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Oregon Coast |
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This year was not turning out the way I planned. Indeed, nothing was going as I foresaw, but one good thing about that was the weather. With partly sunny skies, and help from my friend Keith, I impulsively planned a weekend getaway for the kids and I. Leaving work Friday evening, I snagged the kids before we drove to Seaside. They had no idea what I had mind (nor did I six hours earlier), making it even sweeter when we arrived and received the card-key to our ocean front suite. The suite was located in the heart of Seaside, so it was within walking distance of everything. The kids also had their own room which meant daddy would have an opportunity to stay sane this weekend.
Morning arrived and I woke up at my usual 5am before donning my running apparel. I could not wait to get out for a run along the ocean side; something I have always wanted to do. The morning was brisk and the cold, salty air felt incredibly refreshing. After my run, I woke the kids and let them spark to life while I showered. After our typical morning rituals, we walked to Pig 'N Pancake for breakfast.
The kids devoured the meal before the inevitable question of when. Just five minutes and we were on the Prom, staring out into the big blue. The clouds were starting to break up and the beaches were nearly void of people. I simply answered the question with a profound "Now!"
Johnny had no problems displaying his excitement and since there was no one around to provide the "Oregonian Stare", I let him just be him before finally convincing the goof ball there was something better at the waters' edge. We grabbed his boots from our room before walking towards the intensity of the waves.
Amber wasted no time. Sometimes, I wonder if she thinks as I do; meaning too much. I walked up with Johnny before he ran to her, asking her to help him look for shells.
I gave the mandatory parental warnings of sneaker waves, but it was hopeless as they were on full kid-like autopilot.
Amber walked out farther towards the larger waves, following the tide as Johnny ignored my warnings and followed her. Again I shouted warnings of love, care and experience from my years. I was ignored.
Johnny finally gave me a wave as I followed him to be within shouting distance, but I suspect the hand wave was a weak attempt at satisfying an over-protective daddy that he has to contend with constantly.
I just laughed. Yes, I suppose I looked like a jerk, but I could not help but to wallow in my parenthood. A low sneaker came silently rolling in and as the little man tried to run with it, focused on it and stumbled off balance, falling into the cold Pacific. I trotted over to help the boy up, but was still snickering, trying to hold off the I-told-you-so' and embed the old notion of Father-Knows-Best.
I helped Johnny up before we started walking back to the suite. I had at least two more changes of clothes, shoes, pants, and even an additional jacket; years of dandy'ish experience paying off in spades.
After changing swimmer-boy, I saw the aquarium was just opening from our room's window. The day was looking mighty fine and I know what that meant - hordes. We made a mad dash to view all we wanted at a leisurely pace as we had the aquarium all to ourselves for nearly an hour. Octopus, eels, and a touch tank gave the kids lots to do before digging our hands into mounds of dead fish to feed the obnoxious seals.
The hordes were on their way, but we had nowhere to go fast. The frantic pace of the hordes simply made us saunter as we walked from store to store. A store for swimming trunks for the pool later on. A store for candy that you can only find here, or online. And a store for special rocks that Amber loves to collect. It was a fine day, indeed.
After shopping, we dumped all our swag in our room before heading out again to the beach. The day was actually warm as I took off my shoes and socks to wade into the Pacific. Amber and I ran and ran while Johnathan dug holes. Eventually though, he caught on to the fun we were having chasing waves and joined in. He laughed hysterically as I grabbed him while running as fast as I could, racing 2 foot swells as the tide came in.
I met up with Keith and his wife Cindy who were out for a stroll with their adorable K-9, Benny. They stopped as we chatted for a while including how nice the weekend had turned out. He gave me a tip on a restaurant to eat at this evening before Benny's excitement forced them to continue on. I glanced out into the blue and the turbulent waves that were causing massive amounts of foam , floating across the shoreline pushed along by the breeze.
Johnny was still digging for something, but I had no idea what. He was just happy to be there, doing what he was doing and that alone made me smile. I had to convince him that it was time to track down his sister and find this restaurant that Keith told me about.
We found Amber at the bottom of a huge hole she had been digging. Johnny got the funniest look on his face, then decided that he wanted to be an only child. Sibling rivalry can be dangerous at times as she was eventually buried to her neck and could not move.
After cleaning up at the suite, we walked over to Pudgy's. The tasty food was welcome as we had been playing hard and needed a substantial meal. After eating, it was a blurry night of hot tubs, swimming pools, running, jumping, and water volleyball. Oh sure, they had grand plans for movies and snacks later on, but after their bath, they did not last 30 minutes as they were all tuckered out. Daddy won the battle this weekend and it was the most fun we have all had together in some time.
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