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Heartwarming Small-Town Romances and Thrilling Mysteries

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday, gathering with our whole family on the coast of Oregon. The Lincoln Sands Hotel provided us with a beachfront setting, great breakfasts, and three adjacent suites with full kitchens. It was the perfect setting for our holiday.

One room was designated the quiet room where those who wanted to read or get away from the noise could go. One room was the TV room which had an obvious purpose. Our room was the game room where the grandsons stayed most of the day. They brought eight or ten board games that were all played and enjoyed, except for Clue (more about that later).

My son and his family cooked a banquet, then divided it up three ways. We ate very well for the three days we were there. Meals were eaten separately due to the family’s masking rule. When we were together, we wore masks constantly. Our grandsons are unvaccinated, and we did everything we could to keep them healthy. I don’t care if you agree with that or not. We did what was necessary to have a fabulous time!

The temperature was cold, windy, and damp. The large windows allowed us to watch the ocean waves and foams. Bundled up in our winter coats, we even took several forays along the beach in the fresh air. The walks let the boys get rid of energy. Even thought it was awfully chilly, my son and his boys enjoyed the heated outdoor pool a couple of days. The rest of us watched them in our coats.

Dragging seaweed as we walked.

We played lots of games with the boys. They’re good players, and the oldest one is very serious about his games. He knows all the rules and enforces them. He reluctantly gave up being the banker in Monopoly and Life but kept a close eye on the ones who took the role. Checkers, chess, Battleship, Candyland, and other games filled out indoor hours. During the evenings, we watched the old Star War movies which we are all fans of. My grandsons have turned into amazing lightsaber duelists by watching those shows.

My daughter, the two grandsons, and I played Clue one day. The youngest grandson has a short attention span so he was in and out of the game. There were other activities that were more interesting than doing pretend homicide investigations. The three of us kept playing while he occasionally came back to take a turn. He must have played half or less of the time. The rest of us marked our clue cards and studied the results and tried to figure out the mystery. We made several logical, but wrong guesses. Then youngest grandson came bouncing back to make his dice throw and move his little figure to another room. He announced he wanted to take a guess at solving the murder. He called out the person, weapon, and room it had taken place in. Guess what. He got it! How that kid got the right answer, I’ll never know. He must be smarter than he lets on.

It was hard to leave when our time came to an end. We all had an amazing time, the first time we’d all been together in about four years. The memories we made will be treasured forever.

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