Giddy!

 Do you see it? Straight ahead!!

Now close your eyes and breathe deep...smell it?

Ahhhh - the beautiful sea.

I feel just like Lewis and Clark..."Ocean in view - OH THE JOY!"

The little house we have the privilege to stay at is just 1/2 mile from the Fort to Sea trail.  It's a 6 mile walkable trail that leads from Sunset Beach to Fort Clatsop.

The beaches in the Northwest are so different from the ones I used to go to when I was a little girl.  Some beaches have little rocks instead of sand, some have the forest almost meet the sea, some have grasses.  Most of the time, it's a bit windy/chilly, but ALWAYS beautiful, always soothing.

This trip was no exception!

Once the cars were loaded, we began our 4-5 hour trek south.  Heading down I-5 is rather hum-drum, but we did have a Lamplighter audio drama (The Robber’s Cave) that we listened to.  The rest of the way, we listened to an eclectic mix of music…loudly. 

The first priority once we arrive and after unloading the cars is filling the frig.

Since it’s my vacation too, I try to make shopping and cooking simple and easy. It’s a small beach town with only only a couple of stores, but there is a Costco close to the cottage, so I made it my little game to see if I could feed my family healthy meals with things only purchased from there, buying organic when it was available.  This is what I came up with.

Breakfast (rotated twice)

·         Greek yogurt with blueberries (and homemade granola brought from home.)

·         Eggs and toast

·         Honey Nut Cheerios (after all, it’s their vacation too J )

Coffee

Lunch (same thing, every day)

Sandwiches (pb & j) to take to the beach

Bananas, cantaloupe, blueberries, string cheese, Fruit & Nut

Dinner

·         Chicken Cesaer Salad (romaine lettuce, rotisserie chicken, croutons, cesaer dressing, parmesan cheese)

·         Taco Salad (corn chips, rotisserie chicken, kidney beans, avocado, pico de gallo, Colby-jack cheese.)

·         Turkey Burgers grilled on the BBQ, cantaloupe and blueberries

·         Costco Take Out pizza

·         S’mores (of course!)

As for Hannah with her GF/DF needs, we just bought almond milk so she could eat granola & milk for breakfast.  She also brought some gf/df donuts that she made. I’ll post on that soon.  They are really good.  We also brought Tuscan Italian salad dressing from Trader Joe’s so her Cesaer salad had that on it instead.  She didn’t eat the pizza, she had a big salad.

Not quite the healthy eating we do at home, but not bad for my limited resources and my little game.

The mornings were often overcast which allowed for sleeping in! (Eric and I are up at 5 am each morning, so this REALLY felt like vacation!!!)

After a leisurely breakfast and quick clean up, we loaded up the surfboards and piled in the truck. The big kids rode the truck bed.  They love that.

Driving on the beach is allowed and so fun, so we just drove to a spot that looked nice to call home for the day.

When the tide is out some sand bars are exposed. On the shore side of them pools of water gather.  It’s the perfect place for the littles to play since the water is warmed by the sun and it’s pretty shallow.  It makes it enjoyable for us parents too – not having to worry about the undertow.

When the tide is in, those pools are covered, as the big kids discovered! The first day the older ones ventured to the water and found out the hard cold way.  Watch out - the first step is a doosy!

The first couple of days it stayed gray and overcast and a bit windy.  My hoody stayed on, but the kiddos played and played.

They all had a ball skimboarding.

But back at the house, it wasn’t windy.  Across the street is a little park with a slide and swings.  How cool is that.  The littles love playing there.  That’s where we go if the beach and surf is too blown out.

That little green house in the background is the cottage.

One cooler day, we went to Seaside. We shopped, ate salt water taffy, rode the carousel, walked the promenade, poked in surf shops.  Fun stuff.

The last few days were sunny and warm.  Surf was still small, but….

Hannah gave it a try and is now hooked!

Look close - Hannah on the left riding a wave!

Wipe out.

I’m whimpy and really prefer warmer water so this is my version. ;-)

Caleb found a large branch and some baling twine so he made a make-shift volleyball net using the car mirror to hold the other end of the twine.

Volleyball, kite-flying, swimming, surfing, sunning, shell searching. FUN

Babe had her kind of fun.

I kid you not, she LOVED smearing wet sand all over herself.  Go figure.

She loved the beach.   We all did.

God had another little nature lesson for us.  Up on the porch light a mama bird had three babies in a nest.  Kinda cool to be able to see.

 Another morning we went to the wreck of the Peter Iredale.

We also visited Fort Clatsop. 

That was timely as I just finished a unit study on the Westward movement.

It was so fun to be able to get away together. I am so thankful for my family {and neighbors who let us stay at their beach cottage!}