Gleneden Beach - Memorial Day Weekend

When I was growing up, Memorial Day was such a tradition filled day:  Lion's Club breakfast, picking flowers with my Mom from our yard, then heading to the cemetery.  And then we'd spend the rest of the day with our cousins for a picnic.  When I moved away from home, Memorial Day was one of the holidays I missed sharing with my family the most.  This year, it hit me especially hard, and I am grateful to my friend, Travis, who took a picture of my mom's headstone.  

Starting traditions in our own family has been important too.  We love going to the beach and this year we went to Gleneden Beach, OR (near Lincoln City).  We were prepared for cloudy, cold, and rain at the beach.  It was a bit brisk when we got there on Saturday (you can see the girls happily playing in the sand in their rain coats and fleece), but there was also blue sky, with few clouds and definitely no rain.

Here's Amelia "parting the sea".

And no matter the weather, the girls have to get in the water.  Thank goodness for a Daddy who indulges and doesn't mind numb feet.

We were fortunate to be able to stay in a resort (courtesy of Ken's Dad) with a view of the ocean.  Since the girls are usually in bed before the sun sets, they thought watching the sun set was pretty cool (I never get tired of watching it either; especially over the ocean.).

They also thought it was pretty fun to sleep on the bed that came out of the wall.  And they surprised me by sleeping together without me, all night!

Amelia loves flowers, and loves taking pictures of flowers (probably because I won't let her pick them).  Here are the pictures she took of her favorite flowers.

Day 2 turned out to be even more sunny than the day before . . . although still a bit cool at first.  But we enjoyed another few hours on the beach, digging, flying kites, and splashing in the waves.

Sophia finally got her turn to fly the kite.

Monday surprised us by being sunny AND warmer than the 2 previous days.  Surely a miracle for the Oregon coast, but a miracle that did not go unappreciated.

We built more sand castles, splashed in more water, saw a few seals, and just enjoyed the sunny beach.

We even went for a "boat" ride.  Here's Amelia "throwing out candy" as if she's in a parade.

Sophia's turn to drive.

We had a great weekend, despite Ken being bombed by a seagull :(  And despite the fact that my girls don't sleep in the car, we all survived the 4-hr+ drive each way without too much whining or "are we there yet?".   This trip was, to me, a test run for our big road trip to UT this summer.  I'm finding more interactive games for the kids and other ways to "entertain" during the drive and even though I need more for our longer drive, I'm well on my way to happier children, and therefore, a happier me.

This weekend I also practiced being more flexible, less schedule-driven, less worried about structure . . . I wasn't perfect at it, but I think I did okay.