Andy and his First Half Marathon!

For the last couple months, I have been in training mode.  But it became apparent in the last 2 weeks that I had some sort of issue with my right leg.  After research, I determined that it was my IT Band.  It  became apparent this past Monday after much frustration, terrible pain and buckets of tears that I would not be able to run the race I had trained for.  On Wednesday it was cleared by race officials for Andy to wear my bib and run the race in my place.   He hasn't been running much, only about 8 miles in the past four months.  So he took on quite a challenge.  

We left our house at 5.20am and traveled over the river and through the woods first to packet pick-up and then to the starting line.

 



The potty line up.  Notice that it is pouring rain. 

 

 

The pinning of the bib.

 

His cheering committee waiting close to the finish line.  Yes, it is still pouring rain!

13.1 and done!

His official time as listed on the Uberthon website was 2:34.

Tired, drenched and feeling accomplished...

The race announcer game him an odd look as he announced .... and here comes "Dixie" finishing the half.

I am super proud of his accomplishments.  I say we make an odd team... I put in the training, and he runs the race.

To celebrate his accomplishments we headed straight to Red Robin for lunch! 

Sand And Sun And The Little Red Car That Got Stuck.

Recently we spent a little time playing in the sand at Pacific City.   The sun was mostly shinning and it was almost warm.  We are trying to take advantage of the sunshine, because the rain is coming!

 



This guy loved the sand. 

The waves were high and before we left, the clouds and fog had started to roll in.

Much to our amazement and our amusement, this small car cruised out onto the beach, like it owned the place and preceded to drive right into loose, dry sand and get very stuck!   It is possible to carefully drive on the beach and not get stuck , you just must use wisdom.  But I am guessing this may have been a new-to-sand- driver.  Even more interesting was the fact that 5 people and a guitar were jam packed into this tiny car. 

I guess it's all about the adventure and the making of memories.

Unfortunately we had to leave before their very small car was free from the sand. 

Some Days...

 

Some days it rains, and some days it's sunny.

Some days we go for a drive on the road less traveled.

Some days we count the cows.

Some days we admire God's beautiful sunset.

Some days it takes a while to get all the books into one stack.

Some days we let out imaginations take us to an old Lincoln log town in the wild, wild west.

Game Night

On Friday night we had our first Countryside Church game night.  It was fun and we have plans to do it again soon. 

First thing on the agenda was eating... I forgot to get any pictures of the snacks.


The young ones were very busy.

And the older ones had a couple serious rounds of Wits and Wagers. 

And a good time was had by all.

Bayocean, "The Town That Fell Into the Sea"

'The other day we had an opportunity to explore.  Well really there was nothing, absolutely nothing left to explore, so we just walked around imagining... until it started to rain and then we headed back to the car.   Here's some history for you.

Once upon a time, a real estate promoter and his son,  had a dream.  The year was 1906 and the dreaming duo was T.B. Potter and his son.  Their dream was to turn the peninsula in the Tillamook Bay into another Atlantic City.  They claimed their project would be known as the  "Queen of Oregon Resorts" and "the playground of millionaires." 
The first lots on this sand dune spit were sold to Francis Drake Mitchell,  a 37 year old druggist and entrepreneur.  Construction began in 1907 and Mitchell built the first hotel and general store.
Soon this small piece of  sand, four miles long, half mile wide - 600 acres, was boasting of paved and lighted streets, a private railroad, post office, public school, and a luxurious 3 story hotel.  Bayocean as the town came to be called, was also known for its entertainment: bowling, golf, shooting range, and tennis courts.  Their Natatorium had a 160 foot- long heated pool with a wave machine, several hundred dressing rooms, a 1,000 seat movie theater and a large dance floor. 
By 1914 at least 600 lots had been sold and the towns population was 2,000.
Then the dream began to crumble.  During a powerful storm in 1932 the Natatorium was destroyed.  Erosion began to narrow the peninsula and by 1952 Bayocean had become an island.  By this time the dreaming father/son team had abandoned their dream. The post office closed in 1953.   Stubborn homeowners were living a nightmare, watching as their homes either fell apart or were washed away.  The last house crumbled and fell into the sea in 1960 and the last remaining building, a garage, disappeared in 1971.
Francis Drake Mitchell was the first to buy into the dream and the last to let it go.  He spent the majority of his life helping to make the dream of Bayocean a reality.  His last days found him trying to repair the washed out roads of Bayocean with a shovel and wheelbarrow.  Following the death of his wife in 1953, a court order moved him from Bayocean to the State Hospital in Salam, Oregon. He died at the age of 95 on July 25th, 1965. 

I find this story so fascinating; the dreaming, the building of a resort town, the nightmare, and then the abandoning of that dream.   I am reminded of the song based on Matthew 7:24-27, that I learned as a young child.  "The foolish man built his house upon the sand....and the rains came tumbling down...and the house on the sand went splat".
I also find it interesting that the man first to buy into the dream lived out his last days trying to repair and fix that dream with a shovel and wheelbarrow.  He spent his life believing in and promoting something that washed away. Nothing remains of his hard efforts except pictures and a road side sign.

For more information check out this http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/bayocean.html  website, it has some fantastic pictures.  Also http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/bayocean/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayocean,_Oregon have information.


This is the road headed out onto the Tillamook Spit.  It is so hard to imagine that at one time this was a fancy resort town.

  We walked over the dune and down to the ocean's edge. 

And ran through the sand.

The Taking of a Family Snapshot.

Recently we needed a family picture, so we unearthed the tripod, fastened the camera to the top and commenced to take picture after picture in search of the perfect family photo.  
The day was mostly cloudy, but occasionally the sun would blaze out from behind the clouds and scorch all in its path.

Practice picture.

Squinty children.

 

 

Grimacing son.  Ok Clayton, watch the blinking light.

Eyes open, please.

I see that hand.  Hello Clayton, watch the blinking light.

It's amazing what a good threatening will do!  Hey Clayton, the light.

And then came the sun blazing away.  Um Clayton, please look at the camera and watch the light.

Aww.   poor little Carson baby!

Waiting for the sun to go back behind the cloud. Pouting, whining, complaining, losing privileges.

And yet another grimace for the camera.  Clayton, don't make me tell you again.

Here comes the sun again.

O, look over there, what is it?

And finally, a keeper.

So often when looking at pictures, we just see a photo of the "perfect" family.  I thought it would be fun to show you the good, the bad and the ugly.  No perfect family here, and that's ok!
As you can see, my oldest really struggled with the taking of these pictures.  His varying expressions make me giggle now.   I was thankful when we finally got a keeper and we could call it quits in front of the camera.