Spring Break: The Final Day

The quest for Junior Ranger badges took us to Fort Clatsop on Friday. The rain pounded coming over the coast range and there were several times I had to slow way down and turn the wipers way up. But once we got onto Hwy 101, we were mostly rain free. I even saw a sliver or two of blue sky. 

At Fort Clatsop the boys tried on some replica clothing. Here, Jonah poses as a happy William Clark. Below, Isaac shows us his best, and most serious Merriweather Lewis. (Exploring is serious business.)

We walked around the grounds and looked into the fort. Unfortunately, there were no ranger talks. I guess they reserve that kind of thing for summer, when it's not so cold and damp and there are more people around. 

The boys played hide and seek and actually had a good time. Even the teenager. Which pleased me to no end. 

One friend, upon hearing about some of our Spring Break outings, said I was surely in the running for "Mom of the Year." But here's the thing: all the boys are at the perfect age right now. They are independent enough not to have to be watched every second. They understand that sometimes we have to wait for food, or take long drives, they can entertain themselves when they are bored. Everyone is at the perfect age for this kind of thing. They are easy to take places and I've actually had a lot of fun too.

I'm just glad I can take advantage of this perfect balance before things change. Because they will change, I'm sure of it.

Seaside was our next stop where again, the rain magically held off. I snapped "the picture" I always take when we go to Seaside--the boys sitting on the logs near the sign at the turn around. I was just thinking how fun it would be to put all these pictures side-by-side and see how they boys have grown. Maybe I'll get around to that some day.

But it was cold and super windy. We persevered like the true Oregonians we are. But we didn't go in the water. Because we are NOT crazy Oregonians. (See that couple way far off in the background? They went in the water. Because they are crazy.)

Finally, I got a picture of me. I'm not good at this self-picture taking thing.

On the way home we stopped at Camp 18 for dinner. It's an old logging camp and the grounds are loaded with old logging equipment and history. The restaurant is a stunning log building with a giant center beam that is the biggest in the United states and weighs like 25 tons. 

The food at the restaurant was a lot more expensive than I remember it being the last time we visited. (Maybe ten years ago?) But fortunately, we were still able to order from the lunch menu. Whew! 

After dinner we walked down to the river and the boys skipped rocks for what felt like FOREVER. I could not lure them away for anything. Isaac finally learned how to skip a rock, which was a good thing considering how much my boys seem to love throwing rocks into water. 

And here's the boys under this fabulously--what's the word--distressed? red train car. It looked really cool and would probably make a fantastic backdrop to some kind of fancy family photo-shoot. But this was the picture I got. The boys are pretending to get run over by the train. You can't see actual train car, but I thought the expression on the boys faces was too good to put the focus on the train instead of them.

Spring Break 2012 is in the books. I think we had a pretty awesome week. I'll have to remind myself that when the credit card bill comes.