Happy Be-lated Mother’s Day! We spent our Mother’s Day Weekend at the coast playing in the sun, sand and surf.
We lucked out and the weather at the coast was just perfect. We rented a house in Arch Cape which is about half way between Manzanita and Cannon Beach. We actually spent Mother’s Day Weekend at Cannon Beach last year as well; I guess we are starting a new tradition. This year however we ventured a bit further south to Manzanita Beach after hearing so many recommendations from co-workers and friends. I have to say it lived up to the hype and the beach was beautiful. We didn’t spend much time in town but there seemed to be a good number of restaurants, cafes and little shops.
We may have forgot to put Edith in more water appropriate clothes and a change of clothes. Oh well she had a blast but requested a warm cup of “coffee” (steamed non-dairy milk) post wading.
After our morning visit to Manzanita Beach we headed back to the beach house for lunch and an attempted nap. Since napping just wasn’t going to happen we packed the kids up and headed into the downtown of Cannon Beach in search of chocolate and a spot to lay out and relax on our new JJ Cole® All-Purpose Outdoor Blanket.
While we searched for chocolate Neil tried out the JJ Cole Agility Carrier.
Once we finally got our hands on a box of chocolates we headed to the park across the street and unpacked our blanket to sit on. We shared our box of chocolates, read a few books, played a game of tag and then it was time to pack up. We walked around town a bit before finally heading back to the beach house for dinner.
We ended our evening with a sunset visit to the beach. We seriously rented the best place that was just one block from the access to a super quiet beach. Our first night we went down to the beach as well and it was super windy so Alder hid in the carrier but the second night he was all about digging into the sand.
For more photos check out my post on RWT and on our Instagram.
*Disclaimer: We were provided product for this review. As always all opinions are our own.
JJ Cole items featured in our post:
Heather Caprice (find it at Babies R Us): This has become our primary diaper bag because we just love the style, the color and the size. I knew we would love it because if you remember a few years back we had a JJ Cole bag that we used until we wore it out. This bag has two huge insulated pockets on the side, a great zippered pocket on the front where I store my keys, phone and mom things. On the other side there is an outside pocket that holds the changing pad. In the center is a big zippered section that has four pockets inside perfect for holding diapers, books, changes of clothes and snacks. The only pockets I don’t get are the two mini ones on the front; what are they for? I guess I could store lipgloss in them but not much else. P.S. If you want to see an updated ‘What’s In My Diaper Bag’ post let me know in the comments below.
Prairie Blossom Outdoor Blanket (find it at buybuyBABY): This blanket is my new favorite thing. The blanket is 100% Polyester with PVC Coating which means you don’t have to worry about a damp ground or even better taking the beach home with you. When we left the beach we just shook it off, folded it up and off we went. That’s another thing I love, how easy it is to fold up and carry. The cool thing is that it actually has a stiff square that you use as as guide when folding which allows you to get the blanket back into the same shape as when you took it out of the package. Now if only I could find tents and sleeping bags that do the same thing – tell me I’m not the only one that can’t see to get my tent back into the bag without a huge struggle.
Agility Carrier (find it at Babies R Us, buybuyBABY, Target, Amazon): I had no idea until recently that JJ Cole even had a babycarrier so I was excited to try it when the opportunity came along. So what did I think? Well I wanted to like the carrier but honestly it just didn’t work well for us. First I think that while the carrier can hold up to 35 pounds in my opinion as a certified babywearing educator I really think that for both the wearer and the positioning of the baby 15-20 or so pounds is the ideal max weight. I also had trouble with the fit of the carrier because it is sized and actually it fit Neil just a bit better than it fit me. I wonder if I went up a size (I tried a large) if it would work but I think that it might have been just a bit too big in an extra large. The thing I would say with this carrier is that it’s better for younger babies and it is something that you want to try on first for size before buying. That all being said it was well made, the fabric was soft, it was easy to put on because basically it was like putting on a shirt and the back panel is a nice feature that adds a bit more support.
Love the beach – we spent Mother’s Day at the beach as well but just came down for the day. We have never stayed in Arch Cape opting usually for Manzanita but have driven by so many times on our way to Oswald or Manzanita. Sounds like it is quite a sweet spot.
Looks like a great time! So nice that you had good weather. I agree – the beach would be a good Mother’s Day tradition.
What a fun way to spend Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day to you!
I would love to see an updated “what’s in my diaper bag” from you 🙂