A Weekend at the Coast

The coast has been a blast. I have been writing blogs everyday, but unable to post due to a lack of internet access, which was okay. It’s nice to not have internet service. No one could get ahold of me, which really didn’t bother me. Peyton is in Canada, Mom and Dad are doing fine, Mike is doing soccer, and I’m with my grandson. Is there a better place to be?

We started our trip with a straight shot to the coast spending that first day watching Jessie in the waves. He first ran to the water and then ran out and then came back and assessed, decided it was worth it and was back in the water. That is where he stayed the rest of the day. We had a wonderful time watching him, encouraging his play. A moment to remember. On Sunday we spent the morning in the waves and then headed up to Lincoln City so that Elena and I could do some shopping and daddy and Jessie could go to the beach. We shopped uninterrupted and Jessie played uninterrupted…could we have a better time? We headed to a little Mexican food restaurant in Yachats for dinner on Sunday night where the food was great, the service was awful, but the company and Jessie made for a perfect evening. I have heard stories about Jessie misbehaving at restaurants, and let me tell you, I have not seen evidence of it. With me, he has been perfect at all public places. Absolute perfect. I love that child more than words can say.

Monday we headed out and went to the aquarium in Newport which was awesome. All of us went from one exhibit to the next to the next in awe of the display. I have to stop here and thank my mother and my son. They were insistent that I bring the rolling walker for the zoo. I resisted, indicating I’d be fine, didn’t need it, yada yada, but they insisted. And even when it really wasn’t going to fit and I told my son to leave it behind, he refused and brought it anyway, and I am SO glad he did. That walker got me through the aquarium. I had something to lean on, something to rest on when I got tired. It was a lifesaver. We had a fabulous time. It was fantastic.

After the aquarium we headed to our hotel in Portland and Jessie slept the entire way. He was SO tired, what a sweet baby. We sat in the backseat and I held his hand as he fell asleep, so happy and satisfied.

Last night Elena and Houston went out to dinner and Jessie and I had a night in. There was no DVD player and I couldn’t get the car DVD to work in the room so it was pretty easy…no TV. Jessie didn’t like it at first but I simply told him, sorry, can’t make work what doesn’t work and we are going to have dinner (room service chicken nuggets – yummy) and then we are going to take a bath and then we are going to read. So that’s what we did…and you know what…we had a fabulous time! There were no bath toys, so we made due with a room service plate cover (it has a hole in it like a shower) and an ice bucket and made a mess in the bathroom, cleaning little piggies, every single one! Then we took out all the books and read and read. It was perfect. Elena and Houston were back by 10pm when I was really starting to fade, so timing was ideal.

Today, I’m tired but doing okay. I didn’t get the big crash I was really worried about and I’m ready for the zoo. We will probably head over there about 10ish so that we can be heading home no later than 3pm and miss the worst of the traffic on the way home. And I will be using my walker at the zoo, which will save me again…thanks mommy and son.

This round has not been bad. My main complaints are that my feet hurt and I get sores and they don’t heal. If you scratch yourself, you would clean it up and a few days later the scratch would be gone, if I get a scratch or cut it stays and gets worse and worse because it just can’t heal. My platelets are just too low and my body can’t heal itself. Which is very annoying. I have a sore on my knuckle which I keep hitting over and over and over and every time I take off the skin and it bleeds. Just irritating, not life threatening. My mouth is still store and I have to watch what I eat, not only because it hurts, but lest I cut my mouth, it will never heal! My feet and hands are sore, which is weird and I’m not sure the cause for that odd side affect.

Enough complaints. All in all, amazing, wonderful, fabulous. Memories were made that I will keep in my heart and soul forever. The sight of my grandson in the ocean, the vision of that little boy walking in the distance on his father’s shoulders, sun and surf sparkling in the background. The feel of his little hand in mine, grainy with sand. The tug of my heart as I gaze at those blonde locks of hair and he looks in my eyes and calls me Nana. The most beautiful word in the world.