Lincoln City, Oregon vacation, days 1-3

Arrived late Sunday night to a very windy Oregon coast. After being all day in the car, a little wind didn't stop us from running out to the waves, though!

 

 

Wind or no wind, the views from our rented house deck were beauteous.

 

 

Bright and earrrrrrly Monday morning (as in 4:30 a.m. early), the men+Carson woke up and headed down to Newport for a deep sea fishing excursion. Apparently, Carson alternated between being super excited about it all...

 

 

...and losing the physical battle against sleep deprivation.

 

 

The guys (including Carson) caught several ling cod and a bunch of rock fish, enough for some delish Larry & Joyce (and Paul) fish tacos for dinner, as well as griddle fodder for several lunches. Seriously yum.

 

 

Later that afternoon, some of us meandered southward (for about a mile? Maybe not that far.) on the beach to check out some tidal pools. Kind of a bad idea. The tide was fairly high when we got there, and the winds had picked up again. Colder than it looks!

 

 

Poor Violet (traveling via stroller) got sand-blasted at face level on the return journey. But Carson and Ella enjoyed themselves.

 

 

Tuesday took us toward Devil's Punch Bowl. It was a magically mystical misty morning (woah, alliteration overkill) (but, seriously, it was). Saw some interesting stuff and imagined what the ocean beyond the mist looked like.

 

 

Layla loved exploring at the beginning...highlight findings included some crabs. One or two might have even still been alive.

 

 

The beaches were pretty isolated (or maybe the mist hid all the people). Violet loved it all and wanted nothing to do with her stroller...

 

 

...which was a good thing, because Addie's feet were mysteriously super tender. She could hardly weight-bear on them, so she spent most of the morning in the stroller, including when she was in the stroller carried up the stairs by Paul and grampa Larry and uncle Shay. (Which ended up being one of her favorite parts of the trip?)

 

 

Uh-oh. Restless gatherings of Smarts, like what you see below, usually end in some crazy ideas. Usually compliments of Larry.

 

 

Fortunately, this time, it just ended in some foot races. So entertaining.

 

 

Violet liked to eat the sand. Then spit it out and stare, accusingly, at the nearest adult for letting her put the stuff in her mouth. Repeat. Oh, but she's cute.

 

 

Across the road, we found another cool place with tidal pools and this waterfall. Carson developed a stance that came to be known as "cheese hands," where every time he took a pic, he thought his hands had to be raised in some way.

 

 

Poor Addie. She's not the type who wants to be confined. Fortunately, her ailment didn't last more than a day.

 

 

Love this guy.

 

 

Honoring the repeated requests of our children, we didn't kiss in any photos. Gold stars.

 

 

Back at our own beautiful beach in Lincoln City for the afternoon, we took up kiddie kite flying. Addie flew hers while Paul supervised. They (and cousin Ella joined in later) made shapes out of the top crust of the sand for a long time.

 

 

Carson flew his kite, too, and came up with this hilarious (his word) photo op: pretending to hold the kite string with his hands while actually having it grounded by his foot.

 

 

Dinner was Tonya's yummy chicken divine. We got into the habit of hooking up the camera to the TV each night and "watching" the day's events before bed, which I found fun.

 

Magical Oregon coast. Love this place. It's chilly and awesome.

 

End of Tuesday on our Sunday through Sunday vacation. Will share more in another post.

Christmas Decor: Let it Be

I've decided that my kids' memories are more important this year than a photo-worthy holiday decor'd house. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it isn't the easiest thing for me to let their decor be.

 

It's often off-center:

 

 

Or stolen from somewhere else to festivize their own rooms:

 

 

It could be recycled garbage, like this tinfoil ball that Carson's so proud of:

 

 

Or maybe it's a vertical long linked ornament chain:

 

 

Apparently branch tips are prime ornament real estate, and there are loads of droopy branch ends on our tree to prove it:

 

 

And overpopulated sections:

 

 

And highly popular single branches (I think this one branch has 10+ ornaments on it):

 

 

This doubled-up hang job is especially creative:

 

 

Normally I try to correct and change these things so our house "looks" better. Not this year, though. I'm trying to focus on the important stuff. Like this:

 

 

We're crossing our fingers she doesn't learn to crawl until after Christmas. Paul's not betting on it, though.

 

 

 

This self-directed impromptu photo of the kids melts my heart. Carson was holding and playing with Violet when Layla jumped in and put her arm around him (and on Vi's head? You betcha), and Addie ran up and wrapped her little arms around the lot of them, squeezing as best she could.

 

 

Children are a joy. And nothing beats holiday smiles.

Past month...in all its uncensored glory

Surely I can't be the only one who consistently (chronically?) finds such gems as these (unaltered in any way)when I go to download the camera: 

Atta girl, Addie. Super artistic and...ah...feminine.

Girls getting ready for church. Why haven't I learned that they shouldn't get into their church dresses until about 5 minutes prior to go-time? We change about 58 times each Sunday morning, and our laundry hamper becomes a virtual schmorgasboard of clothes housing peanut butter, jam, milk, juice, soup, toothpaste, honey, markers, and ketchup. Eat your heart out, Chuck-O-Rama.

Layla's last day of ballet this semester. She gets her awesome white-blonde hair and baby face from her dad and her grace (bottom left) and flexibility (bottom right) from her mom. I'm such a good gene contributor. Yep.

We've been loving a lot on little Violet. Who, by the way, happens to be an Exhibit A case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Perfectly sweet and adorable when the stars (and her digestive rhythms) align, and a squirmy fuss-pot during the other times. But, honestly? We can't help but love her. And laugh at her funny faces.

The little lady already has a special place in her heart for her papa. And also...I have to check her finger frequently to make sure the string she's got around Paul's heart doesn't cut off her circulation...

See what I mean? She's full of smiles for the guy. One thing I love about Paul is that, when she is being fussy and we just can't quite figure out what would make things better, he takes it in stride and says stuff to her like, "Don't hold back, Violet. I always want to hear your opinions, so you just make sure you tell us everything about it," and so on and so forth. They have "conversations" this way, and it makes me relax and be able to laugh at her complaints.

(And laugh at this hat, let's be honest.)

Had to document her first trip "out." To the doctor's office for her 2-week checkup. My favorite part: her bird legs and the baggy socks. I laugh every time I see these photos.

 Gotta love the awkward (and endearing) newborn body proportions.

The girls like to play "Halloween" sometimes (sans candy aquisition. I'm a meanie, I know). Notice the bunny slippers on this bat-girl. It's in the details, people.

Carson is surprisingly gentle and calm(ish) around Violet. We're working on helping him not take it personally if she cries when he's holding her. But it's pretty sweet to watch him with her. Know what else is sweet? Her Addie-selected outfit in the below pic.

I couldn't resist putting these post-ballet performance photos in a photo-booth format (enlarge these if you can...priceless). Carson was dreading going, but he was super supportive of Layla during and after the performance. Addie was so excited to go that she dressed in her own ballet get-up and brought herself a fake flower.

I've said it before but it's worth repeating: every kid needs at least one friend during childhood. It's ridiculous how similar these two sillies are.

 

And now, a photo I like to call, "The Floating Head." Either that, or "Ichabod Crane: The REST of the Story."

Would you believe she was smiling 2 milliseconds before I snapped this shot? No? Fair enough. Because she looks crazy here. And bald. Which enhances the craziness.

What a tiny little bug. And yet, how much she's already grown. 5-1/2 weeks old! Already?! Good grief. Expect a graduation announcement, like, tomorrow.

a little of this and that

It's that time of year again at our elementary school...the time where we get to choose whether or not to order school photos. Hmmm... Pose A or Pose B? Both tempting options.

In unrelated news, my parents drove down from Washington and spent the majority of this past week with us. (And my mother-in-law spent several days last week.) I honestly don't know if I could've survived without their help.

Joyce played with the older kids, brought us food deliciousness, took me to/from instacare (and loaned me her iPad to play mindless games on while I waited), and was a constant support for several days during a fresh-home-from-the-hospital rough patch. I love you Joyce!

My parents played with and showered the older kids with much-needed attention and saw to details both major (e.g., breakfast, getting kids to/from school, homework, etc.) and minor (e.g., letting me nap, vacuuming, doing dishes, stocking the freezer with edibles, etc.). I love you Dad & Mom!

My dad spent the good part of one morning singing to Violet and Addie. His voice is awesome and soothing; I loved it as a kid, and I love that my daughters can hear it as well. This is the stuff of life, people. 

Mom was always ready and eager to hold or rock Violet when she needed attention but craziness was happening elsewhere. (And, let's be honest, any other time too.)

The kids all love reading to Violet. This was a hilariously academic setup I stumbled upon in the midst of one morning's rush of activity:

And, apparently, there was going to be a test on the subject matter, because Violet did some studying of her own a little later:

We can't get enough of this bald girl's face. Its expressions change constantly, much to our delight and entertainment (which, really, isn't that what it's all about? my own entertainment? I thought so):

But one expression made me a wee bit wary of what's cooking under that sweet facade:

I'm extremely humbled by how good life can be.