11-21
Load up the car, kiddos, because we're headed out for another Rustand day trip! At 4 1/2 weeks old, it was high time to introduce Hattie to the ocean. The weather was supposed to be really great - sunny, no wind - so we spent the whole day in Bandon leaving mid-morning and getting home around 7:30. Hattie traveled really well with only two or three times total of crying in the car seat for about 5-10 minutes each time. Not too bad, really. This was our first longer drive with all four kids in the car and it went really well. Mostly. We have a DVD player for the car but the second screen failed on the way home at the end of our MN trip last Christmas so we're down to one screen. Because it needs to be mounted on the back of a head rest, there's really not one good spot where it can be so everyone can see it. As a result, we used an old hand-held DVD player for Charlie and Alanna in the back. Alanna was holding it on her lap and Charlie was turning his neck to watch as you can see in the first picture. Well, about 5 miles from Bandon, on the windiest (is that a word?) part of 42S, Charlie said "I'm just really nervous that I'm going to throw up!" Yikes! We pulled over 10 seconds later and Charlie popped out of his seat just in time to dry heave into a plastic bag. That has never happened to any of the kids before (that I can remember anyway). I'm 100% certain that he was getting car sick from turning his head to watch the movie while we were driving. The road to the coast is curvy, and the closer you get to Bandon, the curvier the road gets. Poor guy! He looked pale and everything. I can't believe that he was able to tell us that he was feeling like he was going to puke - good job, Charlie! Thankfully we were only 5 miles from Bandon, but unfortunately for Charlie he just had to endure the yucky feeling for just a bit longer. The only cure to car sickness that I've found is to get out of the car, stand on the ground, and breathe some fresh air. Once we arrived in Bandon and did just that, Charlie perked up quickly. I was so glad!
First things first - a picnic lunch on the water front. Matt packed the crab pot and bait, but the crabbing dock was closed. It appeared that the city was dredging the area. No biggie. We were still able to enjoy the water front! It was relatively quiet around Bandon - a Saturday in November isn't exactly high tourist time, though it really could be since the weather was nicer on this day than it was when we went to Bandon with Mark and Jean in August!! Anyway, after PBJ's and salad, we headed over to the indoor farmer's market. We walked around town for a little bit and stopped in a book store that we don't usually stop at. We were going to keep making the rounds (toy store, Cranberry Sweets), but we decided to head to the beach in case the wind picked up. It was a great decision since we spent 2 1/2 hours playing on the sand and in the water. It. Was. AWESOME. We had such a great time!! Well, mostly. When we got to the beach, I was sitting in the car nursing Hattie before joining the rest of my family, and just when I was about done, Matt and the kids came back to the car. Molly did a full face-plant in the sand and needed to be cleaned up a bit even though we were going back down to the beach. She wasn't hurt at all even though Matt said he heard her head thump on the sand - that's how hard she hit. Owie! Charlie came up to the car just crying and crying. He lost his compass, the one he got from Melanie, on the beach somewhere. It was clipped to his hood, but it wasn't clipped through a hole, so when he was running and jumping in the waves, it must have fallen off. I felt so bad for him. He was crushed. I guess I saw it on his hood but I didn't think to tell him to hold onto it or move it to his pocket or something. He was so disappointed and I just felt so bad for him. It's a hard lesson to learn. It took probably 30-45 minutes of on and off crying before he was able to move on and enjoy the rest of the day. I told him that we could check his piggy bank and see if he had enough money to buy a new one. I knew he did but didn't want to say anything definite about it. He perked up a bit at the mention of spending money to replace it. I find it ironic that a compass got lost...
Sweet baby Hattie spent her whole time at the beach snuggled up in my ring sling snoozing on my chest. She was clearly lulled to sleep by the sound of the crashing waves and the smell of the salty beach air. It is pretty magical! While she was resting comfortably, Charlie, Alanna, and Molly were playing and running and exploring and laughing and chasing waves and... I just LOVE going to the beach with the kids. They can spend all day at the beach with literally nothing and be entertained the whole day. We happened to be at the beach at low tide so there were several little tide pools to look at, too. They were having a fabulous time playing with the waves around a rocky area, and Molly was filling up her pockets with rocks, shells, and anything else she could find. I can't believe we were barefoot on the beach for 2 1/2 hours without stocking hats on in November. Seriously. It was amazing! We started making our way back to the car just as the sun was making it's way to the horizon. By the time we de-sanded the kids and loaded up the van, it was about 15 minutes from sundown so we quickly drove to a different beach access to take some pictures of what was looking to be a beautiful sunset. It was so pretty and such a great way to end our afternoon.
By this time, Hattie was hungry again, so we made our way back down to the water front to finish out the usual stops. We made it to the candy store before they closed for the night, much to the kids' delight. Matt and the three oldest were able to go through an art center while I was nursing Hattie in the car. The name is slipping my mind, but the non-profit creates art pieces out of trash from the beach. It was actually a really neat exhibit with some hands-on things for the kids. Hattie and I breezed through it quickly before they closed for the night, too. Washed Ashore maybe? Anyway, they created an entire rib cage of a gray whale to scale using white trash (actual trash that was white in color). There was also a dark room featuring iridescent sea life. So cool! After that, we hit the road and headed home. Always a great time at the coast. Always.
Exhausted baby after a full day of traveling and fresh air!
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