Long Weekend in Waldport


A week after Meg returned from her long road trip, we took an extended weekend in Waldport, staying at my former (now retired) co-worker's house. This was our third trip to stay with Shirley but the first time we've dragged the kids with us. They behaved okay, I suppose, although they had their moments.

We left Portland mid-morning, just missing the heat wave that took over while we were gone. Ian and Eddie fell asleep shortly after departing, but Ian woke up about an hour later and wasn't thrilled with being in the car for two more hours (and dutifully voiced his opinion, as only he can). After stopping by the house to say hello and dump our luggage, we drove the mile or so to downtown Waldport and played on Alsea Bay. Even though it is no more than a mile from the ocean, it was sunny and only mildy windy; at the actual coastline, it was cloudy/misty and extremely windy--to the point where it was uncomfortable.

On Saturday Meg and Aaron walked back down to Waldport/Alsea Bay to visit the interpretive center, while Eddie and I helped prune Shirley's trees while Ian napped. After Ian came back to life, the three of us ventured to the actual beach, braving the strong winds and cool temperatures. We eventually figured that if we played inbetween the mini-sand dunes, the wind couldn't touch us and we could have fun. We hung our like this for a few hours--long enough to tire Ian out and he took a nap in the protection of the sand dune. Eddie and I went on short adventures thereafter--never our of Ian's sight, of course--until Meg happened upon us. She layed down next to Ian and napped while Eddie and I walked seemingly to California to look for enemies to defeat with our driftwood swords. Ian woke up while were were gone, and Meg took him to retrieve Aaron, who had since grown jealous that his brothers were having fun at the beach while he had chosen to watch TV at Shirley's. We had another hour of fun jumping off the sand dunes and chasing each other before calling it quits and going out to eat. I fell asleep both nights pretty early, cuddling and reading with boys.

Our drive home Sunday morning was calm and uneventful, in part because Ian slept for 95% of the trip.

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