Funny thing is, that same weekend just happened to be the one we were going out of town to the coast. We were invited by Jonathan's parents to go crabbing and we were super excited for it! The snow was unexpected but certainly could not hold us back from going. We LOVE the coast- any time of the year- no matter how cold!
Friday morning before we left, we decided to take advantage of our snow in case it wouldn't still be there when we got back. The field behind our house was GORGEOUS...all those trees covered in white sugary dust, a perfectly untouched blanket of snow on the ground, and completely dreamy all around. It took my breath away.
It was way too light and fluffy for snowman-making, but we had fun tromping around and making snow-angels. Jonathan even managed to form a few decent snowballs :)
We came inside and had baths/showers and hot cocoa. Then we headed out on the treacherous icy roads. Except strangely, the roads weren't that bad. We drove a little slower than usual but were only delayed by half an hour. I couldn't believe how lucky we were. The kids even got a brief nap in the car! That rarely happens.
We arrived in Lincoln City and met up with Grandma & Grandpa at a glass-blowing place. Grandma walked Talmage over to her car, opened the trunk, and presented him with a bunch of brand new Legos! I love how she spoils him, even if it is excessive sometimes. Plus it gave them something to do together later while we were crabbing (she stayed behind with the kids).
Most everyone drove to the casino to wait for the buffet to open, but Grandma Dennett, the kids and I stayed back to wander around Lincoln City. Because of the little bit of snow, most all businesses were closed- including the outlet mall, most tourist shops, and regular grocery stores. Having lived in Utah and Idaho for many years, it seemed pretty ridiculous...Luckily, my second favorite candy store WAS open and I got to stock up on saltwater taffy! And then we found a Joanns. Please explain to me why a craft store would be open but not the Safeway...lol. It was so small, but kind of heavenly because I could stare at fabric uninterrupted by other customers for about an hour. I found some prints for Charlotte's curtains and kitchen curtains. It had been SO long since I've had fabric to sew and I have to say- it felt good to be back on the wagon.
We met up with the rest of the party at the casino. One of Jonathan's family's favorite things to do is eat at casino buffets- especially when they have crab legs. Before I married J I saw no reason to walk into a casino, and now it's becoming tradition! The buffet did not disappoint. We were all completely stuffed!
As if we hadn't done enough for the day, after dinner we drove to Lincoln City's little theater to see the Lego Movie! I have been so excited to take Talmage to this ever since we saw the preview at Christmas. I was afraid that 1. the theater would be closed due to snow and 2. it would be crowded with people since it was opening night for Lego Movie. But it was open and only 4-5 families there! I was so grateful it was mostly empty because it was Charlotte's first movie and I knew she would not do well. She was squirmy and noisy and tired...I felt so bad for her, so I bought a giant bag of popcorn. That helped for oh, about 10 minutes until she wanted to get up and walk again. Thankfully no one seemed bothered by her bobbing up and down the isles...the movie was AWESOME, though ;) We loved it, especially the ending!
After the movie, Talmage started coughing a lot more than usual. I'm not sure what caused the coughing...he had been coughing now and then for a few weeks..I thought it was just the cold air. But something made it worse that day, and he NEVER STOPPED coughing. We stopped at Walgreens for some cough medicine and as I got out of the car, I slipped on the ice and fell on my face. It hurt... like a lot. Slippery ice is no joke!
We checked into our hotel room and TRIED to sleep...Charlotte's fatigue turned out to be a good thing, cause she konked out right away and never woke up. But the rest of us....well, we couldn't sleep at all because Talmage had sporadic coughing fits every 20 seconds. Finally, at 1:30 am, we padded the bathtub with pillows and stuck him in it, shut the door, and tried to get a few hours shut-eye. I felt like the worse mom in the world for putting him a tub while the rest of us slept in queen-sized beds...and for not coming up with a solution for his cough. I'm not even sure he slept at all...though I think he tried to. I felt terrible for our poor boy...nothing worse than feeling helpless while your child suffers.
Putting him in the bathroom wasn't my favorite thing, but we did end up getting about 4 hours of sleep after that. When we woke up there was freezing rain outside. Needless to say, we did NOT feel like it would be a good day for crabbing seeing as how we would be sleep-deprived and very, very cold out there in the ocean.
But, we tried to make the best of our situation. It's not often that we get to have a mini-vacation as a family, and we wanted to make good memories. So after breakfast (which included chamomile tea with honey for Talmage...where was that when I needed it the night before?!) we put on our bathing suits and jumped in the hotel pool. It was the best thing ever. The pool was perfect, slightly warm and totally relaxing. We were the only ones there so we goofed off like little kids. The jacuzzi was great, too, because it wasn't too hot for the kids. I have to admit, that hotel was pretty darn nice. Too bad we couldn't enjoy it to the fullest, but we would definitely go back!
We met up J's parents and their friends at the beach house they were staying in. The house was in Newport; this town had a totally different feel to it. No snow, sunny skies, and a much better view of the beach. The beach house was totally adorable. Very retro vintage design mixed with modern architecture. And it was about 10 yards from the water! It filled me with hope for our day out to sea.
Unfortunately, that hope was short lived.
When we arrived at the dock in Yaquina Bay, the rain started up again. It was slushy, and icey, and it stung. I couldn't believe we were doing this! Haha...probably the very worst weekend of the year to go crabbing. But I was determined to go because I'd never done it before, and Jonathan...well, nothing can stop that man from an adventure. Nothing.
It ended being fun, though very cold and very wet. The captain and co-captain probably thought we were out of our minds to want to go out to sea in those conditions. We had to throw most of the crab back because they were female, but we did snag a starfish!
I took some medicine before we got on the boast to prevent sea sickness. Turns out that it causes fatigue, and I was already exhausted form the night before...it was very hard not to fall asleep on the boat as it rocked violently back and forth. But it's kinda hard to sleep when you feel half frozen :/
After the men had pulled up all the pots (okay, I helped a little), the captain took us on a tour of the bay. It was semi-climactic...the bigger boats were neat, but we were all pretty much ready to get warm!
When we reached the dock and got off the boat, the wind and rain were coming down right in our faces and soaked us completely. The six of us packed into the truck like wet dogs- smelly and sopping wet. Ha. Most of us had frost-bitten fingers and nearly frozen toes. And the men that had done most of the work pulling up the crab pots were sore and exhausted. It was almost comical how miserable we felt. But everyone had a good attitude about it! We joked on the ride home how crazy insane we were and how we could have starred on Deadliest Catch. My ribs were in pain from laughing and shivering so intensely. The shower when we got back to the house was probably the most coveted thing ever, but it felt soooo good to warm up and not feel like a popsicle.
Grandma and the kids played with Legos all day while we were out :) I swear this family is becoming LEGO OBSESSED!
I got a text that church was cancelled in Salem because apparently, it snowed another 10 inches while we were gone! Since we didn't need to be back to teach Primary and we were worried about driving in the dark, while we were crazy tired, we decided to stay another night. Also, Grandma told us that Talmage had been coughing so much that he was throwing up all day, and I knew he needed good rest in a comfortable place- not his car seat. I told Jonathan we would only stay if Talmage had his OWN room :) Luckily, two of the couples staying at the beach house were leaving so there were two bedrooms available!
Grandpa had found a Lego Star Wars movie in the $5 box at Walmart, and of course bought if for Talmage :) So we watched it, had some good laughs, and went willingly to bed! Gosh, I haven't been that tired in a long time.
Jonathan ended up sneaking away in the middle of the night to go sleep with Talmage- just to make sure he didn't throw up all alone. I thought that was so sweet. To our relief, T didn't get sick all night and he slept solid through most of it- only having 2 coughing fits.
We really needed that night at the beach house. We ALL slept like rocks, and waking up to the waves and beautiful sunrise was almost magical.
Our drive back to Salem was smooth sailing. I still can't believe how lucky we were with our travels. We saw cars left and right that had slid off earlier, and it was apparent that those roads were dangerous not too long before we were on them. We got home in no time, but as soon as we entered town- the roads were COVERED in snow and slush. They had not been plowed whatsoever...this city is completely unprepared for snowstorms. Thankfully we had snow tires, and got home safely...we did slide a little but it was mostly just funny. To get up our street, Jonathan had to push the car while I drove. And to get in our driveway, he had to scoop out buckets of snow off our driveway and lay flat cardboard boxes under the tires. Once home, we breathed a huge sigh of relief :)
It was a wonderful trip, but it had its ups and downs. The "new snow" we had was perfect for making a snowman, and that's just what we did. Talmage named him Astronaut (don't ask..).
He lasted about two days until the rain came and melted the snow away. We can see all our grass now! :)
Goodbye snow, we love you- but please don't back again. This family is ready for springtime! And summer- you are ALWAYS welcome here.
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