Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Soggy Sea Side

Seaside by Southworth Sailor
Seaside, a photo by Southworth Sailor on Flickr.

I suppose that you could say that we honored Presidents Day since we were in 'Lincoln City' on Monday. Esther and I took the opportunity of school free days to go to the Oregon coast. Our experience was similar to last year: one rain free afternoon, but the rest a soggy mist. Our dry afternoon was spent in Cannon Beach and Seaside. We enjoyed a walk on the Promenade and dinner at Doogers. On Monday we sludged our way down to the Lincoln City/Depot Bay area to check out Olivia Beach and Bella Beach. We were scouting out an alternative to our annual family Seabrook weekend. Both communities were not as nice as Seabrook, and given the greater distance for everyone to travel, we will probably cross it off our list of possibilities. We did get a great deal on a nice room in Lincoln City. We left our patio door ajar all night as we enjoyed the lullaby of the pounding surf. On Tuesday, we took a leisurely trip home, stopping in Portland for some time at Powell Books and the ReStore where Esther found some decorative 'treasures'.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Ruby's first birthday

The past weekend we took our chances in contracting the noro virus from the Lynden compound. The flu had run its course through the whole family by the time we got there, so we hoped we were safe. The occasion was the celebration of both Ruby and Bjorn's birthdays. Ruby turned one and Bjorn reached exactly half our age. The Whatcom Museum in Bellingham has a great children's section. Bjorn, Esther and I toured the rest of the museum while Jenny and the girls enjoyed the children's section. I 'helped' Bjorn put the finishing touches on the cool kitchen that he made for the girls. Bjorn has been enjoying his new Jambox (bluetooth portable speaker) that he got for his birthday.

Sunday, February 05, 2012

A new throne room



The past couple of weekends I worked on replacing the floor around the main floor toilet. The old tile and adjacent carpet was soiled and needed attention. We decided to replace the flooring with some engineered hardwood, curious to see how well it holds up in a bathroom setting before using it more extensively. The damage from the previous owners became more apparent as I tore up the tile and subfloor. A liberal coat of stain block and some new plywood and I was ready for the new floor. We had not intended to replace the toilet, but I accidentally cracked the tank of the old one. So it was off to the hardware store for a new commode. I did want to replace the old valve and supply hose, but no amount of wrenching on my part could budge the old valve. With fear and trepidation I reattached the old supply to the new toilet and it is holding for now!