I Heart Long Weekends

We took advantage of the day off from school on Monday and drove out to the coast for the day. It was wonderful. I did give the kids a pop quiz at lunch about Martin Luther King, Jr., since I was feeling a little guilty about not participating in a community event in his honor. The kids did great; "no, he was not a president" - "yes, he wanted peace" - "he had four little kids" - "someone shot him because they didn't agree with him" - "not letting people do things just because their skin is a different color doesn't make any sense." No, it sure does not!

We decided to explore Cannon Beach, and we were graced with about six minutes of sun before getting totally soaked by a long drizzly walk back to the van. That's ok though - I think it made for some great memories.

We found these jellyfish all over the beach!

I was so excited to find this little heart!

 

We decided to drive down to our favorite ice cream shop in Manzanita before heading home, and I had to laugh watching Ollie double-fisting his hot chocolate and ice cream. He didn't know which to have first. Such a great day!

I Want to Be Present!

Rocks the kids found at the beach this summer - cool, huh?

If anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas this year (or Hanukkah - I'm not Jewish, but we can all feel the love), or if you happen to be a rich hippie benefactor who would love to sponsor me on a creative endeavor...have I got an idea for you! I just found out about the be present retreat happening next spring in my "backyard" - Manzanita, Oregon! Oh.my.gosh. This retreat is going to be a series of workshops centered around the theme of "Joy," and I'm wondering if it could get any sweeter than that?!

I don't know anything (yet) about polaroids or painting, but you can bet that I need to find my joy in the kitchen. Just look at that berry cobbler. If anyone asked me to whip up some whipped cream like that from scratch, I might just stare into a big bowl and have a little cry, that's how badly I need to go to this!

Plus, getting to meet Andrea Jenkins (aka hula seventy), and having her teach me the art of taking polaroids is right up there with shooting hoops with Barack Obama...out of this world, surreal fun!

Is anybody else considering going to this? We could be roomies!

Oregon Coast Adventures

As in summers past, we've spent the majority of our weekends out at the Coast. It takes about two hours to get there from Portland, but the time flies as you travel up and over the Coast Range. Once you hit that sight of Haystack Rock from Hwy 101, you roll down the windows and take a deep breath! Yes, salty! Yes, wet air! Yes, we're almost there!

Because my husband is absolutely addicted to surfing, and because my kids seem happiest when they are tasting, smelling and rubbing their whole bodies in nature, our beautiful Coast is just the thing. Well, the surfing isn't all that, but don't tell anybody. Last weekend when we were out there, we ran into some school friends, plus their friends, and wall-ah! Instant party! The kids ran around like total coocoo-birds for hours, I got to take a million pictures, and life was good.

Here is a little sampling of the pictures, but please visit my flickr photostream to see the whole day. It's worth it, I promise! Well, I think so anyway.