Ocean 2012

One of the more expensive parts of being married to me is that I require a yearly trip to the ocean. To feel the ocean, walk on the ocean, hear the ocean; it sets my heart at ease.

Sometimes the trip there is not as easy as it would seem. A week before we left, strep throat started running through our house. I got all kids on antibiotics before we left on Monday. BUT, by the time we hit Tri-Cities on Monday morning, I was crying in pain. :( After an hour of signing up for temporary insurance in Oregon (because Group Health hates me), I got my meds and in 24 hours was a much better person.

On the way down we stopped at Multnomah Falls. It was a wonderful stop except that I had spent so much time with insurance on the phone sitting in the car with the doors open that I drained the battery. Thank goodness for nice people with jumper cables!

This year we rented a vacation house with our good friends the Worthy's and stayed in Lincoln City for nearly a week. It was really a wonderful vacation. Here are some highlights.

As soon as we got there we went running on the beach. The girls loved running with Kyle.

 It was low-tide so we found starfish.

We went to another beach that Beth had heard about and it was amazing. There was a massive dune that we crawled up.

 Once at the top there was a cool tree...perfect for a picture.

 And a ledge for posing on.

Thomas loves walking on the beach just as much as his mama. We walked for hours. Sometimes we got goofy.

We went back to the "dune beach"at low-tide and the tidepools were amazing. This time we brought fishing nets (from the dollar store) and buckets and the kids spent hours catching fish and crabs. So much fun!

The kids made a pyramid on the beach.

We went BACK up the dune and jumped off the little cliffs.

Molly waited until I'd already done a trip up that darn dune before she decided she HAD to go up and jump too. Ack! But, we'll just chalk that up to good quality mama/daughter time. To be fair, she had a blast and kept jumping off higher and higher cliffs until I was no longer comfortable!

On the fourth day, Katie realized she does in fact like that water and the beach.

Last day family picture.

On the way home we stopped at the fish hatchery at the Bonneville Dam. The kids did great and the trip ended on a happy note. What a great vacation!