Today was a really special day for Dave and I in our travels. We left Newport and drove up 101 – a beautiful drive if you ever get the chance – to Seaside, Oregon. Seaside is special to us because it is where Dave – on one knee, in front of the whole beach full of people, with a very romantic speech – proposed to me.
I said yes.
Didn’t even have to think about it.
We took the kids (Derek, Kira, Kyle, and Parker) to visit the cherished site in 2001 while on vacation, but this was our first time back since, and Anika’s first time ever.
After letting the kids feed the seals at the Seaside Aquarium, we headed East for the first time in 19 days, arriving in Portland in time to enjoy a wonderful dinner with my very special Auntie Lori (my mom’s only sister).
Thanks to Auntie Lori (Anika later announced, “It’s official! I totally love Great Aunt Lori!), the kids got a giant cookie with ice cream on it for dessert and then got to go swim at the hotel pool for an hour.
It was really cool to have family around to spoil the kids – it is something they have sorely missed, and only encouraged more begging for us to move to Utah (or Portland, or anywhere West of the Continental Divide).
