Solo Mama Road Trippin’ to the Oregon Coast (Part 1)

first time at the beach!

The Oregon Coast holds a special place in my heart. While we only went there a few times as a kid, I have been back several times as an adult and always around special occasions. There was the birthday I spent there, with my parents, just a few weeks before I left for India. And then there was my honeymoon, where Boof and I relaxed for a week (after driving all over Washington to spend Christmas with everybody). So, when my parents discovered the joys of yurting (like camping, but not in a tent OR a cabin), I jumped at the opportunity to book a small getaway with Potamus. Yurting has all the lovely camping feels that I love, without the hassle of camping that I dislike.

Manzanita, Oregon

Boof couldn’t take the time off, so I decided to do the road-trip myself…which was a little nerve wracking. Good thing I’m adventurous, and slightly deranged because the drive there took almost 6 hours (though part of that was a pit-stop in Portland to visit my bestie Ruth). While we just hung out last week, it was so much fun to have a back-to-back visit! We chatted, ate some yummy crepes, and Potamus had a chance to burn off his energy in the park. He mostly slept the whole way there, so that was nice for me!

enjoying some dinner

Potamus has never seen the ocean before, so it was a real treat to watch him go from nervous to super excited. While we had spent some time in the sand, it was in a warehouse and not warm and awesome for sand-castles! There is just something so magnificent about the way the ocean comes rolling in while you sit there in warm sand. And we don’t have to go all the way to California to experience it 🙂

swingin’

our digs! pet friendly yurts. like camping…but with beds, electricity and HEAT!

doin’ dishes with grammy. clearly he is enjoying himself.

let’s build a sand castle!

COME ON GUYS LETS GO!

Nervous at first, but a few minutes later he wouldn’t stop heading into the water! We seriously had to pry this kid away from the waves because his toes were turning purple and he was shivering.

wave jumping with grammy and grampy

After a long day of travel, lots of adventures in swinging, playing in the park, wave jumping in the ocean and building sand castles, Potamus and I crashed. We had pulled the futon mattress onto the floor so that it’d be the closest to home and fell asleep. Fortunately he slept pretty well in the new place.

So, what’s the craziest adventure YOU have taken with a little one? Did you do it solo or with a partner? Ever been to the Oregon Coast?

Urban Baby: A Capitol Good Time

Road trip to Olympia today. Practice for next week’s road trip to Cannon Beach (a good 4.5 hours from here), solo, with just me, Potamus, and possibly Taylor Swift. Because I can’t stop listening to her sappy pop country songs.

While waiting for my bestie, Ruth, who was meeting me halfway (she’s in Portland, I’m in Seattle, so Olympia cuts the difference for us!), I took the opportunity to make my baby into an urban/hipster/hip hop/rap/wannabe cool boy. Actually, I just like the look of well done graffiti art, and he was having so much fun walking on his own that I though I’d let him explore this painted-up alleyway. Yeah, I’m the mom who lets their kid explore the piss-filled alley behind God knows what establishments. Meh. At least he didn’t try to eat any cigarette butts, right?

he looks thrilled for this photo op

I particularly think that a few of these could be used on his someday-future-released CD. Or, when he’s a nerd in high school I can show him that, at one point, he was hip to the lingo and fashion of the day? All speculation, really…

this mom enjoys some graffiti

I imagine 20 somethings taking the greyhound ironically…

from college to once-a-week (at minimum) phone calls…for the past 7 years…

 

they both love waving…and stripes…

We ate at this cute little shop that was bought-out by McMenimans’s, called Spar Cafe. I had the amaretto french toast. Delish! Potamus was less-than-behaving, though I was aware that gallavanting during naptime might prove to be a bad combination. He mostly held himself together thanks to lots of practice walking in the park.

boulderin’

 

When we walked the length of the boardwalk, Potamus wanted to climb down the rocks toward the water. Ever the adventurer. It was a good time except for him slipping in the mud. Not sure what is mixed with this mud, but it was sludgy and hard to wash off.

those faces. he’s clearly a teen already

Sagittarius mama. Sagittarius baby. Always the adventurers.

 

swingin’!

first person to find my arm in this picture gets a prize…

 

It was SO nice to catch up. While we talk weekly via phone, there’s something so refreshing about being back in the same city, face-to-face (well, in this digital age, I guess I mean IN PERSON, haha). We’re both going through some similar things, and it feels so nice to have someone who can relate without judgment!

So, if you’re ever in the Seattle-area, you should drop by the state capital! It’s a sweet little spot with lots of eclectic shops and eateries. And today, it was full of sunshine!

two friends, two cities

Friday Friend-day!

THAT FACE. Seriously. He has stolen my heart.

Last weekend a good friend of mine had her bachelorette party…in Vegas (she lives there). Clearly I was not in attendance, with bronchitis and a rambunctious 14 month old running around my ankles. Also, I felt too old and tired to do much partying IN college, let alone at 30. So I passed on the festivities…but was bummed because Marie is one good friend from high school AND college (we were roomies for 2 years).

But I learned she was going to be in town this weekend for wedding planning, and I jumped on the chance to take her out for a “bachelorette luncheon” that was more my style…burgers in our college town. Granted, it was a 4 hour trip for me, (2 hours for her), but it was SUPER fun and Potamus was quite the awesome road-trip buddy! I’m quite pleased that this experience was so good, because it’s been hard as a mom to keep my friendships with the child-free types.

We love taking pictures, so here was a few from our spontaneous road-trip fashion shoot!

already quite the ham. junior high is going to be awesome…

Road Trip: 3 adults, 2 babies, 1 dog

This weekend Boof and I realized that in NO way are we ready for another infant. We had a family reunion across the mountains in Eastern Washington and because my brother’s almost-ex-wife is not letting him drive her around (can’t wait for the custody to be figured out soon), so we packed her up in our car, along with Potamus, crazy Scrummy the dog (sporting his new “autism” wrap to help him stay calm) and headed out over the mountains with bro following on his banged up crotch rocket.

The trip went smoothly there, stopping once in Cle Elum to refuel the adults and the babies (and a pee break for Scrummy). The day was spent catching up with my grandma, playing Catch Phrase (a game I am wicked awesome at) and sneaking away for a coffee break with my good friend. The BEST part was introducing Potamus to The Columbia River. He wasn’t nearly as impressed as me, but did warm up to it after awhile, even dipping his toes in the water on his own and reaching down to touch the waves.

On the way home, however, I decided that despite my 6’1 frame, I am really an Olympic gymnast. It was getting late (for babies, which means it was aproximately 6:20pm) and my niece started whining…which set Potamus off whining…which ended up in this big circle of whining (I joined in), that wasn’t alleviated by my holding a bottle or pacifier into the back seat for Niece and trying to hold one of Potamus’s toys out for him to play. It wasn’t working. Because we were still on Blewett pass, with very little area to stop and refuel the babes, I slid into the backseat….in between the two car-seats. Yeah, brings back memories of “double-buckling” when we were kids. To sooth Potamus, I leaned as far forward as I could and flopped my enormous boob into his mouth. Yay, I got to celebrate World Breastfeeding week in an unsually contorted position! Meanwhile, my other hand was trying to hold the bottle of pumped milk out for Niece to drink from.

She might be the slowest eater ever.

Potamus might be growing through a needy/whiny/nurse-to-sleep-and-keep-nursing-for-20-minutes phase.

(needless to say, I got a massage this week to deal with the new kinks I discovered).

So there I am, boob in the mouth of one babe, arm stretched for bottle in the mouth of the other, and I realize that Scrummy is eating a poopy diaper in the front seat.

Awesome.

I said, “wow, we need a picture of this!”

In Boof’s unruffled way he replied, “I’m sorry, I’m not in a position to be taking a picture at this moment.”

So we survived our day trip, but I’m thinking I’m going to be less-inclined to get knocked up before Potamus is in…oh…say college. One crying baby in diapers is enough!

Road trip

Babies are clearly more flexible and resilient than their mamas. Boof and I took Potamus across the state this weekend to meet his great-grandma before she succumbs to Alzheimers completely. I was worried and stressed in the weeks leading up to the trip, as I actually love going places but actually hate the process of travelling…and with a breastfeeding baby I had no idea how long it would take or how I would adjust to sleeping with Potamus in a new place. I should realize that traveling is always worse in my mind and that we would be just fine if I could simply relax and enjoy myself. Potamus slept most of the trip and was a great sleeper at our friends house. We co-slept using a blanket in a coffee box from Costco to make our situation safer. Reminds me of my parents who used to have me sleep in a dresser drawer when they would visit relatives when I was a baby. Way easier than bringing a pack n play at this point!