Day 1 - Heading to Cannon Beach
We left the house around 10:45, and it seemed like as soon as we were on the freeway Ashton asked if we were almost there. The car ride must have been dull at first because he took a short nap before lunch. After stopping for lunch, we went on our way and I think every 15 minutes or so he asked if we were there yet. I tried to see if he wanted to play with any electronics or toys, but he only wanted to listen to music and ask if we were almost there. What a long car ride! I was lucky enough to tune him out a bit because I was wrapping up a good book, but Mark seemed to enjoy every minute of Ashton's question of "Are we there yet?".
We finally arrived and it looked like home with all the dark clouds and the rain.
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| We found a local grocery store and came across some benches. We thought Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Brian would appreciate him sitting on this bench and not the one in the other far corner that said Democrat. |
We took a drive into town and had dinner that evening. We decided to look at a few of the shops that were opened later then 6pm. There weren't many. We found one that was the BEST CANDY STORE EVER! You'd think we had never been into a candy store before. Perhaps it was that we were on vacation and could validate buying and eating candy. Maybe for Mark it was all the old school candy that he remembers from his childhood. Perhaps for myself it was all the flavors of Salt Water candy they had to choose from. And I think for Ashton it was the excitment that he was able to walk around and pick out some candy for himself. That is rare since Momma normally says "No touching" or "We are only looking, not buying today". I think we were all like "little kids in a candy store". (as the expression is well known...)
Day 2
The rain and wind kept on coming. It just didn't want to stop. We decided to head south to Tillamook and check out the Cheese factory. Ashton seemed to find it interesting that it was the same cheese that we buy. We told him they were wrapping the cheese up to sell to Costco so we could purchase it. Of course his favorite part of the tour was the cheese samples and the ice cream that were bought afterwards. The most amazing part of our ice cream experience was that we were able to eat the ice cream before we even had lunch. He thought that was funny.
When we came back to the hotel, the wind and rain was still there. Mark insisted we take a stroll to the beach since we are here on the coast and check it out. I am glad we all brought our winter coats, because it was definitely needed on the beach. It was so cold, windy and wet that we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. No one was crazy enough to be out there. Mark finally caved in and said he had enough when it started to hail. I told him that Jesus is looking after us because he made it hail! I just don't think Mark would have agreed to leave the beach otherwise.
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| Ashton was trying to escape and go back to the hotel. |
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| You can't see the rain and you can't feel the wind, but believe me...IT WAS FREEZING! |
Day 3
When we woke up this morning, the sky looked decent. We headed for the beach after breakfast. More people were there, and the sun was trying hard to shine through. Mark and Ashton ran a lot on the beach and then started to play on the small walking trails on the hill with the long rolling grass. Ashton thought it was funny to sit and fall down the hills. It was still a cold day, but without the rain it was much better.
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| Is that sun up there? Nope, it is just a bit brighter then a second ago. |
After the beach we decided to head north to Seaside. We went searching for the aquarium, but we were disappointed that it was a tiny room with fish tanks. I think my local pet store had more fish then that. But it was something to do, and some of the fish were interesting. Ashton enjoyed making a game out of the photos and seeing who could spot the fish in the tanks that were on the photo.
We then proceeded to walk the streets and check out the shops. I was excited to find THE SECOND (which we decided is the first) BEST CANDY STORE EVER! This place had even more candy and goodie selection. The Salt Water candy flavors weren't as grand, but it was still an amazing candy store. They had chocolate covered bacon, chocolate covered pringles, chocolate covered twinkies, chocolate covered rice crispy treats and Chocolate M&M cupcakes. Old school candy and New school candy. :) The list could go on, but I think if you named it they may have had it. Of course we didn't buy all those items I listed, but if we didn't care about our "empty calories" intake (ask Ashton about empty calories) then we would have spent a fortune there!
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I think I have found a pattern in Ashton's candy likes and dislikes. He dislikes chewy candy, but he really likes plain old sugar candy like PEZ and Smarties. He seems to choose that over anything chocolate like his daddy. He still wants some of daddies chocolates of course. Perhaps he is smart enough to realize he can pick his candy and then know that daddy will always share his chocolates because he is so proud his son loves it!
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| Stole a moment to get a photo with my boy! |
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| Then I stole a kiss. (which he doesn't like to get or give) He isn't too thrilled in the moment of it, but it's done and he can't take it back! He can wipe it IN all he wants after that! |
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| Ahhhhh......the memories are just floating back to Ashton has he plays with Thomas. Years of his tiny toddler life must have flashed before his eyes. While in Seaside, we did find bumper cars and a fun merry go round. It was a fun afternoon spent on a cold day.
Because the days were wet and cold, we hung out in the hotel room quite a bit. Ashton loved it. He was sad the day we left. We told him he should be happy because he has school tomorrow and can see all of his friends. His reply was "I want to go back to the hotel room". There was a lot of male bonding there. Mariners were on and the final 4 basketball game. Life couldn't get better then that for them. What was I doing? Oh no worries! I was in heaven. I think I finished 3 books while on this mini vacation, and I was able to eat so much Salt Water Candy I was loving it! So sad to see it all end.
 Day 4
Our travel day home was uneventful. Ashton was either having a growth spurt or he realized that if he said he was hungry we would find a spot to pull over and use the bathroom and have a snack. It probably would have been a much quicker drive home if we could eat in Mark's truck, but I guess it is a clean looking vehicle for a reason.
Ashton did nap at one point and then said he could stay up until 8:00 tonight because of it. We wound up ending the day with the "Cars" movie.
Mark and I call this trip "Vacation" but Ashton calls this trip "Daddy all day long for 4 days". So precious! I guess I should be happy it was a nice break for me from everything. Ashton wanted to sit by daddy at all the restaurants too (which meant I didn't have to help with anything while enjoying my own food).
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So what was our favorite things on our vacation? Mine was the Candy stores! Mark's was the mere fact that he was away from work and with us (can I get a tissue......ahhhh... I wish mine was more than just the candy stores, but nope- the candy store was pretty darn cool!) Ashton's favorite part was the hotel room. I told Mark that we can save money next time and just rent a room somewhere local. Ashton would love it! (preferably by a candy store and we'd all be happy)
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