Oregon Coast

In the beginning of August we went to the Oregon coast with Drew's family. We went to a little town called Rockaway Beach. Our sister-in-law Sharee organized us this year and she did a great job. It was a really nice time hanging our with family. We had a house right on the beach. It was three narrow stories with another flight of stairs on top to a little lookout spot. Our room was on the bottom floor and the main gathering place was on the top floor so we were going up and downstairs all day. When we first got there our nephew Case said, "This is a great exercise house!" and we all got a kick out of that mainly because it was true! Lots of stairs!

We discovered right away that we hadn't properly prepared for the weather. Back at home it was around 105 degrees out so we figured even though it was on the coast it would have to be around 80 degrees, 70 at the least. We were wrong. It was barely 60 degrees and we did not have the clothes for that. So right off I went to the Fred Meyers that was close and got us all sweatshirts and a couple other warmer clothes that saved us from freezing.

We also realized right off the bat that we weren't really going to be playing in the water. Thankfully there was a hot tub at our house, so the kids put their swimming suits to good use in there. The beach for us ended up being a place to play soccer, play catch with a football, a little volleyball, dig and make sand castles, fly kites, take fun pictures, and the last day we built a fire and roasted marshmallows. We went out to eat at a yummy fish and chips place, where Darcy ate her weight in smoked salmon (it's so funny how much she loves her salmon) and got ice cream a couple times. The rest of the time we spent at the house talking, playing Uno, cooking, and eating yummy food.

 Darcy did NOT want to take a break from playing to be part of this picture....obviously.

 Playing soccer on the beach was Ezra's favorite thing.

 I was so happy I caught this moment. Kevin and Ezra were on a team together and Kevin made it so much fun for Ezra. I loved this backwards high five after they won the game.

 Uno

 I went out to take a picture of the bigger kids in the hot tub and told them to pose for me. I think it was Brayden that started the "dab" but they all knew what it was and joined right it. It was killing me. They're so hip.

 Bubbles were a hit. Sharee thought of so many fun details.

 The boys both loved being buried, but Parks especially seemed to think it was amazing. His smile the whole time was killing me.

 Ezra was kind enough to help him brush off the sand that was in every nook and cranny.

 Sand castle building

 When we first got to the beach we found this fancy sand castle that someone else had built and we thought it was funny to take pictures of our kids by it like they had built it. They did love playing with the leftovers.

 We had fun with some jumping pictures on the beach.

 The kids got cozy and watched a movie and ate some popcorn.

 This was a sweet moment when Parks lost a toy he was playing with and was pretty sad about it, and Ezra came over to play with him and help him feel better. It worked.

 If you look closely you can see those lips making the truck noise.

 Brayden wanted Darcy to race him. He counted down from three for them to start and took off when he got to 2. Darcy laughed the whole way.

 Sharee's got sand castle building skills. She's got the magic touch.

Case and Brayden are both really into Harry Potter right now, and I loved watching their awesome battles with their magic wands.