On a Saturday a few weeks back our little family loaded up the minivan and headed to the beach for a few nights.
After our trip in Feb ended so poorly, I was excited to all be healthy as we left town, and excited to make some fun family memories.
And we made one memory real quick...
Luckily it was a slow flat, so it's not like it exploded or anything that dramatic. But we were on the freeway traveling at high speeds so it was a little scary when we realized what was happening.
David got us pulled over right away, and began to put on the spare. I was praying SO HARD as cars whipped past my husband kneeling at our van on the side of the road. He was as far over as he could be, but it was still too close for my comfort.
Luckily a roadside assistance truck was randomly driving by, saw us, and pulled behind us in a way that kinda shielded David a bit more. I was so grateful!
David was able to get the flat tire off, but not without a Mr. Incredible moment where he broke a lugnut. Oops. So even though we had a full spare to put on, we only had four outta five lugnuts on the tire.
Since we still had 1+ hour more to drive, we decided to pull off at the next exit and have Les Scwhab check it out and repair it for us.
Which also provided some free popcorn while we waited =)
Once that was all fixed we got back on the road to
Lincoln City. The kids had been begging to go swimming pretty much since the minute we left Portland, so as soon as we were unpacked our bathing suits were on!!
We swam and swam until Abbey said her tummy hurt.
*cue ominous music*
We got back up to our room and settled into jammies. And then Abbey puked. Everywhere.
Dave hand washed her jammies in the sink with dish soap while I called housekeeping for new sheets and towels.
I also gave Abbey a bath, which turned out to be stupid because she proceeded to throw up at least five more times.
So. I think we can safely deduce that my family is allergic to beach vacations.
Anyways.
After a decent nights sleep, Abbey woke up Sunday morning feeling better. David and the twins hung out at the hotel for a bit while I ran to the
Carters outlet for some new shirts and jammies for Abs since we'd gone through most of them the night before, and also to see if there were any Laundromats around.
I returned to three people eager to hit the beach!
Dave packed their bat and ball...
I love, love, LOVE the beach. It is just my happy place. So even though we'd had a flat tire, and there had been lots of puke the night before, I was still so happy to be there.
Having an endless ocean in view at all times is just so soothing - so centering - to me.
And while the Oregon Coast is always a gamble weather-wise, we lucked out and it was 65-70 degrees every single day!
After several hours playing in the sand, we went back up to our room for naps. I think Dave was the only one who didn't sleep =).
That evening Luke wanted to swim and Abbey wanted to go play at the park, so we split up. Abs and I went to visit
Regatta Park again while the boys swam.
Our brave girl...=)
Gorgeous sunsets each night we were there...
Monday morning we woke up slow and just hung around the room for awhile...
But it wasn't long before the kids were begging us to take them swimming again =).
AbbeyGirl prefers the "hot pool" (
don't worry it was not a particularly hot hot tub) and spent the majority of her time swimming around in here...
...while Luke wanted to run and jump and fly into the water...
Super Daddy!!
We went back up to our room to change and then headed out to a local restaurant for lunch.
We kept ourselves busy while waiting for our food...
Luke didn't eat much of his lunch, and towards the end he laid down across the booth and put his head in my lap.
I didn't think much of it (you see from the pictures above he was acting just fine at the beginning of lunch) and chalked it up to just being tired from all that swimming earlier that morning.
We went back to the hotel for naps, and not ten minutes after he fell asleep, Luke woke up and puked. And then bless his heart he continued to throw up and dry heave well into the evening.
Oh and I joined in as well.
Luke and I hung out and threw up together in the hotel room, while Abbey and Dave went down to play in the sand...
(I took this from our balcony)
It was so so so sad watching my baby boy wretch, and I hated throwing up as well, but I was at least grateful I knew what to expect (about 8 hours of this, and then it stops) and was relieved to have an ocean view and cable TV to provide Luke and I some entertainment while we were getting sick.
David took this picture of the sunset that night...I was in the bathroom puking and he captured it for me so I wouldn't miss it =)
That night pretty much sucked. Luke and I were still sick, and Abbey started throwing up AGAIN that night too. It was a long, long night. Lots of calls to housekeeping for fresh towels and sheets. Lots of stealing plastic bags from the bottom of the trash cans for bagging up soiled clothing. Lots of cleaning lovies in the sink and putting them out on the balcony to dry. But not lots of sleep.
Despite Monday night seemingly lasting forever, Tuesday morning did eventually come, and somehow Luke and Abbey both had energy and great attitudes.
So, they watched cartoons while David and I packed up the rooms, and then I took them for one last play on the beach while he loaded up the van (up and down three flights of stairs multiple times...
thanks babe)
Luke had such a blast, you'd never have guessed he was so sick the night before!
We dug giant holes and built sandcastles. It was a nice way to end our trip.
I don't think Dave had even driven us out of Lincoln City before the kids and I were sound asleep.
I am not sure if it was the sunshine, the scenery, and the pockets of fun we had in between all the vomit that makes me feel like this trip was still a really good one? Or if it's just that since our last trip was such a disaster, I have seriously low expectations? Whatever the case, I actually feel like for the most part this was a pretty fun family trip...is that weird?!? We had a blast swimming several times, played for hours in the sand, and spent some great quality time together.
That being said, I still think we are going to be just a Day Trip family for awhile =).
