Neskowin Beach Trip

This last weekend we went to Neskowin. My Mom's family owns a little condo-ish place there and we can stay for free! We left on Friday afternoon and came back Sunday afternoon. It was a fantastic time with almost perfect weather! Above is a panorama I made from stitching several photos together. Photoshop is wonderful and this turned out great!

Maddie wasn't sure about the beach at first. But soon enough she was loving everything. Her favorite thing was to go and watch the waves. We'd go there for awhile, then leave and she'd say, "Waves?" because she wanted to go back there. Each time we walked to the restaurant we had to pass the entrance to the beach and she'd almost get mad because we didn't turn there. She was soooo cute! And she didn't mind at all the water rushing in over her feet. She really does like the water a lot.

Riley and I had a great time digging all over the place. At the little store we found some really nice shovels for $5 each. Those really made digging more fun. He would want me to dig a big hole so I would, then we'd move to another hole or trench or something. We also built a few dam's in the stream to keep the water out of an area. It was a lot of fun.

My parents went with us and that was nice too. Five years ago I was laid off when the economy wasn't doing well. For awhile it looked like the only job I'd be able to find was in Iowa. We didn't want to move but we have to eat and have a place to live. Thankfully we didn't have to move. This weekend reminded us why we didn't want to move - our kids got to spend a lot of quality time with their grandparents (well, they do that now, but even more this time) and we all got to have fun as a big family. It was a very relaxing and fun weekend.

I've got 232 photos on Flickr, go check them out. Some I was trying to take professional looking photos, others were just of the moment. And I made a few panorama's too. This time both Marci and I were smart, we took Monday off so we would have one day at home to relax.

All in all, a great four days, and now back to work. Though this is going to be a great week. Because of the holiday weekend coming up, we are closing at 3pm. Since I come in at 7am, I get to leave at 2pm. I think I could get used to a work-week like this - Monday's off, leave at 2pm on Friday. hahaha

Maddie calling Daddy at work

For the last week or so Maddie has wanted to call me at work. It's so cute, I answer the phone and there's this little voice saying, "Hi!" We have our little conversation (she doesn't have a big vocabulary yet), then I say, "Bye" and she says "Bye" back. It's sooooooooooooo cute, I love it!

Another new puppy!

Yes, we are crazy. Actually, we got word the other day that the vet found a small cancerous growth in Johnnie's mouth. Thankfully it hadn't spread to his lungs, he just needs a small operation to get it all in his mouth. But of course this means his days are now numbered too. Honestly, with all of the problems he has we're surprised he's made it this long! He's not as bad off as Frankie, and has probably another year or two in him.

We also got to talking about getting another puppy so Zoey would have someone to grow up and play with. Marci went on a hunt, found some breeders, contacted a few, and yesterday we drove out to meet one. All of her puppies were of course very cute! We took Zoey with us and let her pick the puppy. She seemed to be favoring this one as well as this one taking an interest in her. Right now we have named her Roxy, her mothers name is Roxanne. We'll see if that still fits in a few days.

Zoey and Roxy have been having a lot of fun playing together. Roxy is only 6 weeks and Zoey is 12 weeks, but Zoey is gentle. Tiffany has been having fun playing too, and again is very gentle. Johnnie is kinda like, "Oh man, not ANOTHER one!" Frankie on the other hand has REALLY taken to Roxy, much more than Zoey. That's great! We're quite happy about that.

And of course the kids love her, especially Riley. He just wants to hold her all the time and has trouble understanding sometimes she doesn't want to be held, especially when she's sleeping. AND that she doesn't always want to sleep ON Riley. haha

So we now have our hands VERY full! But we're enjoying it too.