10 years ago
Sunday, July 20, 2008
New Name
I decided to change the name of my blog. Yes, it is fun living here in vacation land and not being on vacation. BUT one of my favorite sayings is "Life is good". The other day I saw a journal notebook at Costco that was titled "GOOD & PLENTY". I love that! I think it is a fun way of saying that life is good. My life is so good and over flowing with plenty! And besides, I love Good & Plenty candies. So, there you have it.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Grandchildren Time
Monday morning we arrived in Salem to tend DiDi and Charlies five children while she went to girls' camp as an adult leader. (and Oh, I forgot Buster the dog) Charlie would do his usual work schedule and we would watch the kids from about6:30A to 4:00P. We were on duty from Monday to Thursday morning when we were replaced by Tina and Charles, the other grandparents. Both sets of grandparents got to play!
One of the first things I have to say is "I FORGOT THE CAMERA"! What kind of grandmother goes to tend grandchildren and leaves her camera home? Well, I'm that kind!!! There were so many wonderful "Kodak moments" that I'll just have to remember in my heart.
The three girls, Andrea, Raychel, and Charlotte, were such good helpers Ethan was very loving and smiley and active. Eric,the youngest, has a new name. I call him Ido. That's "I do". He had the cutest way of saying "I do! I do!" whenever he saw some food that he wanted. His mom said that it started just the week before we came when they asked the kids 'Who wants a Popsicle?" They would all say "I do!" and so Eric started copying it.
DiDi said she thought all of the kids would do fine but she was worried about Eric missing her. He didn't cry for her ONCE!! We had a little trick we played on him. Mommy had been gone about a half hour when he started calling out for her "Mama, Mama?" When I heard him saying that I thought "Oh Oh!" and quickly tried to distract him by saying "Go find Grandpa." There after whenever he started calling for his Mama one of us would say to him "grandpa is in the backyard, or grandpa is reading in the living room" Anyway it worked. And one night at dinner Eric was saying "Mama, Mama" and it was obvious that he wanted Grandpa's attention. Charlie looked at me puzzled. I told him what we had been doing and that now both Grandpa and I were "Mama" to Eric. He was a happy boy the whole time.
We enjoyed going swimming with the kids one day at Aunt KiKi's neighborhood pool. It was fun walking with them when they took Buster on his walks around the block. We bought a couple of gallons of ice cream and some cones and had ice cream cone treats everyday.
We left Thursday morning and the Pederson grandparents, Tina and Charles, took over. I think the kids were spoiled by the time Mommy got back from camp but that's the grandparents job.
One of the first things I have to say is "I FORGOT THE CAMERA"! What kind of grandmother goes to tend grandchildren and leaves her camera home? Well, I'm that kind!!! There were so many wonderful "Kodak moments" that I'll just have to remember in my heart.
The three girls, Andrea, Raychel, and Charlotte, were such good helpers Ethan was very loving and smiley and active. Eric,the youngest, has a new name. I call him Ido. That's "I do". He had the cutest way of saying "I do! I do!" whenever he saw some food that he wanted. His mom said that it started just the week before we came when they asked the kids 'Who wants a Popsicle?" They would all say "I do!" and so Eric started copying it.
DiDi said she thought all of the kids would do fine but she was worried about Eric missing her. He didn't cry for her ONCE!! We had a little trick we played on him. Mommy had been gone about a half hour when he started calling out for her "Mama, Mama?" When I heard him saying that I thought "Oh Oh!" and quickly tried to distract him by saying "Go find Grandpa." There after whenever he started calling for his Mama one of us would say to him "grandpa is in the backyard, or grandpa is reading in the living room" Anyway it worked. And one night at dinner Eric was saying "Mama, Mama" and it was obvious that he wanted Grandpa's attention. Charlie looked at me puzzled. I told him what we had been doing and that now both Grandpa and I were "Mama" to Eric. He was a happy boy the whole time.
We enjoyed going swimming with the kids one day at Aunt KiKi's neighborhood pool. It was fun walking with them when they took Buster on his walks around the block. We bought a couple of gallons of ice cream and some cones and had ice cream cone treats everyday.
We left Thursday morning and the Pederson grandparents, Tina and Charles, took over. I think the kids were spoiled by the time Mommy got back from camp but that's the grandparents job.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Too Many Books, Too little time!
Got a library card from our little Waldport library, nicknamed "beach books". Taking the recommendation of friends and the library website, I placed several books on reserve. Every book that I have read thus far has been a 'must read'. I have a reading binge like this about every five years or so. No discipline! Just reading every available minute to the distraction of everything else. Well, almost. Rusty is a good sport about it because he loves to read so much himself. The recommended titles so far are: The Namesake, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Where are you now?, and the most recent The Kite Runner. Rusty asked me what will I do if I get a "bad" book because each one has been so good so far. Well, I think I'm probably about through this once every five year binge. Need one more good book to read on the plane to Honduras next weekend and then I've got things to do!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Fourth of July Weekend!
(to see more photos of our steam engine train ride: http://picasaweb.google.com/gfhenrichs
)
Rusty and I had a great 4th of July weekend. It actually encompassed three days of fun activities and “playing tourist”. Krista had wanted to bring her family over from Salem for fireworks on the beach but it turned out she was out voted. It is a two hour drive with a car full of kids and this time it was easier just to stay close to home. I understand.
On July 3rd , Thursday, Rusty and I took s’more makings and firewood (just in case) and headed down to the beach about 7:00 to get settled in for the fireworks which start about 10:00. That’s a good head start but we had heard that all the good spots get taken up early and we didn’t want to miss out on setting up a campfire. Rusty did a great job but I think was surprised at how fast the drift wood burned. We didn’t need any of our own wood because there was plenty of driftwood available. We cozyed up and made s’mores. Well Rusty helped roast a few marshmallows but I did all the eating. Campfire smoke began to get thick by the time the fireworks started and it had turned quite foggy about the time we had headed down to the beach. The fireworks were still magnificent! How could they not be with all that ambiance….ocean waves, flickering campfires, foggy skies, s’mores, your sweetie…well, that’s the picture.
That was Thursday the 3rd
On the Official Fourth of July we went into Newport to a free concert by the Newport Symphony Orchestra. They are really quite good! I was surprised. All the musicians are professionals and paid for their symphony “job”. I had kind of figured that it would be a symphony full of volunteer retired musicians not meaning that they wouldn’t be good! The conductor is young in his first year with this symphony and has a very dynamic personality that comes across with a lot of showmanship. It was fun watching him conduct. His style added a lot to the enjoyment of the concert. Then after the concert we went to dinner at Georgie’s, a restaurant we’d been wanting to try. We had a great ocean view and the people were very nice however it’s not on our list of places to go again. I felt it was too expensive and the food was just “so so”. Too many other places to try to return to one that is mediocre.
Saturday, July 5th we drove up to Garibaldi, two hours away, to ride the scenic steam engine train to Rockaway beach and back. It turned out to be a drippy, rainy, cold day but we went anyway. The drive up north was beautiful and it was fun seeing the farmland and scenery. The train ride was beautiful as well as it went along the coast line. We arrived in Rockaway pretty cold. Rusty grabbed a hotdog at a Lion’s Club hotdog stand and we rode the train back to Garibaldi. I have memories of digging clams with my Grandpa Smith at his home in Garibaldi and watching him fry them in crushed up soda crackers. I remember eating them because, well, Grandpa and my dad did, but I don’t think I liked them much. Anyway, I can’t bring myself to eat them now except in clam chowder which probably doesn’t count.
After our train ride we went to a Myrtle Wood Factory outlet there and bought a couple of myrtle wood souvenirs. Spent too much on them, but they will bring back memories of our fun train ride. We stopped in Tillamook on the way back and went to the cheese factory….we have done that every time we’ve been in Tillamook, so far. Bought a few goodies but resisted the ice cream line. Ate dinner at a little steak house there in Tillamook and enjoyed the ride back home.
Rusty has an eye infection and his depth perception is not very good so I drove on the way up but he drove coming back. It was a wonderful day. So much to see here and it is good for us to just be tourists once in a while. After all, we need to know what to take our visitors to see when they come.
)Rusty and I had a great 4th of July weekend. It actually encompassed three days of fun activities and “playing tourist”. Krista had wanted to bring her family over from Salem for fireworks on the beach but it turned out she was out voted. It is a two hour drive with a car full of kids and this time it was easier just to stay close to home. I understand.
On July 3rd , Thursday, Rusty and I took s’more makings and firewood (just in case) and headed down to the beach about 7:00 to get settled in for the fireworks which start about 10:00. That’s a good head start but we had heard that all the good spots get taken up early and we didn’t want to miss out on setting up a campfire. Rusty did a great job but I think was surprised at how fast the drift wood burned. We didn’t need any of our own wood because there was plenty of driftwood available. We cozyed up and made s’mores. Well Rusty helped roast a few marshmallows but I did all the eating. Campfire smoke began to get thick by the time the fireworks started and it had turned quite foggy about the time we had headed down to the beach. The fireworks were still magnificent! How could they not be with all that ambiance….ocean waves, flickering campfires, foggy skies, s’mores, your sweetie…well, that’s the picture.
That was Thursday the 3rd
On the Official Fourth of July we went into Newport to a free concert by the Newport Symphony Orchestra. They are really quite good! I was surprised. All the musicians are professionals and paid for their symphony “job”. I had kind of figured that it would be a symphony full of volunteer retired musicians not meaning that they wouldn’t be good! The conductor is young in his first year with this symphony and has a very dynamic personality that comes across with a lot of showmanship. It was fun watching him conduct. His style added a lot to the enjoyment of the concert. Then after the concert we went to dinner at Georgie’s, a restaurant we’d been wanting to try. We had a great ocean view and the people were very nice however it’s not on our list of places to go again. I felt it was too expensive and the food was just “so so”. Too many other places to try to return to one that is mediocre.
Saturday, July 5th we drove up to Garibaldi, two hours away, to ride the scenic steam engine train to Rockaway beach and back. It turned out to be a drippy, rainy, cold day but we went anyway. The drive up north was beautiful and it was fun seeing the farmland and scenery. The train ride was beautiful as well as it went along the coast line. We arrived in Rockaway pretty cold. Rusty grabbed a hotdog at a Lion’s Club hotdog stand and we rode the train back to Garibaldi. I have memories of digging clams with my Grandpa Smith at his home in Garibaldi and watching him fry them in crushed up soda crackers. I remember eating them because, well, Grandpa and my dad did, but I don’t think I liked them much. Anyway, I can’t bring myself to eat them now except in clam chowder which probably doesn’t count.
After our train ride we went to a Myrtle Wood Factory outlet there and bought a couple of myrtle wood souvenirs. Spent too much on them, but they will bring back memories of our fun train ride. We stopped in Tillamook on the way back and went to the cheese factory….we have done that every time we’ve been in Tillamook, so far. Bought a few goodies but resisted the ice cream line. Ate dinner at a little steak house there in Tillamook and enjoyed the ride back home.
Rusty has an eye infection and his depth perception is not very good so I drove on the way up but he drove coming back. It was a wonderful day. So much to see here and it is good for us to just be tourists once in a while. After all, we need to know what to take our visitors to see when they come.
Bike Riding on the Oregon Coast
Well, you could think from this title that I've been doing a lot of pleasure riding but actually it involves more transportation. I really enjoy going to the gym and haven't wanted to give that up just because gas is a few cents more per gallon so I've even taken to riding my bike up to Newport. That's a good round trip ride of thirty miles and gives me a good workout. It does take an hour and 15 minutes and that depends on the weather, headwinds, and all. I usually walk across the Newport bridge because of high winds and narrow lanes but that's all part of the journey.
On Tuesdays I ride my bike eight miles the other direction down to Yachats to an hour and a half yoga class. It is led by senior citizen volunteers and they are very good! The class is mostly yoga stretching which is so good for me. All of the participants are senior citizens like myself who are very fit and active and are a lot better at yoga than I am but everyone is patient and nonjudgmental. I ride home from that class feeling amazing!
On Tuesdays I ride my bike eight miles the other direction down to Yachats to an hour and a half yoga class. It is led by senior citizen volunteers and they are very good! The class is mostly yoga stretching which is so good for me. All of the participants are senior citizens like myself who are very fit and active and are a lot better at yoga than I am but everyone is patient and nonjudgmental. I ride home from that class feeling amazing!
We're Not on Vacation! We live here!
The title of this blog comes from something that Rusty has said often after moving here. Marveling at the beauty of the area and realizing that this is where a lot of people come to vacation, we feel very blessed to live here. Thus the title of this blog.
However we do feel a little bit like we are on vacaton. So many things to see and visit and learn about and we have to take the time off every once in a while to do those things. Being retired we have plenty of time to do this except for the trips "over the mountain" to see family, go to the temple and to do serious shopping.
We've found that anything to do with shopping or errands or activities, other than the local grocery store, involves driving. We drive to Newport 15 miles way about three times a week, at least. I go into the gym that many times and then there may be other reasons to go as well. We try to make a list and accomplish as much as we can each time we go but that is an on going process.
However we do feel a little bit like we are on vacaton. So many things to see and visit and learn about and we have to take the time off every once in a while to do those things. Being retired we have plenty of time to do this except for the trips "over the mountain" to see family, go to the temple and to do serious shopping.
We've found that anything to do with shopping or errands or activities, other than the local grocery store, involves driving. We drive to Newport 15 miles way about three times a week, at least. I go into the gym that many times and then there may be other reasons to go as well. We try to make a list and accomplish as much as we can each time we go but that is an on going process.
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