In all fairness it was a trip to see my sister. The extended family just happened to be enroute. Apologies to all of the Portlanders reading this but I needed bigger incentive... aka-Nicole and crew... to haul the girls and gear on a road trip by myself. Heaven knows, that if I was given the option, to

A) Spend 5 days on the road with the likes of Clara and Lilly (who at that point was still screaming like a banshee) and visiting extended in-laws or

B) Hiking, seeing nature at its finest and getting 5 full nights of sleep

Well, let's just say, I also would have been donning the 40 pound pack and schlepping my butt over the 40 miles. And again, in all fairness, I really wasn't doing it all by myself. God-bless Nana and Papa.

My adventure begins when John abandoned me early Friday morning...no clue when, since I was still sleeping and he snuck out between feedings. The plan was that the girls and I would head to my parents early on Saturday morning and then head to Portland. Of course nothing ever works as planned.

Lilly was still in crying mode, even though we had gotten meds for her on Tuesday (my girlfriend --Hey Cindy!-- said that it took her little guy about four days for the meds to work, and we were not there yet). Clara knew we were heading south to the beach so kept walking around the house saying "Where we goin'?" and then screaming "THE BEACH!!" at the top of her lungs. So as Lilly was hollering and Clara yelling "BEACH" every three minutes... well... I decided it was time to go and stay the night at Nana and Papa's. That, and it took the pressure off of getting ready Saturday morning. Good thing I did too... I spent all of Friday packing and getting the girls put together and I still got over there just in time for dinner. I would hate to think what leaving Saturday would have been like. Anyway... I digress. The jist: we stayed at N & P's Friday night.

Saturday morning the girls got a bath so they would be presentable, we made a quick run to Trader Joe's for provisions, got a bite of lunch, and were on the road by 12:30. Papa driving, Nana navigating, Mommy squished in the back between two carseats, the trunk brimming with pack 'n plays, bags of diapers, clothes, beach toys and other kid crap. I figured out that if it was just the adults going we would have had only three bags. Once we added the the kids stuff... well... Papa could barely see out the back window of his Explorer. The girls were great. Lilly slept the whole way to Portland and Clara only started to get frustrated about an hour from our destination. Thanks to Dora the Explorer the hour passed without blood-shed or tears.

We arrived at Gram's and Gramp's place around 4pm. Nicole, Martin and Molly were already there, having flown into Portland on Friday night. We spent the evening catching up and visiting, but I did manage to sneak away for an hour since Fabric Depot was having their 40% off weekend. (I swear they know when I am coming to town!) I got a great deal on new fabric to cover the chair in the family room. Again... I digress. The girls and I were staying at the Boyd's place (Shannon, Chris and Sierra) in Vancouver so we headed that direction around 9pm. On the way over John called and informed me that he wasn't dead, just maimed. Apparently they had hiked 23 miles in one day and his feet were thrashed. (Glad I wasn't there to be foot nurse this time.) Anyway, Nana and Papa helped us get settled in at the Boyd abode and then headed back to crash on Gram's and Gramp's sleeper sofa.

Sunday was the big day for spending time with the Sperling crew. The plan was to congregate at the Boyd's since they had the biggest location and were kid-proofed with lots of toys for the tots. Larry, Ian and Shantay (Ian's significant) arrived around 9:30am as did Nicole, Martin, Molly, Gramps, Grams, Nana and Papa. Twelve adults and four kids... well OK... 11 adults and five kids. Let's be honest. Ian is still working on the whole adult thing. We ate breakfast and hung out. Around noon Larry had to head to work and Uncle Ron and Aunt Geri showed up. They had yet to meet Clara, Molly or Lillian since they live in Bend/Redmond, OR, and that's a bit of a drive from Seattle with little kids. It was great to be able to have lunch with them there and let them get to know the girls a bit. We also used the time to celebrate Gram' birthday (which was a few days before) with cheesecake and apple pie. Ron and Geri took off and we set up the pool for the little girls in the backyard since it was a nice warm day. It was fun to see Clara, Sierra and Molly all playing in the pool together. They are going to be trouble later though... mark my words! Being as hot as it was Shannon, Nicole and I managed to escape for a brief Slurpee run. Gramps even got in on the action. (Gramps, here is a tip from an experienced Slurpee consumer- Next time avoid the berry flavors... they are usually the weird colored ones and you get radioactive tongue). The rest of the crew went back across the river to Portland and the Soltys girls mellowed at Chris and Shannon's for the evening. I got to take a nice walk around their neighborhood with the girls before bed. It was a great way to decompress after a busy day.

Monday the Boyds headed off to work while I got the girls ready for the next stage in our solo adventure. We got baths and repacked all of the kid-crap in time for my parents to pick us up around 10am. We piled back in the truck and headed across town to visit with Goggi. She had a great lunch spread and we munched and chatted and watch the girls create havoc. Clara had issues sharing the new fishy counters (thanks Goggi) with Molly but in the end all worked out. Lilly had slept on the way over so was wide awake and in pretty good spirits. I think her meds had kicked in and she was now the kid we signed up for. AMEN!! She and Goggi got along famously and got to spend some good bonding time. Molly is at that age where she doesn't want to be pinned down by anything or anyone so bonding with Goggi was done from a distance. We were approaching naptime again so bid farewell to Goggi and headed for the open road.

An hour and a half later we were in Cannon Beach. Thankfully both girls had slept the whole ride down, waking only after we had arrived and the car slowed through town. We easily found our hotel. It was one of the only places in CB that you could get for just a few days. Most places required a week minimum -- not that I would have minded a week at the beach but the whole reason this trip was happening is because Martin's good friend Jacob was getting married. The fact that they were getting married in Cannon Beach was merely a perk for us. It would have totally sucked if they were getting married in Eugene but we decided that we were going to go where they were.

It was cloudy (I know big surprise) but that didn't stop us from heading to the beach after we had gotten unpacked and settled in our various locations (Nicole, Martin and Molly were staying in the wedding frat-house). It was Molly's first visit to the beach and it she took to it like a crab. She couldn't go fast enough. The funniest was when she went from the dry sand to the wet. She would step out onto the wet, then scurry back to the dry stuff. She did this little dance three or four times before she felt comfortable enough to run out on the wet sand toward the water. She was never upset/scared but just wanted to take it all in and explore every inch of this new world. Clara the old pro she was, made a break for the water and stood there with the ocean filling her water shoes. I had Lilly in the sling and she was wide-eyed looking everywhere. Papa was the only one not having a great time. We made the mistake of trying to bring the stroller down and it only got bogged down in the sand. It was OK once we reached the hard sand but totally not worth the effort. Papa was the pack mule on this first visit to the water. Needless to say that was the stroller's only visit to the beach. After a good hour galavanting on the shore we headed back to our hotel room, briefly stopping to make dinner reservations. We gave the girls a quick bath and raced back to an awesome meal of fish and other seafood. When the cat (John) is away the mice (Amy and girls) will eat seafood. After dinner, the Clements contingent headed to their place and we took a pre-bedtime walk into town to window shop while the streets were quiet. You would think, after all that excitement, we would all sleep well, but beds and pillows were lumpy and we had a four month old who decided that she would only sleep in two hour chunks. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around I was wiped out and praying for just a bit more energy.

We regrouped at Pig 'n Pancake for breakfast (super yummy... but alas... no seafood) after which Martin and Molly went back to our room for naps. Papa got stuck escorting all of his girls on a two hour exploration of downtown Cannon Beach. There was not a kid sized T-shirt to be found so we settled for Robeez (apparently CB is above cheezy tourist wear) for all three of the girls. When we got back to the hotel Molly and Martin were just waking up and we threw sandwiches and gear into bags and headed for the beach. It was still overcast but it was warm enough for T-shirts and shorts. If the sun was out we would have had to worry too much about sunscreen and shade for Lilly so it worked out nicely. Papa built sandcastles for Clara and Molly. Martin created his sand recliner. Nicole dug a nest/hole in the sand that Molly became obsessed with. A good time was had by all just hanging out on the beach for a few hours. Around 3pm, Molly and Clara started to melt down so we went back to the hotel, gave them a bath and put them down for naps. Mom, Nicole and I took Lilly and headed to the quilt store which was conveniently located a half-block south of our hotel (Honestly, I didn't know how close we were when I booked the place!!) Just outside the store Lilly had a blow-out and Nicole volunteered to take her back to change her (If you didn't want to go to the quilt store you didn't have to--you don't have to pay the kid to poop just outside the door--geez!) Anyway, an hour later, with wallet a little lighter I took my treasures back to the hotel and we started getting ready for dinner.

We had reservations at some pub south of town but it was not kid-friendly, to say the least (we should have known when they said they only had one high chair). So after waiting for five minutes for said high chair, we said "Screw-it!" and took off. Found another place in downtown CB that was much more accomodating and chowed down. More clam chowder anyone?

Nicole, Martin and Molly headed back to their place and Nana, Papa, Clara and I (with Lilly again strapped to my chest) went for a walk on the beach. The tide was heading out and we got to walk among the tide pools at the base of Haystack rock. We saw tons of sea stars and Clara was facinated by each one of them. The look of awe on her face had us searching out every single one until we were worried we wouldn't make it back to the hotel before dark. It was one of those "get to experience the world again through your child's eyes" moments... I love those... that is why you have kids. Well, OK, the hugs and kisses and adoring eyes aren't bad either but the 11pm, 2am, and 5am feedings still suck. But eventually they will be able to mow the lawn and earn their keep so I guess we'll stick it out.

Wednesday morning Papa got to sleep in a bit while Nana and I tried to keep the girls quiet in the bedroom (no small feat with a two year old and a fussy baby). Once he was up and moving around we were able to pack up as Clara was eating and ready to check out by the time the Clements Crew arrived around 10:30. Everyone piled into their respective cars and headed about eight miles north to explore Seaside. Honestly, Seaside is nothing to write home about. Lots of arcades, unruly teens without supervision and lots of stores with cheap junk. The highlights: Norma's for lunch, elephant ears, and touristy sweatshirts for the little girls. Molly got flip-flops and Clara wanted fishies. Again, we needed to make the most of naptime so said our good-byes to the Clements (which is the worst part of visits... however I am proud of myself... this is the first time I didn't cry... might of had something to do with the fact I will at least see Nicole and Molly in September) and hit the road.

Both girls were asleep within 30 minutes and we had a nice quiet drive home. I was craving sleep but just could not get comfortable wedged between the two carseats, at least I got to finish a book. The girls woke up around Olympia so we stopped in Fife for gas. Lilly, brilliant child that she is, wanted to get out of her carseat for a bit so decided to foul her pants in order to achieve her goal. The only reason this tidbit makes the official log of events is because I just about busted a gut trying to watch Nana change her on the front seat. Since the seat is at an angle Lilly kept sliding, Nana was trying to hold her in one place, change the diaper, remove the soiled clothing and especially trying not to get poop on Papa's new leather interior. I stuck a hand in to hold Lilly up but it was still rather amusing to watch. Good effort Nana!

After a week of blissful silence John decided to jump back in full force and met us in Kirkland to help get everything packed back into our car for the drive home to North Bend. He was grinning from ear to ear when he came out to the car (guess he missed us) and headed straight for his girls. Apparently it was too quiet while we were gone. Go figure.