Heat

Now we're cookin';
It is in the 90s around town here, and even though I grew up in hotter summers, I have kind of gotten used to the milder summers of northern Oregon. Until this week.
So we planned a minor escape for the day. We took a trip to my happy place - the beach - anticipating a lovely sunny, cooler, afternoon.
Oh, it was cooler alright! I remembered to bring sweatshirts for everyone. It is the Oregon coast after all. I ended up wearing mine and my son's, and wrapping a blanket around my legs. That wind was cold!

The kids didn't seem to mind too much. They spent a long time working together (happy sigh!) on building a big pit in the sand. (Right next to the waves, so it should fill in sooner rather than later ... I don't think there is a safety risk there.)

 

 My sister and I sat, wrapped up like two grannies, and watched them work. Every so often the little one would come and grab a bite to eat and run back to the group. We also watched a group of para-surfers. That was quite interesting. A couple of times the surfers would be launched UP in the air, and flipped around. It was fascinating. I was pretty sure my daughter (the Girl Who Swims) didn't see them, thankfully, because then she would be wanting to do it too. She's a bit of a daredevil. (Ever since she was little, she has been the climber, unafraid of most things, and ready to take the risk. She's the one who broke her shoulder by falling off the shed, in the middle of a snowfall. But that's a story for another day.)
A beautiful beach day needs ice cream. Of course. So when Ham-N-Cheese came over to me shivering, and said she was cold, I knew it was time to pack up and go. We headed straight for our favorite little ice cream shop, where the single scoop looks more like a double.
And then we headed home, back into the heat. But by then it didn't feel so bad, since my goosebumps were finally gone.