On our last night in Portland, Christine and I went out to one of Portland’s super hip drinking establishments, the Vintage Cocktail Lounge. Drew was awesome and watched the kids, one of whom stayed up a little too late (hint: it was our youngest, most persistant, and passionate child).
Then Christine and I proceeded to stay up a little too late.
Christine and I had a great time. The whole visit was so much fun and so easy, which is saying a lot considering that four small children were involved. I love it when I hang out with someone who I haven’t seen in years and it’s like no time has passed–instant connection. Sadly, we had to leave. On the up side, there was a lot of fun ahead of us.
On the way out of town we stopped by Henry’s cousin’s house. Clayton and Beth were so warm and generous. Clayton and I had met briefly about five years ago at a memorial service for his (and Henry’s) grandmother. Other than that, he didn’t know me at all. Thanks to Facebook, he knew we were in town and invited us over.
The boys ate more than their share of danishes, we met the dogs, chickens, and a parakeet. Beth, an elementary school teacher, read books to the boys and was so good with them. All in all, a great, if short, visit.
Then it was beach time. Anders had been talking about the beach since our California trip a year ago. I knew if we were going to be this close to the Pacific, we had to dip our toes in. I reserved a campsite at the perfectly named Beachside campground.
It was not warm, but it wasn’t raining either, so the boys donned their suits and charged into the sea. It was perfect–flat, and low waves. There was no chance I was going in (60 degrees is not Mel-friendly swim conditions), so I was glad to be at a spot where the boys could probably get back up if they fell into the water.
We crawled into our sleeping bags at the end of the day tired, but excited for another day playing in the sand. Around midnight it started raining, and it kept on raining all through the next morning. What to do? What to do?
