Hide your kids. Hide your Toms.

I think I am still in shock, but my beloved Toms are gone.

Last time I had them was the drive/first night at the coast. I remember taking them off by the desk in our room and the next morning as we were walking out the door housekeeping came in to take our towels, make the bed and straighten up a little bit and then when we got back that night they were no where to be found. I seriously wore those shoes every day. I just still can't convince myself that some one (clears throat *housekeeping*) would take them. They were well loved (meaning they are worn, they don't look brand new, but they aren't in bad shape either) could have Maisie thrown them in the trash? This isn't to far fetched because she loves to hide things, but my shoes were on the opposite side of the room. She would have had to crawl over, grab one and then scoot all the way back to the trash and then repeat for the next shoe. I think we would have noticed and I also think Maisie would have done just one and then would be distracted by something else, but they are both just gone.

As we were checking out, my mother in law said something to the front desk and left our address so they could be sent back to us, but I don't think that's going to happen as much as I would like it to. I am pretty bummed. I remember how excited I was to get my first pair and add to the collection, but now I am toms-less. Austin promised I can get a new pair, but it still doesn't bring my other ones back.

I am a little excited to get a new pair because there are so many options. I have always imagined getting a fun/bright pair, but now that I am down a neutral pair, I don't know what to do. Should I get another staple neutral or a fun summery pair?

These were my trusty pals.

These are my contenders...

Right now I am really feeling the coral and aqua ones. But the ivory grosgrain is lovely too.

Any opinions?

Neskowin Beach

Tuesday the 5th we had to be checked out of the hotel at 11:00 am and our plan was to have a beach day and it was the perfect day for it. Another cloudless sky and in the low 70s. So we woke up the same time we always do (at about 8am) ate breakfast, showered and then Austin, Maisie and I headed down to the tide pools right outside our hotel. With how busy we were the day before, we didn't have a chance to scope out the tide pools just a few hundred feet away from us. After a short adventure on the rocks we headed back to our room where we finished packing up whilst watching the Casey Anthony trial (don't even get me started on the verdict). We then started making our way up north towards Lincoln City. We were going to stop at Otter Crest for lunch, but Maisie fell asleep and since she was already way off her normal schedule we wanted her to sleep as long as possible. We made a pit stop in Depot Bay for some old fashioned caramel corn and then continued past Lincoln City to Neskowin (I have such a soft spot for Neskowin. This was the beach my family would ALWAYS go to). 

We decided to have lunch before hitting up the beach. We ate at the Hawk Creek Cafe and oh man, it is delicious! This was my second time eating there (once for dinner and this time for lunch) and I highly recommend it. After lunch we grabbed our towels and beach toys and walked until we found the perfect spot. This was Maisie's first real time playing on the beach. She ate fist fulls of sand and loved the water. All she wanted to do was splash around and throw sand clumps. The water was freezing, but she didn't seem to mind much. She would shiver and chatter her teeth, but she got mad every time we tried to dry her off or relocate her. She was loving everything about the beach. The kites, dogs, little kids, waves, of course the sand and her little water spot next to the ocean river. She wasn't too happy with the clean up that occurred after we headed back to the car, but I don't think shes too traumatized. Austin and I even had a little stroll to ourselves. Austin called it a date, while Maisie was being watched by Aunt Miranda, Grandpa and Grandma. Austin and I even got brave and decided to play in the ocean. It was so cold and pretty much the whole time we were screaming uncontrollably. We got a little above waist deep which is a feat for the Oregon Coast. We then walked/swam upstream the river to our little spot and the river water felt like a lukewarm bath compared to the ocean waves we were just frolicking in. It was so nice just to be able to hold hands. That is something I used to take for granted, but since having a child and now having to push a stroller or carry a bazillion things (including a baby), it seems like such a treat when we are actually able to. We then headed back to the car and made our way back home. We all got a little sunburned, mainly me. I was the only one who didn't put on SPF (I put SPF 15 on my face) but as for my chest, shoulders and neck... well I was a little toasty. It has already healed nicely into a tan though (Yay for diligent aloe vera applications and not peeling!)

Anyway, here are some pictures of our day at the beach.

red, white and blue flowers at Hawk Creek Cafe

Throwing sand clumps. She would make the cutest little noise as she threw them.

splish splash.

We had such a great time and our whole trip was so nice. There seriously couldn't have been any better weather at the coast. We are very excited for our next mini-vacation.

Newport Bay Fireworks

After our hiking adventures we headed back to the hotel to rest up/change/shower/feed Maisie then it was off to Newport. We wanted to get there early so we could scope out a good spot to watch the firework show. We ate a delicious dinner at Mo's and then went to the first dock to sit and wait for a couple hours until it was dark enough for the show to start. I am glad we got there early because there were already people camped out on the benches and setting up chairs in the front. We put down some blankets and ate Marion berry cobbler while the sun started to fade. We even had free entertainment a fellow was catching crab off the dock and every 15 minutes or so he would pull up his basket and sure enough there would be some crab. He even was teaching us what to look for. Males, at least 5 inches from ridge to ridge or the size of a dollar bill. Anything smaller or female gets tossed back in. Maisie was being so good. She was a little hard to keep still, but besides the boredom (which I don't blame her, we were sitting for a couple hours) she was an angel. A cart came around with hot chocolate so we warmed our hands and bellies until the show started. I was manning the camera, because Austin was busy trying to get comfortable and keeping Maisie occupied, but man was I struggling. My pictures we blurry (its impossible to take a good pictures of fireworks without a tripod or at least a flat stable surface) so finally Austin decided to take over. He went to the very edge of the dock and placed the camera on the ledge and took amazing pictures. For fun I will post some of mine first and then his.

Here we go...

mine

mine

Austin's

Austin's

AND THE WINNER IS........

Definitely Austin. 

Look at this stunning picture! The perfect timing and the reflection off the bay. Beautiful.

Giant Spruce Trail

After our tide pool adventure we had a little picnic before starting the Giant Spruce trail. We snacked on PB&Js, apples, grapes and chips then we started our hunt for the 600 year old spruce. It was about 2 o'clock at this point almost 3 hours past Maisie's normal nap time, so we were a little worried she was going to have a melt down half way through the trip, but we carried on and prayed that she would sleep in the hiking pack. See pictures for results...

about 10 minutes in she fell asleep. Austin was humming edelweiss to her as he blazed the trail.

Me and Miranda's hiking uphill self portrait

Maisie snoozing in the back...

We found the giant spruce!

And it is giant!

Look who woke up...

Salmon berries... which are in fact edible.

Tide Pools in Yachats

The first morning of our trip, we planned to spend most of the day hiking. Bob found a couple of trails in Yachats, Oregon (a little south of Waldport). One was a small hike down to some tide pools so we decided to hit that trail first. We timed it perfectly with the low tide and it was BEAUTIFUL outside. It was a miracle. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the sun mixed with the salty ocean breeze felt glorious. Maisie wasn't to keen about all the wind (see last picture) as we adventured towards the waves crashing on the rocks, but she was enjoying the hiking pack she was snug as a bug in. 

Getting ready to start our hike (even though she is signing "all done")

Hum? I wonder if the water is cold...