Traditions

When I was a child, we often made summer trips to the Oregon Coast.  One of my favorite memories is visiting the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Festival.  I recall seeing a sand sculpture of a pig, arms in the air, riding a rollercoaster called Hog Wild!  Another of a frog and a toad playing a violin and cello.  So many amazing sand sculptures and so many lovely memories flitting about in the back of my mind. :)  Other years we simply went to another beach and flew kites, searched for shells or had fires on the beach.  All of those trips are pleasant memories for me, experiences I want to share with my daughter.

Now, as an adult, each year for the last 10 years, I have been meeting my mother on the Oregon Coast for her birthday.  It isn't always Cannon Beach, often it is Lincoln City, which is a little less charming as far as the town goes, but they have some perks of their own. Since the millenium (good old Y2K), they have been leaving glass floats on the beach for people to find, much like and easter egg hunt.  They are so beautiful and my mother is obsessed with them (and all things beach related)!  So for her birthday, since that year, we have gone to hunt for these floats. 

I have to tell you that my mother, now 62, is tireless in her combing of the beach.  She has been known to drive us to walk 14 miles down the beach searching for these floats, sometimes as early as 5 am (this is when she believes the "float fairies" are out hiding floats) in rain and sometimes sleet and hail.  We often "march", picking up trash (to appease the float fairies- wink!) all the while grumbling, but really it is fun and the reward is so sweet, just look at these beautiful creations!  It is always a fun trip!

I just wanted to share with you another of my Artisan Projects (yes, the ones I didn't turn in...). This is a scrap page of my daughter, entitled Traditions. The inspiration for the layout of this page page came from one of her shirts, it is just like this, bright yellow with flowers that are these colors. So fun and cute, for a little one at least...we all know there is no way I could get away with wearing something like that! It was a lot of punching and cutting ot make all these flowers and grass, but totally worth it!

The picture of my daughter is one my mom took last March during our annual trip, at Cannon Beach. (I should stop to say that if you haven't been to Cannon Beach, OR you should consider it, a lovely little paradise!)  Sophie, soon to be three, is now sharing in the tradition and creating her own happy memories.  I feel so lucky to be able to share this with her.  This scrapbook page represents those fun times and memories and our family tradition.

Thanks for stopping in, have a great day!