Beached

After we got back from San Francisco, we immediately turned around and headed to my family's annual camping trip (read about past years HERE and HERE, and I can't believe I didn't blog about camping last year).

Did we go camping?

No.

For several reasons.

1)  I didn't want to deal with packing for San Francisco AND packing for camping at the same time.  That sounds like A LOT of work.

2)  Phil needed to work at least one of the days of the camping trip.  That meant either he would have to drive back or join us the second day.

3)  I wasn't sure how we would put Henry to sleep in a tent.  When he is a little older and we can rationalize with him a little, I think it will be easier.  But I just didn't want to deal with it.  It didn't sound super relaxing to me.

4)  I didn't know how I was going to keep Henry warm sleeping in a tent.  Camping at the Oregon coast can be COLD.  I mean, this is how he was dressed last year:

{Doesn't he look comfy?}

And here's another couple from last year, just because I apparently didn't blog about it:

Oh my gosh I shouldn't have looked through those pictures... feeling very nostalgic now.

Anyway, back to my story.

So we decided that Henry and I would drive back and forth each day.  That way we could sleep in our own beds, Phil could join us  on Saturday no problem, and I had less packing (like NONE) and so much less laundry.

It was about a 2 hour drive each way.  But my brother has a rule that you need to stay somewhere at least twice as long as you spend traveling.  And averaged over the 2 days, we did that.

All of this typing to say that WE WENT TO THE BEACH!!

Gone Fishing

While we were camping, my brother decided he wanted Phil to go fishing with him and his boys (Jacob and David) and Jeffrey. 

{Isn't their family cute?!?}

{This isn't our group}

{This is}

{Jacob being a fisherman}

We went to a stocked reservoir and fished off the bank.  Since we were at the Oregon coast, it was very overcast and the fog rolled in quite a bit while we were fishing, but it was so nice.

{Watching Phil get the fishing poles ready and bait the hooks was super cute}

{I don't think that is what the net is for}

{This is what timeout looks like while fishing}

My favorite part of the outing was when Phil taught David (who is 4 years old) how to cast.  And this wasn't with a little kids pole.  This was Nick's grandpa's fishing pole.

Phil did a great job being patient with David and explaining to him how to hold the line and flip the reel and how you have to release the line with you throw the pole forward.  Watching David's little pudgy finger grab the line with his tongue stinking out in concentration was a definite Hallmark moment.  And he got it right away.  So cute.

{He got it}

Nobody caught anything, but it was still a very nice little outing.  And it was extremely peaceful and beautiful.

The Beach

This last weekend was my family's annual campout.  It is a gathering of my grandma's kids and my grandma's sister's kids.  It now totals over 50 people.  And not everyone was there.  Basically we take over a portion of a state campground.

It was also Cotton's first time camping/at the beach.

He survived.  At one point Taylor knocked his pen over with her rope and he ran straight to our tent.  What a good little boy.  :)

And I think he enjoyed the beach.

 

He pooped sand for like a day.  And I think that marking on his side looks like a "C".  "C" for Cotton.

South Beach Weekend

This past weekend was the Grenz/Burrus Annual Camping trip at South Beach in Newport.  And let me tell you... it was a good one.  The weather did not disappoint.

I tend to look forward to this camping trip with a lot of enthusiasm.  So much so that the Janney household left Thursday instead of Friday.  Going home after work would have slowed me down, so Phil and I packed up the car so I could hit the road right after I finished my CMU Reinforced Masonry Lateral Design (I rocked it by the way).  This of course meant I had to bring the dog to work with me.  She was a hit and such a good girl.  I am thinking of making her a vest with a pocket to hold a scale and a mechanical pencil so she can be the office mascot.

Taylor and I met up with Phil in Corvallis for lunch at Local Boyz.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  If you are ever in Corvallis and you like Hawaiian food, you have to go there.  And get the macaroni salad.  I ate until I was sure I was going to explode.  Just thinking about it now, I am drooling a little.

Once we got to the campsite, we set up our tent.  David was such a good helper.  Seriously.  For a 3 year old, that kid has some excellent mechanical skills.  He legitimately helped with the tent.

Phil and I signed up for the Gorge Half Marathon in October.  And because of our schedules and stuff, we are behind on our training schedule.  So Thursday night, we had to do a 4 mile run.

The weather was perfect.  We really like running at the beach, as mentioned previously HERE.

The next day we tried to go to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse but it was crazy windy and there were a bunch of people there, so we stopped by Fred Meyers to pick up a few things.  David helped my dad pick out some epoxy.

Saturday morning, Phil and I hit the pavement for a 8 mile run.  Here are some pics from that.

Saturday afternoon was spent on the beach which was of course really windy.  You can't tell because I was the one taking the picture, but I was dressed like an eskimo.  A long sleeved shirt, a down vest, light sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, running pants, and sweat pants.  The plus side to that was 2 fold: 1) I was actually not freezing and 2) I didn't need to apply as much sunscreen.

So there you go.  A few snapshots from our weekend.  It was SO FUN and relaxing just to get away.

And seriously... go to Local Boyz.

Grad School Rafting Trip

The last weekend of July, our friends from grad school all headed out for our annual rafting trip.  I couldn't raft this year (because of a bug bite... LONG STORY), so Taylor and I held down the fort at the camp site while everyone rafted.  I was a little stressful to be camping, with no electricity, no cell phone, no running water, no toilets while my husband was unreachable rafting without an actual raft guide...

I was a little anxious.

Not to mention it was H.O.T. and the bugs were out in FULL FORCE.  To avoid the sun and the bugs, I just stayed in the tent mostly.  It was probably at least 10 degrees warmer in the tent than out of it.  But it was really nice to just lounge around and read.

Everyone made it back safely.  After 6.5 hours.  Thank goodness I had my fierce guard dog with me to keep me company.