driftwood and a birthday song.

You know, Oregon weather is sneaky. I’ve got the hang of it in Colorado (as in, watching snow storms move in over the mountains, or the air “smelling Greeley”), and I did a pretty good job in Oklahoma (green clouds = bad), but Oregon mornings start off so pretty, with beautiful blue skies and clouds and then, BAM! Tropical Storm Warning. Very loud wind. Very violent waves. And, we were in a Tsunami zone.

Here’s how one conversation played out in the car:

8yo: What does that sign say? T-sue-tami?

5yo: Mmmm. I love salami.

We played on the beach anyway. What can we say? We’re landlocked usually. We’re oblivious. At least we didn’t almost drown this time.

Hank built us a bridge out of driftwood so that we could walk across this part of the water.

The happiest 5th birthday ever.

The happiest beach dog ever.

Our shadows were no more to be seen within about 30 minutes, so off we went for a day of adventure. It was Ewan’s 5th birthday, after all.

Down the beach was a magic grove of trees. Swear it had sea faeries.

We talked the 8yo into taking our picture there for good luck, but he ended up pushing every button on my camera trying to figure out the focus and, well, there you go. :)

In Newport, we had an incredibly delicious breakfast at The Coffee House, overlooking Yaquina Bay.

We saw the Devil’s Punchbowl, but only for about three seconds. It was So. Stinkin’. Cold. I felt a little like Clark in the movie Vacation…”Look at the Grand Canyon, kids.”

At Depoe Bay, home of the World’s Smallest Harbor.

And finally, finally, cake for the birthday boy.We went to a little bakery in Newport called La Maison, which had the best caramel applesauce cake I’ve ever tasted, as well as a great story. The woman helping us, Kate, had worked there part-time until the owner recruited her lovingly and ruthlessly to come on full time, and Kate ended up buying the bakery from her six months afterward. All of their cakes are made locally by the woman who made Kate’s wedding cake years before, and the cafè’s glass plates were made by the previous owner’s husband, who has since passed. Kate says that it keeps a part of him there, which she loves.

I loved her story so much that Hank drove me to the glass store where the previous owner of La Maison still sells glass items, and we bought a glass plate to bring home. It’s now our special birthday plate.

This is Kate, singing and giving Ewan his slice of birthday cake. I slipped her the sparkler candle that we brought with us and she and her Chef came out with such fanfare that we thought Ewan’s cheeks were going to explode.