Birthday Wishes And Lemonade

There are times when life rolls us a lemon, we usually manage to make lemonade as the saying goes. Several weeks ago we were given the sad news that our oldest son Nathan and his wife have separated and and asked to move back home to Menagerie Manor.  Separation and divorce are never a fun event especially when there is a child involved.  Thankfully the Little Terrorist #2 is only three years old and does not realize what is going on yet.  But my grandchildren are geniuses and I would imagine he knows more then we give him credit for.  For some time now, our good friend Andrea who is going through a divorce has been living with us and was staying in the guest room upstairs which just happened to be Nathan's old room.  So with some moving around Andrea is now in the guest room on the main floor and Nathan is back in his childhood room.  All this chaos came right when we were ramping up for MeMa's big birthday get-a-way.  Our other daughter-in-law Jill suggested that we rent a beach house large enough to handle the entire family + dogs of course.  So last Friday we all landed in Lincoln City, five adults, two excited Little Terrorists and four barking dogs.  The house we rented was very nice, old but nice and it was built on a bluff right above the beach with easy access to the beach.

The whole beach side of the home was glass from floor to ceiling.

Whilst our two son's went into town for some brother time, the rest of the tribe headed for the beach. There is nothing like marital troubles to turn a normally cheerful young man into a hard to deal with cloud of gloom.  So when the younger son volunteered to drive his brother into town we thought the moodiness would change.....it didn't!

From left - Little Terrorist #2 Brooklyn, Boston Terrier Popeye, Little Terrorist #1 Taeya, DL Jill, Chihuahua Ninja, Dachshund Sophie, MeMa, Corgi Miss Betty



Our first morning jaunt to the sand was a little cool but it was perfect weather for sand castle construction.  About an hour on the beach the sun warmed us up in no time, so jackets came off and the Little Terrorists were in the water in no time.

Brooklyn gathering equipment for some heavy construction

A damn was soon built giving Miss Betty ample supply of fresh drinking water from the fresh water inlet.

Nothing like a good old splash in the waves

Little Ninja soon tired of the cold and spent the rest of the outing as my papoose

Sand and fresh air calls for a fare amount of naps in the sunshine

Sunday afternoon everyone left for Portland leaving an exhausted MeMa  and myself with an extra day and a half to ourselves.

Before they all headed back to Portland we treated everyone to a hearty lunch at "Mo's".  So with bellies full the back seat was soon fast asleep.

Monday morning stroll on the beach

We could not have asked for better weather and gorgeous sunsets