Ryan and Tatum's first time at the beach--unplanned....no equipment...
Mommy and Charley and her two bottom teeth....Charley is wearing Daddy's jacket...
Thomasin, Tasmin, Mommy, & Charley... 
Daddy's Little Girls and Daddies going to the water for first time... 
T4
Ketz-Mulicks
Above picture is 2nd trip to beach with supplies...Ryan had been asking if we could help her build a sandcastle since before we left Arkansas... 
Ryan building a sandcastle.... 
Ryan playing ball...
Now Ryan is wearing Daddy's jacket....
Best buddies back at the beach house....Charley is like Mommy if you will notice the top button of her skirt is unbuttoned...just more comfortable that way.... 
Mommy and Charley on the carousel on Sunday...
Daddy and Ryan on the carousel (she was nervous)... Seaside, Oregon and T4
We woke up at the beach house at the crack of dawn (since I'm writing this about two weeks later I can't remember exactly when). I think it was around 6-something for Charley and me and 8-something for Pat and Ryan. Charley and I slept in a bed upstairs and Pat and Ryan slept in a bed downstairs. Since Charley has never slept without us, I was not going to use our vacation to transition her. Also, Ryan would likely wake up in the night and be upset if she were alone in an unfamiliar room. Pat said she would wake up and say "Mommy" or "Daddy" and then snuggle up close with him.
Anyway, we went to breakfast at Pig-N-Pancake (the first of several breakfasts there). Charley wore one of Ryan's Zutano outfits. I cannot believe she's big enough to wear those. It seems like yesterday that Ryan wore them. As we were driving away I noticed that Charley's bottle did not make it back to the car with us. Pat said he remembered putting it on the car and reminding himself silently not to leave it. Well, we circled the block and it was smashed to smithereens in the street. So, not only was my "liquid gold" as the lactation Nazis like to call it gone as well as the time I spent pumping so was one of three nipples that I brought on the trip. I was furious but kept my mouth shut because Pat apologized in a tone that made me realize that he was aware of the severity of the mistake.
Details are getting fuzzy but I think we went back to the house and hung out until Ryan took her nap. Then, the most exciting part of the trip came--T4 arrived around noon-ish. T4 are our best friends from Spokane-Tom, Thom, Tatum, and Tasmin. It was the first time for us to meet Tasmin (4 months) and for them to meet Charley (8 months). I specified their ages because I was amazed by the fact that they weigh the same and Tasmin actually looks BIGGER than Charley. We hung out at the house the rest of the afternoon and T4 brought some civilized snacks from Trader Joe's in Portland including edamame, crunchy green beans, wasabi peas, red pepper hummus with pita bread, chips, and green salsa. That's pretty much what we (and Ryan) had for lunch. Tatum took a nap later in the afternoon. Tasmin was pretty fussy which they said was uncommon (yeah, right....).
Then, I got to go on a retreat (uh, I mean grocery shopping) by myself. T4 was in charge of dinner that night and they made steak and corn salad with cilantro. It seems like there was another dish but I can't remember. We got the kiddos in bed and had a normal dinner with just the four of us like the good ole days. It was glorious to be with friends that are just like family and you can be your crazy, loony self without fear of being judged (or if you are being judged it is at least done out loud).
So, the next morning Pat let me sleep in because I had gotten up with Charley the first morning. All 8 of us (how did 4 become 8 so fast?) walked down the Prom that morning and other than that our first outing occurred around 3:30. I remember that because I remember thinking about how pathetic it was that it took us that long to get out of the house. We went to the aquarium which was pretty lame. Nothing much to report about the aquarium. We unexpectedly went to the beach for the first time after the aquarium. It was right there and we were just going to walk down to the sand for a couple of minutes but it ended up being Ryan and Tatum's first experience at the beach. Pat said he thought Ryan was as happy as she had ever been in her life. She was running around and laughing. She liked going to the edge of the water and running away from the waves as they came in. She normally has a fit when she gets her clothes wet but when she complained and Daddy told her that it was part of being at the beach she didn't mind at all. It was pretty cold and windy and I had Charley bundled up in Pat's coat. At first I thought that I didn't like going to a beach that was cold but now I think I like it better than or as much as a warm beach. I like being able to wear sweatshirts and long pants on the beach as opposed to my new "mom" tankini with a skirt. At this beach no one has to know about my unshaven legs and bruises from I don't know what. It was nice to play in the sand without sweltering 100 degree weather and 100% humidity like in Florida. I also like being in the beach house looking outside to the cold beach-it's cozy and I like all things cozy. When we were heading back to the van Ryan had to go potty. She ended up going in the parking lot of the aquarium. It was surprising because she can be particular about things and I thought she'd have a problem with that but she didn't. She had sand in her panties and ended up riding home in her carseat with a shirt and no panties or pants because her pants were wet.
So, we got back to the beach house and it was our turn to cook dinner. I made ravioli with brown butter and balsamic vinegar and a Caesar salad. We also smoked some sausages (Tom's request).
We decided that Pat and Tom could go play golf on Saturday morning and that Thomasin and I would go to lunch and shopping on Sunday afternoon. Well, Saturday morning rolled around and Thomasin's mental health hit the fan due to Tasmin's poor sleep during this trip. So, Pat and Tom didn't go play golf but drove to Cannon Beach with Ryan and Tatum just to get the noise level down in the house for a little peace for Thomasin (I also benefited). On Saturday after naps we headed to our official trip to the beach with blankets, towels, buckets, shovels, cameras, a ball, and video cameras. Ryan had a great time again. On Saturday night we just had pizza for dinner.
On Sunday, T4 decided to leave a day early because Tom and Tatum ended up driving because rental cars were too expensive and the drive would be too long if they left on Monday. So, we all went to Pig-N-Pancake and the rest of the day we just packed up and they headed out late that afternoon. I was sad for them to leave early but it was actually good to have some downtime before Phase 3 of the trip. It also made cleaning the house up easier the next morning.
Side note: Phase 1-travel; Phase 2-Seaside with T4; Phase 3-Portland with Greg & Kim; Phase 4-Cannon Beach for family reunion; Phase 5-back to Portland for the night; and Phase 6-travel home.
Everyone got along and by that I mean everyone but the 2-1/2 year old and the almost 2-year-old. No-for the most part they were fine together but there were a couple of occasions were Tatum was taking Ryan's toys and Ryan could have stood up for herself but she didn't. She had these 12 tiny animals and Tatum was picking them up one by one which meant Ryan could also be picking some up at the same time. Everyone was telling her to pick some up and run and she stood there paralyzed and crying. Normally Ryan seems to be the bossy, dominant leader but she was submissive to Tatum most of the time. After Tatum and Ryan napped I suggested to Ryan that we put the animals away. She didn't want to but I said that then Tatum couldn't get them. She then said "let's do that."
The only other notable event was that Tatum lets Thomasin do her hair each day. She uses a de-tangler. Ryan watched each day as it was done and was very interested in it but refused to participate. However, I told her at the family reunion that she would have to have her hair fixed and she cooperated! Since we've been home she has let me do her hair and has asked for pigtails "like Tatum."
I think that's it.
Stay tuned for next installment..."Phase 3 in Portland"...
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