🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎉

Bonjour! Hope you are having a sparkling start to the year! Two years on and the virus doesn’t seem to be going anywhere , Vaccination and Masks are here to stay. I hope you are being smart, being compassionate and keeping safe.

Here is my first post of 2022 recounting our last vacation of 2021. After a lovely road trip and back to back parties all in one week, we spent the 1st day of 2022 lazing around and eating leftovers.

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This week I have been busy working on a 500 piece Harry Potter 3D puzzle , I was torn between my need to complete the post and the desire to conquer the puzzle!

7 days later all hands were on deck and finally we claimed victory against the changing colors of this 3D puzzle today and now I can give my undivided attention to my blog!😅.

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We started the year 2021 with a trip to Seabrook, a quaint beach town to celebrate my birthday and ended the year with a short vacation to another beach town, Seaside in Oregon😜 !

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I won’t lie, I was rather disappointed when I learnt of the snow storm that was going to hit the northwest the same weekend as our trip. But guess what??

Despite the storm, the freezing temperatures (we had the fireplace running for the whole duration of our stay) and lack of snow boots (that I failed to pack) we had an amazing time in Seaside, aha, correction in our beachside cottage The Crab pot, our home for 3 nights.

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25th Dec

On a crisp Christmas morning after unwrapping their presents and obliging me with some pictures of themselves for my google albums, we left for Seaside.

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This was Ginger’s first road trip with us and to our surprise the puppy did just fine. Curled up under Ms. V’s seat, she slept for good part of the drive, opening her eyes only when she caught a whiff of the snacks the girls were munching on😂.

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Halfway to our destination it started to snow, by the time we reached Seaside, the town was already covered in a thin layer of white fluff.

Ginger was the first one to dive out of the van, her nose frantically trying to sniff out the cold white stuff that covered the land for this was her first snow experience❤️.

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Over an sms our hosts informed us that this was only the 3rd time in the town’s history that it had snowed in(Oops this doesn’t sound good 😶! ). It took our cottage an hour to heat up.

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As we entered the first thing that caught my attention is the wicker basket that was carefully placed on the table. This would be our the first airbnb ( and we have been to countless of them!) where we were welcomed with goodies.

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Along with the usual places to see and things to do brochures, our host added a special touch by leaving candies, sparkling cider, popcorn packets , milk bone dog treats for Ms. Ginger and a card welcoming us!

I was impressed by this gesture, this was our first dog friendly airbnb and our hosts have set the bar high!

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Ginger got down to her dog duty, sniffing her heart out and pawing her way in from room to room finally settling next to the recliner! She claimed her spot lest the girls take it by laying down on all fours 😂. The girls were quick to claim their room- one that had a TV next to the bed 😜!

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Well it’s no surprise it is named The Crab pot, there were crabs in every nook and corner of this cottage – decor, linen, crockery!

The garage has been convereted into a mini lounge area with sand toys, bikes, hiking tools, pet toys, DVDs all for guests to use. They even had a crate and bed all cleaned up ready for Ginger (We of course carried ours, but that was thoughtful of them!). I can see this place being loved booked all through summer.

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I really admired that they had paid attention to the fact that families come with little kids, there was a cupboard full of craft supplies- crayons,colored pencils, markers, pencils, scissors, erasers, glues, coloring books (for kids and adults), sheets of blank papers along with board games and kid friendly movies.

While we always carry our craft supplies, It was satisifying to know that the hosts had all this planned out for their guests.

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That evening after snacks we settled in for board games! Over the course of next three days we played our hearts out, we stepped out for a bit to explore the town but most of our time was spent indoors rather than outdoors. We were having a crackling time at this cottage.

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At the cottage we were either busy playing the board games, catching up on Baking Impossible on Netflix or solving the 7 clues (ooh this one is going to be in my next post! I can’t wait to tell you all about it!!).

26th December

The next morning, when the clouds parted for a tiny bit to finally let some sunlight come our way, we stepped out to explore the town.

It was I-am-going-to-die-if-I-step-out freezing cold for me! 😶 but where is the fun if you don’t put that theory to test 🥶! Good news I survived 🤪🤣.

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I almost had a I-clung-to-my-car-handle-to-save-myself-from-flying-away moment when I stepped off the van to explore the snow covered beach, seeing me almost fly off S immediately buckled his seat belt in 😂.

fortunately or unfortunately for him the only casuality was my new beanie that flew away while I was left clinging to the door 🤣.

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Did you know that Seaside was the final stop on Lewis and Clark’s epic journey to the west? . Walking against the cold wind to reach the promande which was less than a minute’s walk from our parked van felt like an eternity! Out in open for less than five minutes and I was already numb with cold and the girls were shivering.

The winds were brutal but the view made up for it, grey sky with a hint of light and the snow covered beach it was magical ! A couple out with their dog sensing the tourists in us offered to take our family pictures and we happily obliged 🤩.

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We must have hardly spent 15 minutes there and we were already rushing back to the van and that is when Ms. V spotted the bumper car ride!

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Boy what a mistake that was! We couldn’t feel our fingers for next one hour, it was a 3 minutes bumper car ride, 2 minutes in and we stopped. The cold wind cutting through our bare naked hands was unbearably painful to continue for the remaining 60 seconds 😰!!

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After picking up our lunch we drove down to city of Cannon Beach, about 20 minutes drive from Seaside, this is a popular tourist destination in summer also well known for the Haystack Rock ,a sea stack that is third such tallest intertidal structure in the world.

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After the bumper car debacle, no one was willing to step out of the car. It was I the brave one, who got down because I wanted the pictures of the famous Haystack Rock 🤪. I braved the near-death-cold weather for these photos 😂.

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After spending close to two hours we were back home, Ginger headed straight for her afternoon nap, I took the hint and headed to the bed myself, while girls and S got busy playing.

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It was sometime around this time when Ms. V discovered the first clue , clue 3 hidden in a oar next to the TV ! The rest as they say is history, we spent the better part of evening looking for the clues!!

That evening as you know I was also busy blogging about our Puppy . We ate Maggi for dinner and binged watched Baking Impossible and after the kids went to be started Don’t Look Up on Netflix! (go watch this if you haven’t yet!! )

27th December

The weather opened a bit, we stepped out for brunch at the famous PIG‘N PANCAKE and we weren’t disappointed. The service was prompt, the food hot and their ice cream yum !

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Belly full, the next stop was Seaside Aquarium! The best part of this town is that most of the places are pet friendly. When S stayed put with Ginger while we went in , the receptionist informed us that Ginger could join us and so she did. Her nose was working over time, taking in all the fishy smells😅 !

Once out, we headed straight for the beach that lay right outside the aquarium! The beach was buzzing with people , everyone was out making the most of the day before it started to snow again.

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The day concluded with lots of coloring, playing the game of Snakes & Ladders, Ludo (S was winning this one and we were being sore losers 😂) and the game of Clue (V is getting really good at this) as we munched on salsa and chips and local Mexican food for dinner!

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28th December

Yes, I was always cold when out and I kicked myself for not carrying the right boots but I can’t deny the fun we had in The Crab Pot.

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After 3 nights of fun we were ready for home! It was time to bid goodbye to The Crab Pot. We left early after a quick breakfast at PIG’N PANCAKE lest the roads get tricky because of the snow. The drive back home was slow and cautious.

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We made it home in light, while one adventure ended another begin. We reached home to busted water pipe and temperatures colder than Oregon 😜.

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The next morning all was back to normal, the water was back and running and all was fine! Wishing you a safe and a rockstar year ahead. Everything that has a beginning has an end!

“Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all” –Helen Keller