over rocks and swirled around logs and sent a light spray up around our dusty legs.

Our lunch spot. A cool mist coming off the water, springs pouring out the side of the hill across the way, a delicious sammy (plus salt and vinegar chips and dark chocolate-covered fruit). Just perfect.

On the way back to Eagle Crest (where we would park by the pool with our books, then make more margaritas and guacamole), we stopped by the Suttle Lake Resort (across the street from the Suttle Lake United Methodist Camp) and walked around. Pretty nice place to hang out, I'd say.

Suttle Lake from the resort restaurant--that's probably a kayaker from the church camp out there.

The next day we spent staring at mountains from Sparks Lake near Bend, where we floated and paddled happily in Connie's kayaks. I can see why this is one of her favorite activities! Here is the South Sister (one of three Sisters for which the town of Sisters, OR is named).

Cathleen and that mountain again. Just gorgeous.

Our lunch and swimming spot with a view of Mt. Bachelor, the main skiing mountain in the area.

Connie paddling off toward Broken Top, a volcano that is her favorite mountain around.

We ended the day with our drive back northwest, aiming at Mt. Hood nearly the whole way. I am so thankful for these friends and for the beauty of Oregon and for life-giving water all around!

Chatterbox

Our sweet niece Emerson was saying lots of words when we saw her last at Thanksgiving, but now she is chattering away in full sentences! It's especially irresistable when she says something which seems to be far beyond her two-and-a-half years in her cute little voice. One of our favorites, "That's an excellent idea, Mommy." Or when we were playing nap, she patted the pillow and said to me in a soft, soothing voice, "Put your head down here, Tia Mia." I love hearing her call us by our aunt and uncle names: Tia Mia and Uncage (taken from Goosage, a form of Eric's nickname, Goose).

This video is from Em's first game of Candyland, which Ann and I found at a local thrift store. Emerson got pretty excited. Every time she'd draw a card and be asked what it was, she'd say "square!" In this one, I think she was combining "square" and "green." No long narratives here, but you can hear her say "Tia Mia" at the end :) So sweet.