Sun and Fun at the Beach


Friday
Hands-down the best weather I have ever experienced during the summer on the Oregon Coast. I have seen warmer, clearer days in October--which I think is the best time to visit--but I was very happy with what we were dealt.

After work and dinner at home, we packed Bernice and made it to Lincoln City just before sunset. Meg was itchin' to see a sunset, but the boys, who had fallen asleep in the car before we even crossed the Willamette, and who woke up as soon as the engine turned off, were whining and wanting to hit the beach house for a real bed. Meg's boss owns a quaint 2BR, 1-bath house, and she graciously let us stay for the weekend (Meg and I had previously visited in 8/2001). The house lies a short five-minute walk from a relatively quiet beach, where few visitors ever come.

Saturday
The Word held tradition by waking up first, around 6:30 a.m. So we got up and had breakfast, and then Edward proceeded to wake up the straglers with his vocal playing with trucks. Meg got her bargain shooping fix satisfied by finding Aaron's Summmer 2007 wardrobe purchased at the outlet mall, while we three boys got our exercise walking around the complex.

After lunch through the drive-in, we-three-boys dropped off Meg at Chinook Winds Casino. The Wheel of Fortune was looking for perspective contestants, and Meg desperately wanted to try out. So after we dropped her off to long lines of fruitless waiting, we headed back to the house and walked over to the beach. 70 degrees and mostly clear skies greeted us for the boys' first real Oregon beach outing.

I taught Aaron how to make chairs in the sand, so I could rest and watch them in comfort while I sunburned. They played nicely with other kids there, and Edward even befriended a group of teen-agers, who were very sad to say goodbye to him when they had to leave.

Meg couldn't get a hold of me on her cell, so she walked all the way home on the beach. I offered to let her keep the van, but she insisted otherwise. Oh well, she enjoyed the walk and the exercise.

Sunday
We had to leave Lincoln City by 7:30 to make it to Monmouth for cousin Seth's baby blessing. I just happened to sit next to a Japanese girl during Sacrament meeting. Perhaps it was just super-overcompensation on her part (cultural thing), but she nearly fell off the pew when I said I had been home for nearly 10 years (she was guessing maybe two years). I struggle to communicate in Japanese, however. It's just not like it used to be . . .

Monmouth is such a small community, but it attracts such a large following of young Japanese students. In retrospect, attending WOSC right after my mission was probably the right transitional place for me. I don't know why I had such a hard time coping with the separation from Japan and her people, but I did. And that longing for my second home really continued, really, until I met Megan.

We all had a good time afterward at JMel's house. John's family is also large and local, so there were quite a number of adults and kids present. Sara at one point told us how enamored she was with Aaron's calves--how muscual and shapely they are. So she made him come over and give a demonstration--and sure enough, he has well-defined calves.

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