Sunset

Tomorrow is the last day of September.  Living in the northwest, by now we usually expect shorter days and for there to be a chill in the air.  This year - yes it is still dark out when I get up in the morning and by the time we are done with dinner it is getting dark again - but the days have been WARM!  While the summer has been drawn out, it will probably be gone completely before long and be replaced with rainy, dreary days.

In the meantime, there have been some beautiful sunsets lately.  I've heard it is partly because of the smoke being blown in from wildfires in this part of the country.  I don't think wildfires are a good thing, but I am grateful to get to enjoy the colors playing across the evening sky.

What a beautiful evening!!

E.A.S.Y.

EASY Tuesday - If you haven't already come across Renae @ Simple Sequins and Mary @ Merry dot dandy 's weekly blog hop, go check it out.  Each week, you just post a link using four words based on the word "easy", and link up!  Renae and Mary are both great.  Even if you aren't excited about this particular blog hop - I definitely would encourage you to go explore their blogs. 

This week, my words are:

E questrian

A ngel

S hore

Y ummy

EQUESTRIAN

Horse Jockey at the Portland Meadows races last weekend

ANGEL

Our good friends' precious little girl

SHORE

One of my favorite places on earth: the Pacific Coast

YUMMY

I can't go to the coast without getting at least one piece of yummy salt water taffy

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Well, I am a day late...but better late than never, right?  Sunday-Monday, oh well!

I can't begin to imagine the number of cracks that can be found in the thousands of miles of railroad ties across the country.

My plaques spelling out "fall" appear to be falling across the wall.

These candies may not be ordinary, but I love the bright colors.

Fall has been peeking its head around the corner and is starting to make a full appearance.  I found

this beautiful leaf at the park this weekend.

The blackberry bushes in our backyard have all but consumed the fence lining the perimeter.

Retreat (part 2)

Okay - I know I promised my remaining beach trip photos and it has taken awhile.  I was recently fortunate enough to get my own computer again (the last one took a bit of a spill).  So while I no longer have to share Tristan's, the computer I got from my friend is about 5 or 6 years old and has a bit of trouble keeping up with my normal pace.  Needless to say, it takes me a little bit longer to get things done.

At any rate, while my patience is being tested, I was finally able to get the rest of my pictures pulled together.

Monday afternoon we drove down Hwy 101, past Cannon Beach, to Oswald State Park.  There is a half mile trail that leads from the highway down to the beach.  I have wanted to check it out for a long time.  There are some other trails in the park that I am hoping to go back and check out next summer.

And yes - the truck came along too...until it broke down and had to be carried back home.

Set inside a little cove, apparently Short Sands Beach is a big surfing spot.  I was a little taken aback when we got down to the beach.  I shouldn't have been surprised considering the parking lot was packed, but the beach was covered with surfers.

It may not have been much of a "hike", but it was a good afternoon. 

Retreat

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” 

--Jacques Cousteau 

When I was just a toddler, my family and I literally lived on the beach.  Well, we lived a long a private, gated road about a quarter mile down from the beach.  Although I was too young to really remember a whole lot from the time we lived in that house, I vaguely remember long afternoons at the beach.  I can't remember a time that I have ever turned down a trip to the coast willingly.  I would spend every weekend of the summer there if I could.

I have been lamenting a bit lately because the summer is pretty much over and I didn't make it to the coast at all.  Last weekend we got to go stay the night at a friend's house, though (that is right on the ocean I might add!) and spend Labor day in Seaside.

There is nothing more relaxing than waking up to the soft roaring of the ocean and taking a quiet walk on the beach.  Even better: keep your camera in hand!!

One thing I have never noticed about the ocean is how much the color of the sky is reflected in the water.  I didn't even really notice when we were there last week.  It wasn't until I came home and I was going through all of my pictures that I saw it.  Look at the next two pictures.  The first one was taken at about 9 a.m.  It was still pretty overcast and the water has a very gray, lifeless look to it.  The second picture was from the afternoon.  The skies had cleared up and the water in that photo is much more blue.

Now - I took a ton of pictures.  I have narrowed them down as much as I could, but I really fell in love with some of them and it was hard to pick which ones to share.  So there are quite a few to come.  I think I will split it up a little bit into another post, though.

  

One of my favorite things to do - especially places like shopping malls or fairs where there are a lot of people - is to sit back and just "people watch".  Some people may call it being nosy or snoopy - but if people are going to go out in public, I say I have a right to look at them!  It's just entertaining.  And there are a lot of entertaining people at the beach!

Walking the one mile from the main street of Seaside back to our friend's house doesn't seem that far when you are taking pictures all the way back!!

This last one was already included up above - but it was one of my favorites from the day so I wanted to showcase it a little bit:

Like I said before - I actually have a few more pics that I want to share.  But this post is already too long (and has taken FOREVER to put together!!)  I will post the rest soon...

Mechanics

Trains, planes and automobiles . . . . . as I recently stated, boys will always have their toys - they just get bigger as they get older.  Tristan has spent the last couple of weeks working on his Integra after the clutch went out.  I decided to take advantage of his misfortune and try to get some good shots while he was hard at work with his buddies.

 Although it took them a lot longer than expected and they hit a couple of snags along the way - I was pretty impressed that they took it all apart and *eventually* got it put back together again.

While out at the garage, I also got under the hood a bit and changed the oil in my baby.  I may have cut open my finger in the process, but I managed to get it done start to finish without spilling a drop of oil!!

You may have noticed my updated page heading.  Stay tuned for some more small changes to come, as well as a project I am really excited to share about!!

Sleep

Sleep: children resist it, parents relish it - we all need it.  This little girl is one cute sleeper, though!!  I had the opportunity to do my second official photo shoot, as well as my first newborn shoot, last week.

 

 It was so hard to decide which photos to spend time editing - and even harder to pick the ones I was going to showcase here!!!

Some of my favorite photos are the ones focusing on specific body parts - especially her feet and belly!

 

Next up will probably be some sibling shots.  I think big sister is looking forward to it being her turn again.  This was definitely a fun shoot.  Hopefully I will get some chances to do some more baby shoots in the near future!