Justin's Birthday Beach Trip

We took Friday off so that we could have plenty of time to get to the beach.  Our brilliant plan was to leave at 11:30 after the kids ate lunch.  In theory, they would nap on the way, each getting between 1-1 1/2 hour naps in.  Sounds great, right?  Well, Nolan only slept 45 minutes and Bennett slept maybe 30 minutes.  They were fine at first.  We stopped by Gary and Bernie's on our way to Seaside.  I've known G&B for 23 years now, they are wonderful people.  Two years ago, we were looking to find a new home for our dog, Lilly.  They were nice enough to take her in and have given her a better home than we could ever hope to do.  Here's a picture of Lilly:

Bernie let Bennett try on her Halloween headband:

We made it to Seaside by 3:00pm and checked into the rental house.  Things went south from there.  Lack of a decent nap was very apparent in Bennett's attitude.  It was awful.  We walked to the beach, seeing as how we were only 3 blocks away.  After that, we needed to get something to eat.  The way the kids were behaving, there is no way we were taking them (or ourselves, for that matter) out in public.  So, McDonald's drive-thru it was.   Happy Birthday, Justin, here's a burger and some fries.  Nice.

As you can see, it was absolutely gorgeous on the coast.  Seriously, it's September and it was almost 80 at the Oregon Coast.  So rare.

As they say, tomorrow is a new day.  That proved true for us.  Other than the fact that the boys woke up at 5am, the day went pretty well.  The weather was perfect again, thank goodness.  We made our way to the tourist area around Broadway and parked the car.  We hit up the Seaside Aquarium, the arcade (I got my skee-ball fix), and walked around a few shops.  The whole time, I was wearing Nolan in the Ergo.  Why did I bother with the stroller?

We made it to the beach again and flew the kite we bought.  The boys of course loved playing in the sand.

Octopus!!!

Do you think I could get a picture of them together AND 

looking at me?  No.  That was too much to ask.

I couldn't resist a picture of this short-lived meltdown.

Kite!!!

Justin made us spaghetti for dinner Saturday night.  

We all enjoyed it.

Though the weekend didn't start out like we had hoped, it ended up being pretty darn good.  We left Sunday morning and it was pouring down rain.  Not just regular rain, sideways rain.  Looks like we timed our trip perfectly.  Next time, won't assume they will sleep in the car.  Silly parents, thinking the kids would cooperate.  Lesson learned.