I promise the next post will be pictures from the vacation. They tell their own story. I have had such random moments this summer that all bring me back to the same place.... home/family. I was eating white bread the other day and I generally don't care for it because it tends to end up in a glue ball in my stomach, but it was a light piece and the minute I tasted it I was taken back to Grandpa Tucker and how bread cereal tastes. Grandpa always ate slowly. He quietly enjoyed his food. I never saw him hurry his eating at all. He loved to tear the white bread into chunks, sprinkle the sugar on, and pour in the milk. I love that taste. I'll never forget it. Funny since I don't like white bread (unless it's homemade).
So then a couple weeks ago some of the grandkids were spending the night and they like to sleep on the foldout when there's more than one of them (despite having two empty bedrooms) and Tucker was helping fold it back up the next morning and he says, "Hey Grandma! The couch is a transformer. See... it's a bed and a couch and it transforms." He was dead serious... and was also correct when I thought about it. Brought a smile to my face. Of course he also informed me that someone needed to invent a waterbottle that had a button you could push and the bottle would automatically refill with water.
So the vacation..... I just can't even begin to express all the moments of happiness I felt throughout the vacation. It was simply enjoyable. It would have been perfect with all the children there, but I was so glad my mom and dad could go. Several times we commented on how we missed Jackie and Bobby tagging along too. The boys would often say "Krehl would like that or he'd think that was so cool." Maybe next year. Still... it was so much fun. We always enjoy stopping and staying with Auntie Diann. It's even more special with Gma Shorty staying there now. She was very happy to see the grandkids. Bryton had to fix her hair for her and of course she had to hold the youngest baby. She loves the babies!
We call Aunt Diann Dr. Doolittle because she has so many wild animals on her place (which is in a city neighborhood) that she can't even have flowers outside. We watched the deer that camps in her lawn and under her deck bed down for the night. We hurried out to see what the clatter was on the back porch and found the raccoon staring at us. Luckily we didn't run into the skunk family that hangs out! When we pulled up to the house Daisha said, "I remember this house! This is where Mandy took a shower with the frog!" No frogs this trip. Lots of good eating though. Aunt Diann fed us so much we waddled on the beach!
Then we headed to Newport but we took McKenzie Pass. It was open this time and it was spectacular. All the miles of lava rock mixed with the mountains. The extraordinary formation caused by nature. It was breathtaking. I wish my brother could have seen it. The drive was spectacular too. Like driving through postcard after postcard. Okay, so we did our usual "gee I think we took a wrong turn" and got lost a couple times, but always found our way back. Dad said he was glad to be last in the caravan so he could watch us go in circles and wait for us to figure it out. We literally went around one gas station three times in Newport! Yep!
Then when we got to Newport and the house I had rented, I was so upset. The place smelled horrid. Like an old house with water rot or something in it. The furnishings were equally horrid and I was afraid to sit, let alone sleep on anything. I called the rental company and I will just say that after some discussion, they finally decided they better get us a different property. All things happen for a reason-- we ended up in a house that exceeded our expectations. It was awesome and much more reasonable for the price we had paid. Our back yard overlooked the ocean and the lighthouse. It doesn't get much better than that. The furnishings were awesome as well. We had so much fun there.
Probably the most fun was watching the kids on the beach. Daisha was the only one who had seen the ocean before. It was new to all the others and they were beside themselves with excitement. They loved it. Even Baby Bradly loved it. If he was fussy we'd walk out on the deck and the minute he heard the ocean, he'd calm down. I loved sleeping with my window open and listening to it at night. I slept so well while we were there. The kids had a harder time. They had a pirate theme room with a life size pirate and some other interesting decorations that had to be covered at night (along with the pirate) so they could sleep without being scared. It was totally not scary by day though. In fact, it was a very cute room. It even had a pinball machine in it. We all played some Foosball and ping pong too. My mom even learned how to play Foosball and Bryton was quite happy that he beat both grandmas!
We also got to see the boats come into the harbor and watch them pull up the crablines on the dock while they were crabbing. Of course we hit some shops (including candy shops) and had clam chowder. I just smiled so much my cheeks were tired. The trek to the lighthouse, the center they have there and the educational displays are all so awesome. We saw a whale out in the ocean, sea lions sunbathing, a starfish chillin by the shore, and lots of happy little faces (that would be the grandkids). Throw in some smores by the ocean campfire and some late night pinochle and you have a vacation that we will always remember.
Thanks to all who came. I'll post pics tomorrow.
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