Royal decided to take a few days off work and we headed to the beach with his parents, Norma and Wayne, and his Grandma Mary.  The weather was great the whole time, it was sunny, in the upper 60’s, and hardly any wind.  We had so much fun.  There are so many stories to tell.       

Here are a few highlights :

• We played an enourmous amount of Scrabble and Spite and Mallace.   And for those who care to know, yes, I did beat Norma finally!  The queen of Spite and Mallace!  She still owes me $.30!!!  Well actually she only owes me $.20 now, because she found a dime in her pocket. 
• We ate way too much cheesy garlic bread, and this had a really bad affect on Royal.  Royal is banned from eating any more cheesy garlic bread, because let’s just say, we had to keep the windows open while we played cards in order to keep a good supply of clean oxygen in the house.
• Jayden woke up at 6am every morning (he normally sleeps in until sometime between 7:30 and 8:00), and really didn’t take any good naps.  I guess he was excited to be on vacation too.
• We did a day trip to Long Beach and walked around town
• Jayden loved playing in the tide pools.
• The house we were staying in was 3 blocks from the beach, and we went every single day!

On Saturday, we decided we would go to Ledbetter Point State Park.  Royal had heard there was a nice hiking trail that we could take that would take us down onto the beach.  Sounded like fun to me.  So we loaded up the car with Jayden and his backpack, Norma, Wayne, and Grandma Mary.  Grandma did not want to be left behind.   So, Norma said she could come and we would bring a chair for her and when she got tired, she could sit in the chair along side the trail.  Grandma is 89 years old, so we didn’t think she would make it that far. 

We get to the start of the trail and the sign says that it is 1.3 miles down to the beach, so we start off nice and slow because you really can’t walk that fast at 89.  People keep asking grandma if she wants to stop and rest, or if she wants to go back to the car.  I think she gets fed up with it because she says, “You guys don’t know me!  If I say I’m going to walk to the beach, then that is what I am going to do!”  Oh boy… 

 

 

Norma tells Royal and I to just head off to the beach so Jayden doesn’t have to be stuck in the backpack for hours.  So we leave Norma, Wayne, and Grandma, figuring that Norma and Grandma Mary would head back to the car eventually and Wayne would catch up with us.  Soon the trail turns from dirt and pine needles to a sand dune.  So we are walking in deep, soft sand, Royal and I both said that there was no way Grandma was going to make it through that.  Then the trail goes down into this swampy forest where there are mosquitos the size of small birds.  Royal and I start running through this part just to get away from the suckers.  (ha ha, get it, suckers? ha ha)   I put my sweatshirt on and run behind Royal to keep the mosquitos off of Jayden’s legs and the back of Royal.  Sadly, there was nobody keeping the mosquitos off of me and I have two bites the size of quarters on my shoulder. 

We finally make it to the beach.   Jayden plays in the water, finds some seaweed, and has a grand ole time.  We kept looking back towards the trail expecting to see Wayne come over the hill at any minute.  We stayed for about 30 mins, Jayden was getting cold, so we dried him off, put him in some dry clothes, and got him back in the pack.  Just as we get Jayden back up on Royal’s back, we see Wayne coming over the hill.  And he’s not alone.  Here comes Norma and Grandma.  We’re like ‘no way!’.  We catch up to them and Grandma’s resting in her chair.  She says her legs feel fine, but she just can’t catch her breath.  Besides behing 89, Grandma is diabetic and has a pace maker.  I am sure that thing was working over time on Saturday, shocking her heart left and right.  ha ha ha.  Norma didn’t look too happy that Grandma decided to be stubborn and walk the whole way.  Royal offered to carry her back to the car.  There was an idea thrown out there that she could sit in the chair and Royal and Wayne would carry her back in the chair.  Grandma wouldn’t hear any of it.  She said she was walking back.  Oh boy…  So, we started walking.  We made it about 100 feet and then we stopped so she could sit in her chair and rest.  This was going to be a long 1.3 miles back.  As we were approaching the swampy forest of mosquitos, Royal and I take off again, so that we can get thru the swarm quickly and hopefully avoid getting bit.  We make it back to the car in about 30 minutes or so. 

Jayden fell asleep in the backpack about 5 minutes from the car, and Royal and I brainstormed on how we could keep him asleep.  We figured we had enough time to drive back to the house and Jayden and I could stay there, and then Royal could drive back to the park before Norma, Wayne, and Grandma got back, but we didn’t have the house key.  So, we carefully got Jayden out of the pack and put him in his car seat.   Yeah, that didn’t work.  Oh well, we were on vacation, who cares if he slept, we’d figure it out later.   So, Royal decides that he would head back down the trail to catch up with his parents and grandma and see if they need any help. 

I stayed in the parking lot with Jayden.   Jayden and I ate some crackers, we ran laps around the cars, we played catch with a tennis ball, we played in the sand, Jayden played with all the buttons and nobs in the car, we read ‘What Floats?’ 500 times, we walked part way down the trail again hoping to see the rest of the crew…Over an hour later, they get back.  Grandma looks exhausted, Royal and Wayne are on each side of her walking her up the trail, but she made it!  What other 89 year olds do you know who could walk almost 3 miles in sand?  We got back to the house, and Grandma refused to take a nap in her bed, she wanted to watch the Mariners.  Can we say stubborn?  Say it with me now…”sheesh”.  So she sat in a chair, watch the Mariners for about 5 minutes and then fell asleep for the next hour.  Norma had to force some food down her.  We had spaghetti (of course with cheesy garlic bread), and Grandma told me that she hates spaghetti, but she choked it down.  She played a few games of Pinocle, and then it was lights out for her.   She is never going to live this down.  We got back to Kelso on Sunday and Royal’s brother, Gabe, showed up at the house.  One of the first things that was said was, “Hey Grandma, why don’t you tell Gabe what you did”  ha ha ha  Crazy old ladies!