We headed to the beach in style yesterday in Grandpa's new 2008 Honda Odyssey minivan. It is loaded with comforts for all and lots of entertainment options for the kids and he had been anxious to take it for its first trip to the coast since they got it in December. We frequently make trips to the beach to have our favorite clam chowder and shop at the mall. Today we were celebrating something special though....Grandma's 71st birthday (AND the minivan's inaugural trip to the beach!) It was decided that Courtney could "play hookie" from school for a couple of hours in the afternoon and so Grandpa, Grandma, Michelle, Courtney & Ryan all headed off hungry for yummy chowder to celebrate. Courtney and Ryan got all set up in the back seat with their "Snow Buddies" DVD and they were glued to that the whole way there. It seemed the cars weren't going fast enough as the "rumblies in our tumblies' got louder and louder in anticipation. Well, we pulled up to an empty parking lot at Captain Ron's Seafood & Chowder House and knew we were in trouble! Since it is off season at the Oregon Coast, the restaurant was closed for a couple of days during the week and this happened to be one of those days. Major bummer! :( Ryan and Grandpa announced they were not happy one bit. The birthday girl was going to make the best of it and decided we'd head to another chowder restaurant since we had to pick the next best place. Ryan announced as we pulled up to Mo's that he was "ready to eat, but still NOT happy". He insisted it was not nice of those people to close when WE were coming to lunch! However, when we had a little nourishment it took the edge off his mad face a little. Courtney had grilled cheese (of course!) and Ryan had chicken strips (of course) and they shared a cup of chowder. Grandma had a nice bowl of chowder and Grandpa had a sourdough bread bowl filled with shrimp topped chowder (aka Slumgullion...not a very appetizing name, but apparently this refers to chowder with shrimp in it!) Michelle had the same thing, except in a regular bowl.
After that it was off to the beach for a short bit to let the kids run around in the sand. We found a log that looked like a "stage", at least to my kids (although anything can be a stage in their eyes) so the kids took turns "performing" their dance moves up on the top of the log.
It was a sunny day, especially for February, so we decided to seize the moment and take a few family pictures too.
Then we headed to the outlet mall to browse a bit before heading back home to meet up with Tom for dinner (who had to work all day while we played!) Thanks for sharing your special day with us Grandma! It was fun celebrating, even if we had to be flexible and not go to "THE" chowder place on the Oregon Coast! :)
