Cannon Beach and sandcastles

At the beginning of June Ben started talking about maybe cutting our four month Oregon stay to just two months.  I realized if we would be leaving soon we needed to make the most of our time here.  Oregon is a beautiful state with lots to see and I wanted to take advantage.  I started a pinterest board just for Oregon and started my list of things to do and places to see.

We got lucky and our timing was perfect to be able to go to the annual sandcastle competition at Cannon Beach.  It was on June 9th this year.  We almost didn't go because we were so tired, but I wanted to make sure we saw Oregon so I got everyone up and we were on our way.  It was a 2 hour drive (as are most places on the coast) and Benson slept the whole way there.  I can't say the same for the way back, but that's how it usually goes.  None of us really enjoyed the last 40 minutes of the drive , but it was definitely worth it.  Cannon Beach is really beautiful and it is just how you imagine a coastal town.  It's very quaint with cute shops and restaurants.  The homes are all very small and rustic with that coastal charm.  I really think it is my favorite place that we have visited on the Oregon coast.

P.S  I didn't find out until later that it is also the beach that is on the first Twilight movie.  Um, WHY didn't I know that before?  I am a total twihard and would have been SO excited to go to the exact spot where Bella and Jacob stood (hee hee).

Anyway, we had a really fun day.  We walked out onto the beach to see the sand castles.  We then walked through town visiting some of the cute shops and getting a late lunch of clam chowder and fish and chips (for Ben, I just got a burger cause I only like raw seafood).  The weather was perfect.  It wasn't too hot, but the sun was shining most of the time.  We also stopped by a little park on the way back to the car so Benson could play a little before we got back into the car for the 2 hour drive home.  It was Benson's first time on a swing.  We couldn't tell what he thought, but he seemed to be a tiny bit scared.  Then he puked a little right after so we decided he might just not be ready yet.  All in all it was a great day at the beach.

They had these sayings on top of all of the garbage cans, each can said something different.  It was cute.

Another thing I love about little touristy towns, they always sell cute things with funny sayings.  I thought this was VERY fitting for myself and certain people in my life.

Gotta have some Tillamook ice-cream

On a side note: We did have to rush home in order to be home for the Paquiao/Bradley fight on pay per view.  Gotta show that Pinoy pride and pass it along to Benson. It was a total joke when Bradley won, but it was still a good time.

5 Months

Cutest kid ever!

Benson turned 5 months old yesterday.  I haven't done as well as I would like at including a lot of information on these posts because I had been including it on the posts at his blog, but I haven't been doing well at that either so I am going to start including it here.

Since he doesn't have a well child visit this month I am not sure exactly how much he weighs, but he seems to be filling out quite nicely.  His cheeks and tummy are getting big and round and he is finally growing out of his 0-3 month clothes so we know he is growing.

He has learned to do so many new things this month.  He now rolls over from front to back and from back to front.  He can sit up all on his own (still a bit wobbly to do it for long).  He holds his own bottle (but lets us do it most of the time).  He is starting to mimic our sounds and totally says "hi".  He is starting to teethe and therefore is always slobbering and chewing on everything, including our faces.  He really likes the little mesh pouches with ice in them.  It has also made him a bit crankier than usual, which is completely new for us.  But, most the time he is still his happy, fun self.  He hasn't started eating solids yet, but totally stares at us while we eat and watches everything we put in our mouths.  He loves books and pictures and colors.  He has started doing really well in his car seat and just playing on his own while in the car. If we are in there too long he screams until we get out, but that hasn't happened too many times (once on the way back from the Williams beach house and once on the way home from Portland).  He still loves music.  We have started turning on pop music and dancing and singing with him and he kicks his legs and smiles the whole time.  He loves listening to daddy play the guitar and sing.  He also got a Johnny Jumper and although he is still a bit too little for it, he really enjoys just hanging around in it and making himself turn around.  He really enjoys time with his Lolo and Lola.  They usually take him into their room for at least 30 minutes every night and just play with him.  He also spends a lot of time with his Tita DJ when mommy and daddy are both working.  His nap schedule is starting to get established.  His night sleeping is kind of crazy and I realized it's because Ben and I are both total night owls.  Benson usually takes a nap at about 7 or 8pm for about an hour and then doesn't go down for the night until between 11 and 12.  He did sleep a full 8 hours one night this month.  His longest is normally about 6 hours.  He wakes up to eat usually about about 4 and then again about 7 AM, but then he sleeps with daddy until about 10 AM.  So, we can't complain.  He is just growing and changing so much!

Benson truly is the light of our lives.  He brings a smile to everyone's faces and people cannot help but just love having him around.  We are so lucky to be his parents!