Let Freedom Ring!

I just love this picture!  She's so happy!  I'm going to leave it here, first - out of order.  

Getting ready to leave for the coast. 

Actually, I was busy trying to pack us up and get us out of there and letting The Pea play at my make-up table is a great diversion (maybe a little messy, but great nonetheless).

She got herself all "ready" for the beach and then said "Pretty!" (Little did we know it was going to take us five-and-a-half hours to actually get to the coast!  She really didn't need the sunhat for the car.)

Apparently, our bed makes a perfect faux balance beam.

Trying to get her to stand still for a cute holiday oufit pic (I don't know why we even try any more!).

 At the Gleneden Beach Fourth of July parade.  I don't have any idea what she's pointing at. 

She caught and ate a LOT of candy.  I noticed that other parents and kids were "collecting" their candy.  We might have to try that in the future, but for now, she can just have whatever she wants whenever she wants it.

Stopping to smell the flowers (as always!).  The Pea loves to smell flowers.  (Doesn't she kinda look like she has a tail in this pic with that monkey backpack/harness thingie on?)

Walking back to our condo with her red balloon.

Pool time!

She calls this the "hot pool".  Here she is trying to scare me half to death (as usual).

 She thought it was hilarious every time I would tell her to stop hanging on those slippery handrails.  Me:  "Jaisie, you're going to slip and crack your head open.  Stop playing on those handrails!"  Jaisie:  "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee! giggle giggle!"  I know she was thinking "Watch me do it again."  She totally thought it was a game.   

"More ride!"

Waiting for the "fireworks display".

We had about four layers of clothes on.  It was SO COLD at the bay.

She's so full of energy, she couldn't have cared less, though.  She found a stick with Nany and had a blast digging for bugs, hitting plants and pulling "weeds".

Still waiting.  Josh was a genius for bringing the DVD.

 Other people across the bay.  Notice the fog rolling in. 

And the fireworks display begins.

Colored fog.  Yep, that's right!  That's the entirety of the fireworks display we got to watch Jaisie watch.

  I was SO incredibly disappointed because I'd been SO incredibly excited to watch her watching them.  She couldn't have cared less about the colored fog.  We left early. 

Then, we walked down to the beach at our condo.  It was perfect!  We found an abandoned campfire and Daddy saved the night with his own box full of fireworks.  There were also some pretty amazing amateur displays going on down at our beach (which was perfectly clear, by the way - albeit really chilly!).

 The Pea wrapped up and exhausted from all the day's activities.  She went right to sleep once all the excitement died down! 

 Stopping at a roadside farm on the way home (It took us a six-and-a-half hours to get home, but we did stop here and at the casino for about an hour each.  For all you non-Oregonians, it usually takes about an hour from our house to the coast.) 

The Pea's second pony ride.  She loved it:  "More ride!  More ride!"  She also loved petting the turkey "Dinner" and the ducks "Donald" and "Daisy" and seeing the eight-day-old foal.  I loved the fresh farm produce!