Oregon

This past weekend we went up to Yachats, Oregon for a family reunion on Jason's side of the family. None of the family had met Avery yet so we were all looking forward to it. We purposely chose a flight that left at 6am because it was one of very few that had a direct flight into Portland. Avery looked as us weird when we woke her up at 4am to leave. She was happily compliant and took her bottle as we took off. She slept for most of the trip, which was convenient since it was her naptime anyway. We then braved the 3 hour drive to Yachats. I felt bad that we had her in the car for so long. Again, she slept most of the way and was a trooper. We tried to take breaks for food, stretching her legs and cooling her down before getting back on the road.

When we got to Yachats, it seemed like she was the star of the weekend. There was no shortage in arms that wanted to hold her. She got to meet her grandma and great grandparents for the first time.



She also got to experience her first rain and visit to the aquarium.



On Sunday Jason wanted me to go kayaking with him. I suited up in a wetsuit and braved the chilly water. We set out in the river and paddled towards the ocean. Once out there, Jason was like, "Did you see we caught that wave?". Seriously? I missed it? I saw waves that were a bit further out and suggested that we go out and around and try to get one of those waves so I could actually tell that we caught a wave. He goes along w/ my idea and I find the wave I'd like to catch. Problem is...a kayak doesn't turn around as fast as a boogeyboard. Needless to say, the wave hit us sideways and pitched me out into the chilly water. Brr. I managed to climb back in but then we noticed that Jason's Uncle Mark had also overturned his boat, losing his glasses and his hat. In order to look for them, he didn't pay attention to the fact that his boat washed away. We paddled to go get the boat. By then my hands were so numb that they hurt and I couldn't bend them. I was hoping that I hadn't banged and hurt them because they hurt so bad. Jason's other uncle waded out to us, let me switch boats into the one person boat, he took the 2-person and Jason helped drag me to shore. My hands hurt so bad that I couldn't even paddle. Once we got to shore, I walked the rest of the way back (which I couldn't feel my feet either...probably a good thing) and Jason paddled the rest of the way back to our cabin. We went straight into the hot shower to thaw myself off. It actually took several days for my fingers to feel normal again.

The return trip wasn't as lovely as the trip there. Avery was up way past her bedtime and was way overstimulated by the lights and noise of the airplane. It took her a while to settle down. Once she was asleep we layed her on the seat between us (Alaska let us have the whole row!). She stayed asleep for about 45 minutes then was up and crying again. I felt so bad for the people around us because I didn't want to be one of "those" parents. Luckily we were surrounded by a bunch of older adoring ladies who just looked at us and smiled. When I mouthed "so sorry!" to them, they were like..."she's so cute! no worries!". Luckily she fell back asleep and I didn't dare let go of her after that.

All in all it was a great trip. The family loved her and she loved being around them too!