A Mother of a Field Trip

Quality time is my primary love language, so for Mother’s Day last weekend Husband whisked us merfolk off to the seashore for an adventurous family field trip. Incredibly, it was our first time to the coast since moving back to the Pacific Northwest a month and a half ago– save for the Puget Sound in Seattle on Husband’s birthday.

Exploring the shipwrecked remains of the Peter Iredale near Astoria, where the mighty Columbia meets the world’s largest ocean…

… and in it’s former glory, c. 1906.

Sidenote: While visiting my Grandfather in his dementia memory care center this week, I told him of this visit to the shipwreck and together we remembered our trip there twenty years ago with my much older sister, cousins, and grandma. Without skipping a beat he recalled by name, “Oh yes, the Peter Iredale.” <3

The Astoria Column, a fun Lewis & Clark landmark with a sweeping (read: terrifying) vantage over the region, for brave adventurers who suffer not acrophobia (or do hard things for the sake of their kids, ahem).

We lunched on the requisite fish & chips and chowder at a local brewery perched atop an old pier. The real treat is their glass-bottom floor that provides peekaboo to lounging lazy (oft boisterous barking) sea lions.

South just a skosh is Seaside, arguably the best Oregon beach-town for family fun. They have a carousel, arcade, and tons of shops along the boardwalk, plus surrey rentals and these fun paddle-boats for the river/channel.

Wee mermaiden in conchology heaven.

I’m not particularly crazy for salt-water taffy, but when in Rome[at the coast]… you just gotsta.

Husband knows the foolproof recipe to bless this weary mama: Adventure + Exploration + Education +Fresh Air + Tasty Treats = Happy Wife/Happy Life

And finally, in the spirit of Mother’s Day, here’s a shot of my own mother with infant moi, in tribute:

I jest, though there’s no denying she single-handedly spawned generations of mermaids.