Grandma's Visit, Kite Festival, and Devil's Punchbowl

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Grandma had a very successful visit. She got here and back without any problems. Henry was very glad to see her. At first, he didn't believe she was actually here because we have been video chatting and we have a DVD of Grandma reading books for Henry. But once he realized she was actually here, he was all smiles.

Over the weekend we stayed at a hotel on the Beach in Lincoln City. Sitting on a sunny beach in beautiful 75 degree weather watching kites fly...what a great way to spend a weekend. Our patio opened up to the beach. It was WONDERFUL. We had to pay extra for the hotel, since it was on the beach, but I was SO happy because we could bring Henry back to the hotel for his naps and still enjoy the kites. They didn't have a high chair, so we made one using a plastic chair from our deck and Andrew's belt. It wasn't perfect, but it worked in a pinch. The Kite Festival itself was SO cool. They had precision kite flying and they had enormous kites. Some of them were tied to cars they were so big. They were also flying giant windsocks that were attached to kites. The best think was the precision kite flying. It was so neat to see the 6 or 9 kites make circles or zigzags. You had to keep wondering how they strings didn't get twisted, but somehow they were able to do it. Plus Andrew bought us a kite. We learned that when the sand just starts to blow on the beach that is a 20 mph wind. I will post video in the next post. For some reason it won't load...

On Sunday we drove to Devil's Punchbowl and spent the morning on the Beach. What fun. It was SO windy at Lincoln City we decided not to try and sit on the same beach, but find one with less wind. Devil's Punchbowl's beach is down under a bluff so it was perfect. The temperature was good, there was relatively no wind and there were basically NO other people. Maybe because you had to climb down 5 flights of stairs (or so) to get down. We FINALLY were able to get Henry to stop eating sand, so we actually were able to sit and enjoy the beach. Plus there were little tide pools that Henry was actually able to play in. There was no real wildlife in them and it was much warmer than the actual ocean so he was able to play a little in the water.

This week, is already half over, but it will be for recuperating. Andrew had to take the day off on Monday because he got a little bit sick. He was running a slight fever and felt nauseated. Not sure if he just wore himself out with all the excitement, or if he got a little bit of food poisoning, or got a little virus. He slept most of the day and felt 100% by Tuesday. Yesterday Henry and I went and picked blueberries and cherries. YUM!
Henry actually was "picking" some of the berries off the bushes and eating them. He was a big fan. Unfortunately, I think he got a lot of green ones, but he was content. I have some pictures on my phone, but I don't have the converter to the computer so I will have to post the pictures when I get home in mid-July.

In other Henry news, he took his first steps yesterday. He walked 3-4 steps over to Andrew. We were both excited. I know that this is really the beginning of the end, but it is so neat to see how fast he is developing. He is also signing More, although I am not 100% sure he knows what it means. We have also started "potty training". He is young, but with signing you can have them trained before they are 2. So, right now we are just putting him on the potty when he wakes up and if he crawls into the bathroom. So far we have saved about 10 diapers...which doesn't seem like a whole lot, but it is a start. Also, last week at the park he was brave enough to go into the splash pad, with mommy of course. He was really happy until he got squirted, then he cried...then he wanted to go back in.

The rest of the week here is going to be HOT, HOT, HOT! They are predicting 95 degrees tomorrow. I still decided not to get an AC unit because next week it is going to be in the low 70's again. Plus, it is still going to cool off to 60 or below at night. I am trying to think of ideas to keep Henry an I cool during the hot part of the next few days. I am going to go check out the libraries and possibly Barnes and Noble. Also, I was thinking I am going to try to find an indoor mall. Most of the Malls in this area are the outdoor malls. Maybe going to the beach...maybe going to the Children's Musuem...maybe just filling up the tub with cool water and having a party in the bathroom...so many choices!