Freezer Jam, Sandcastles, and Muscle Cars

So what do these three random things have in common?
They all make for a pretty fun filled weekend!

This past weekend was full with a lot of ‘Firsts’ for me.

First up, Freezer Jam.
I had never made freezer jam before and when our ward passed around a sign up sheet for those that wanted to buy 18lbs of strawberries that were freshly picked at a local farm and already cleaned, hulled and ready for freezing,  I couldn’t pass it up. So this Friday, I got my fresh strawberries and spent a good portion of the afternoon making yummy freezer jam with a good friend  who had also never made freezer jam. After spending a while at the store trying to convert pints into pounds and ounces to cups, we began our afternoon of smashing, stirring,  and boiling. We ended up doing 12 lbs of strawberries (we each kept 3lbs of the yummy fresh strawberries for good eatin’ later). And I’m happy to say that our freezer jam extravaganza was a success! The jam turned out PERFECT!  

On Saturday Devin and I headed out to Cannon Beach to see our very first sandcastle competition. We thought it was going to be a rainy cold day but it was actually WARM and the SUN was out! I have been needing the sun! Cannon Beach was insanely crowded (small coastal town=lack of parking). We ate lunch on the patio at a place where they have Devin’s favorite clam chowder. Then we headed to the beach where we saw:

and our favorite (2nd place winner):

We watched this group build the last little bit of their sandcastle and I’m amazed with their skill!

Our next stop was Seaside. We were originally just going here to do some shopping, play Devin’s favorite game of fascination, and get some ice cream, but Devin was happy (=giddy) to see that there was a  muscle car show set up along the main tourist street. They shut down the road and lined it with muscle cars. They also had a “parade” of all of the cars, which was cool because the drivers revved their engines showing off the power of their cars.  I had never been to a muscle car show before and it was…cool…to see the different cars. Devin is into muscle cars so knows a bit about them. He even found the car there that he’s been wanting and scheming how to get one day:

So it was an exciting time at the coast. Dev was happy with the car show and I was happy with the ice cream.