Jackson Lakehouse and Mother's Day

Friday night - after work, packing up, a late dinner and an even later start, we drove to Lincoln City to stay at the Jackson Lakehouse. A couple of months ago, Sean was given a free weekend at a co-worker's lakehouse as one of his "secret Santa" gifts. This weekend was the only one of the dates available that we were free and we gladdly snatched it up! Below is the view from the front/main room.

The picture on the left is on the deck of the house we stayed at - doesn't everyone have a few pictures like this (taking a picture of someone taking your picture)?!? The picture on the right is the gorgeous house two places down that was for sale. It all can be yours for the low, low price of 1.1 million dollars! No joke.

Sean and I thought we would have more fun (and we were right) if we had more people, so we invited my family along. My mom, Christine and her boyfriend, John, and Lizzie-Lou joined us and we had a great time!

We stayed up WAY too late friday night snacking, chatting, watching a movie and marveling in the fact that Ethan hadn't fallen asleep!! He slepth most of the 2 1/2 hour drive there, but SCREAMED when we tried to put him down for bed - even though it was a good 2-3 hours past his bedtime. So we kept him up with us, and he went right to sleep once we all settled in for the night - in our bed, not his pack-n-play - snuggling close between Sean and I. It was not bad having him sleep with us. What kept me up ALL NIGHT was Sean's snoring!! I only got a couple of hours in before I finally just got up. It was good that Ethan caught up on some sleep, though.

The next morning we took it easy - well, most of us. John was up by 7:30am and went for a 10 1/2 mile run around the lake and to the ocean and back. He's a runner. Enough said! :) We had a yummy breakfast and Auntie Christine decided it would be fun to use her hair gel on an unsuspecting Ethan and spike his hair in all directions. The aftermath is shown above right!

One of the highlights of the house - especially for Lizzie and Ethan, was the wicker swing. It looked like a bird cage that wasn't closed in and it was suspended from one of the exposed beams. Ethan loved it when Auntie Lizzie would push him in it, but by mid-morning he was pretty worn out and dozed in her arms while she enjoyed the view.

There was also a row-boat to use 'at our own risk' with no guarantees of how well it would float! It looked pretty solid, so Lizzie, Christine and John took it out first. When they came back alive and well and without sinking, Sean and I decided to take Ethan out with us and Lizzie came along for the ride.We got Ethan all bundled up in his life jacket and headed out. The weather was not great by late morning/early afternoon, as you can see by the gray skies and choppy water in the pictures, but we stayed pretty close to shore and the dock and it was still fun just to be able to say we did it.

Christine even braved the freezing water for a little swim and to help us guide the boat a little easier to the dock so we could put it back on the shore.

Overall, Ethan LOVED having all new places to explore - big windows to look out with a great view - a 'circular' layout from the living room to the hall to the front bedroom and back out to the living room (the first bedroom had 2 entrances) - and an L-shaped bunkbed to play on with Auntie Lizzy.

After our relaxing morning and boat trips, we showered and got ready to go shopping at the outlet mall. We had some great finds! Mainly just stuff for Ethan - new shirts, a couple new ties, some Osh Kosh overall shorts, a polo shirt for Sean and a new light-weight jacket for me (1/2 off at the Gap!) - all for at least 50% off, if not more. I love when I can get Ethan 2 ties, a pair of dress socks and two shirts at the Children's Place for less than $13! We grabbed a bite to eat at the local Pig-N-Pancake and headed for home. It was only one night, but we had a great time. Thanks, Kathy!!

Fast forward to Mother's Day. I got to sleep in this morning - it was heaven after the rough night I had at the lakehouse with Sean's snoring. I got a hot breakfast (omlette, toast and orange juice) from Sean. He had to speak in church, so we had to hurry and get ready after that. Ethan looked like a stud in his pale blue shirt and new yellow/dark blue striped tie. He's got a sort of preppy uniform look for church - khakis and navy oxford shoes completed the look! Sean gave a great Mother's day talk - I especially like the personal stories he added.

We got the usual Mother's Day flowers handed out by the Young Men at church. And Sean's present to me was Harry and David chocolate-covered pretzels - my favorite!! And a 2GB memory card for our camera. Our old one was only 256MB!! So I am really exciting to have a 2GB!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of our family: Mom, Lynnie, Grandma Mary, Grandma Sandy, Grandma Southworth and also Amy and new-mom LynMarie! And not to forget all of our other mom friends - there's too many to name, but we love you!!