4th of July

We're having a fabulous time in Manzanita. On day #2 mom and Ed departed with the kids. They went to see Danny and Kim and fam near Lincoln City. This means that I had the joint to myself. AWESOME!!!! I haven't had alone time like that in a long time. I can't remember the last time.

First I took Iva on a long walk on the beach with Rebecca and her dog Joleen. Iva ran for about an hour and a half chasing the ball. When we got home Iva collapsed on the floor. This was a vast improvement over when she was following me all over the place and getting under foot.

Next I tried to take a nap. I am not a very good nap taker but I tried. Just when I was about to fall asleep mom called. I don't think I was really asleep anyway. I read a bit, laid around and then got ready to go out with Rebecca. We were going bar hopping. You need to know there are only 2 places to go on a Thursday night.

I met Rebecca at 5:30 at her house and we walked downtown....3 blocks. We went to the wine bar, had a couple drinks, some appetizers and watched a stream of trucks and RVs pull into town. All along thinking, "Where are all these people coming from? Worse yet....where are they going to stay/park?" This is not the crowd that I am used to seeing. Volvos, Mercedes, Volkswagen, maybe an Escalade but not giant MONSTER TRUCKS. It was weird. Next we strolled down to the Sand Dune Tavern. I got a big hamburger. It was delicious but I could only eat half. The smarter of the two of us (read Rebecca here) got a salad. And then back to Rebecca's for an ABF. That's an "Absolute Bloody Final" for those of you who don't know.

When I got home I drank a bunch of water and decided it was a good idea to eat the rest of the burger. I called Bob and went to bed about 10:30.

When I woke up at 5:30 (I am still on East Coast Time) I felt like I had eaten a lead weight. The second half of the burger was NOT a good idea. When I felt like I could call Rebecca at 8:30 I did and said I needed to walk. I had to get this food moving out. We went on a long walk, the dogs ran and we worked it out. I felt MUCH better. We went through town where I got a book and picked up a package at the post office. I felt like such a local getting mail at the beach. he he he.... I went home had lunch and read my book on the couch. Life is so much quieter when you don't have small people around.

BOB ARRIVED!!!! I was so happy to see him and so was Iva though Iva did give him a more excited response. We went for another long walk on the beach and even held hands. Later it was up to the coffee shop for a coffee and Internet. A girls gotta blog right? And then back to the cabin to rest for a bit. The babies arrived with mom and Ed and we had some dinner and a basically quiet night.

And then the 4th!!! It's always a great day in Manzanita. I love it here on the 4th. Downtown is buzzing, Bob staked out a spot for fireworks at 7 am and the kids were excited to ride the fire truck in the local parade. Our friends the Wangs came for a night. Basically a whole family sleep over. We insisted that they didn't want to drive home on the evening of the 4th and if they left early they'd miss the fireworks. The parade was good fun. It wasn't too hot or too cold and the kids did indeed get to ride on the fire truck. They got firemen's hats and were smiles from ear to ear. The boys are protesting getting their picture taken so I didn't get any pictures of them. Later we went "home" and had some lunch and prepared for our evening. Kees was crazy so he took a nap...a LONG nap and I laid with him.

Later mom and Ed moved their RV down to the road on the beach so we had a camp. We could go potty, make sandwiches and the Wang kids even took naps in there. It was fab! The beach was great and we were right next to the area where they shoot them off. There wasn't much wind which is unusual and great. The best thing was the wind was taking all the smoke from fireworks and campfires away from us. The big fireworks started at 10. The beginning was awesome with lots of explosions and action. That was all good EXCEPT there wasn't much wind and that meant the smoke from the big ones was all collecting in one spot. By the middle of the show you couldn't see some of the fireworks because the smoke was so thick. It was really funny. They always do a great show and except for thick smoke up high the fireworks were great.

After the fireworks Rebecca volunteered to let the big girls, Sophia and Amelia have a sleep over in her cabin. Alright, more room for mama and papa Wang. Everyone was in bed by 11:15.

So it was busy but really all American and fun. We enjoyed that our friends and family could stay with us. It was great fun on the 4th at the beach....