Wanna-Go-Back-Now Vacation

I failed to mention in the below post that during our vacation we hit up the outlet malls in Lincoln City. Let me tell you moms out there 4 beautiful words: Children's Place. $2.99 STOREWIDE! Talk about a bargin blissful day!! I got complete outfits for the boys for next year. 3 huge bags later ... my total was $83.00. Thanks to Tiff and her additional 15% off!! Ok. Read on ... Most of us when returning from a vacation are ready to come home. I know I was on Sunday. But. I’m ready to go back! Our little getaway to Bella Beach was relaxing, quality, and fun. The cottage we stayed in was so inviting and warm that it was hard not to fall in love with its coziness. It was clean, bright, airy, and smelled of a mix of ocean and cinnamon. The kitchen was loaded with more amenities than was needed and I was glad I brought lots of stuff to cook with because I took full advantage of that gourmet kitchen!

The beach was a 2min stroll out our back door. We stopped and visited with neighbors and met fellow dog-friends along the way. Aside from our close-call mentioned in the post below, the kids loved the ocean. I am afraid to think that we have a 2nd dare devil on our hands … Mr Fin is a bit fearless of the water as well. Makes for Momma-Stress x2!

Our days were spent cooking and eating breakfast in our jammies, watching Fin sweep the entire houses' wood floor (which he was obsessed about!), playing Peek-a-Boo with Fin sitting inside their cabinet and flinging the door open (which he thought was hilarious!), playing "spin game" with Maysen's kite tail which was ripped off in a record-breaking 30 seconds, and relaxing by the fire watching movies.

There was also a playground on-site which was wonderful at entertaining the kids before lunch/nap time. It was a "Maysen & Dad date" that they'd walk down to the beach leaving me at home alone while Fin slept. Ahhh, serenity.

Some good friends of ours, Tim & Tiffany, were ironically also staying at the beach a few miles from us at their condo so we were able to meet up with them on our last day there. They have 2 kids as well; Austin & Karaline. Austin is in Maysen’s class and they’re best buds so that was really fun. We went golfing and to the batting cages where I think the big boys (husbands) had more fun than anyone! We went back to their condo and went swimming. Griffin, who despite the statement above has been skiddish of swimming pools, wanted in with all his might! We’ll have to remember that for next time. Maysen is getting more fearless of the water by the day, I believe. It’ll be good to get him back in swimming lessons this summer.

On our way home, we stopped in Lincoln City and visited a park near Devil’s Lake. It has an absolutely AWESOME wood play structure, that yes; even WE got lost in. Bailey was coaxed down the slide, which it was her last trip. We are thinking this would be an awesome structure to play paint ball in … ??

Poor Bay ....

On another note, we have moved passed our karate misunderstanding to gymnastics! Maysen had his first class last week and is loving it. That could change on a dime, so stay tuned ... (but I did love how good he slept that night so I'm hoping it sticks!).

While we were gone we had a shed built for us. Nathan’s plan was to build this himself, but we started to realize that the cost of having it built vs. the time it would require of him … it was worth it in the end to just have it built. NOTE: The following is a Lesson-To-Be-Learned from. We got home and to our dismay, our shed wasn’t quite what we had in mind. Lesson #1: Be around while someone new is building your project. Lesson #2: Don’t wait until you’re unsatisfied to research their “license #” only to find out their Contractors License is expired. Lesson #3: Specify EVERYTHING. Assuming contractors “know best” isn’t always true. The other half of his money we still have. Once he completes the job how we want it, with signing a Waiver (because he’s not insured), he’ll get the rest of his money. That’s set tentatively for Friday. I’m still skeptical. What a nightmare!

Ahhhhh, I want to go back. Maybe after my fund-raising garage sale, Nate will take me back ... just ME!