Coast Day, Fall 2008

This week, the kids had Wed-Friday off of school because of conferences.  Since Tim was working, I decided to take the kids to the beach…. or, as most Oregonians call it….”The Coast”, Enjoy these photos, and if you’re ever in the area, on an off chance… We will take you to Mo’s Seafood, and treat you to their famous Clam Chowder (sooooo yummy).  We went to Pacific City which is about16 miles North of Lincoln City, on Highway 101.  We spent a good part of the morning on the Beach there, watching the mesmerizing motion of the surf as it pounded the shore.  We saw a handful of Surfers and other beachcombers picking up shells, and parts of Crabs on the beach, as well as hiking up the dunes.  After spending a good amount of time on the beach, and watching Taylor get wet in the surf, we drove over the mtn. Range and crossed the Salmon River to make our way back to Lincoln City, where we went down to D river inlet, and to Mo’s (An Oregon coast neccesity if you like clam chowder.  I had mine in a bread bowl…. it was sooooo goooood!)  The River spills from the ocean, inland to form Devil’s Lake, which is just on the east side of Hwy 101.  The beaches all around the river/bay inlet are littered with driftwood (or in Maddie speak…. ‘dripwood’‘). We couldn’t even take off our shoes to walk in the sand because of all the chewed up wood in the sand. The size of the logs was amazing! Any of you who have lived next to the beach or a lake or river know the color that the wood turns after it has been floating in the salt water, and then thrust up onto the beach left to burn in the sun…. the silvery-white wood is neat to look at especially when there is so much of it.  It is like going through a maze just to get from the boardwalk to the water on the beach.  We saw GIANT Fir trees, Emma and I saw one while sitting in Mo’s, and it looked like the ribs and vertabra of a large whale… we could see the branches from accross the river, it was so large.  On the way home, we saw a sign for the Drift Creek covered Bridge, so we stopped and took a photo of it as well.  We will write soon again, with another adventure, I am sure!

Seven

Taylor--Seven

Well, August is the time of year that we are finally becoming comfortable with the summer ‘routine’…. play all day, come home take a shower, stay up way too late and then repeat the next day and the next and so on until it’s time for school to start.

This is mostly how the summer goes for Taylor, he was born on August 27, 2001 at Special Delivery Birth Center in Muskegon, Michigan.  Kelly Ashlock, Amanda Kirksey and Joyce Black, as well as Tim were in the room when Taylor was born.  Joyce held Taylor up by the foot and measured him at 21in. and he weighed 8lb. 4oz.   Right now, Taylor weighs 42lbs. and is 47in. tall.  Talk about growth spurt!  It took him a measly 7 years to grow just a little more than 2 feet and gain 34lbs.   Well, just a few days ago, Taylor turned 7.  SEVEN!!!! can you believe it?  I certainly am having a hard time with it myself.  He has always been all boy, intense, focused and energetic.  Taylor loves to run, jump, climb, ride, wrestle.  He has a hearty giggle, he loves to laugh, and we recently heard that he knows how lightning bugs recharge their ‘batteries’ (which was news to us)  He is loyal and friendly and lives life to the fullest….full speed (its hard to slow him down sometimes)  He goes to bed at a self-imposed bed time of 7:30 on school nights, so he isn’t “grumpy” the next day…or so he tells me.  I love it!!  He has always needed at least 10-12 hours of shut eye, even when he was little!

We thought we would share some great memories of Taylor’s last 7 years with you…. We Love You Tay, so glad that God gave you to us, Happy Birthday!!!

Taylor, 11 months

Taylor- 2 yrs.

Taylor-4yrs.