Caravanning with Loradona, we left Roseburg and headed to the best place: the Oregon coast!
Since we were coming from her place, we got to see things a little further south on the coast than we usually do.
Our first big stop on our way to the beach house was at Shore Acres.
so getting out to explore the gardens was a welcome break.
The volunteers were out doing their work that morning and they were all so kind. One told us all about the Monterey pine trees (including the largest specimen on North America) and the huge prickly rhubarb.
Plus, we saw newts and rabbits
and lots of beautiful flowers.
Arriving at the beach house in the afternoon, one of the first things we did (after bringing in our luggage and deciding on rooms) was, of course, to head to the beach!
The beginning of a wonderful week at the beach house!
(or the clown) when you go to do laundry.
Oh! Just as a reminder: Cliff and Jill, et al, couldn't join us for this adventure. Sad. Instead we had some friends join us, including their little boy.
He's not on the internet much, though, so I may not specifically use his name or face often. He got along very well with my kids, idolizing Calista and being silly with Caleb.
The clouds began rolling in and it started to get rather grey as we headed back to the car to eat lunch. Our friend Hykel said out loud, "Why are your parents talking with a cop?" We all laughed, and then realized, oh, wait, she wasn't not joking. As we got closer, we noticed it wasn't a cop: it's a firefighter, complete with a fire truck. 
On Wednesday, we spent the day at Hawk Creek in Neskowin, near Proposal Rock (fitting, since it was Mom and Dad's anniversary) and the Ghost Forest.
Tuesday morning, we headed to Cape Kiwanda to check out the tide pools.
It was absolutely beautiful, with tons of sea stars and a fantastic view.
Kyler and Caleb went all the way up the sand dunes. Way to go!
At one point, Loradona and I both independently lectured the same family group about not pulling the sea stars off the rocks and putting them on their knees. I mean, seriously, folks! Leave the animals where they belong!
Calista started to worry, but I reminded her that we could see everyone so they were all safe, even if bad things had happened. Of course, then we got even closer and I realized I recognized the firefighter as a man who used to be in my parents' stake. And they were just chatting. No emergency here, just friends and stickers.
Story by Caleb: Once upon a time, there was a girl who was scared of moths, and her siblings weren't. And Caleb, the bravest one, put a moth on her face while she was asleep. And she woke up and screamed! And her forehead popped off and flew out glitter!
Any similarities to persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
As we walked towards the Ghost Forest, we asked the kids for their theory on why it is called that.
We had answers including because of fog, because of the tides, and because of a magic wizard but dressed like the guy from Star Wars. All valid theories!
Caleb in particular loved to be close to the fire.
It also didn't stop Calista and I from trying to fly the kite.
At first, there wasn't much wind and so Calista was running up and down the beach,
Trying to get - and keep - the kite aloft.
We also built sand castles.
Why yes, I did use the sand toys just as much (or more) than my kiddos.
They "helped" by bringing me sand - I clearly needed more?
And, to celebrate my parents' 45th (!) anniversary, we went out to eat at a fantastic place called Side Door Cafe.
It was really tasty with lots of seafood and non-seafood options. Highly recommend.
Thursday we headed down to Newport. Our first stop was the Hatfield Marine Science Center. It is one of my favorite (indoor) places to go at the Oregon coast. They have the best touch tanks, amazing volunteers, and so many hands-on exhibits.
We spent almost 2 hours here and probably could have stayed longer but we were getting hungry.
The tsunami and erosion experiments were a hit,
Craig loved playing the commercial fishing game, Calista was delighted with absolutely everything,
and Caleb and this ray smiled at each other.
After lunch at Mo's, we headed out to a new (to me) place: Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area.
Loradona wanted to make a video of the water on the cobble beach,
I wanted to see the lighthouse,
and everyone was down to see how "outstanding" the natural area really was.
Conclusion: quite outstanding, indeed.
We saw sea urchins and seals at Cobble Beach and watched for whale spouts from the lighthouse.
The only downside were the flies: there were so many, and they were rather annoying.
Clearly we were missing Cliff and his family at this point, though.
Mom, Loradona, and I all independently took photos of "cliff" signs and sent them to him.
Craig loved to run and run and run, up and down the shore.
He'd go until we almost couldn't see him, and then turn around and run back to us.
Nearly unlimited free space to be crazy is his happy place.
And during one of his runs,
he found a live crab on the beach!
Friday began with Kyler and I going out to eat for breakfast at Otis Cafe (um, no pics so it didn't happen?).
We also had lots of chill beach time,
went on a walk to get ice cream,
and spent time chilling in the hammock.
Our budding marine biologist loved looking for different animals.
We saw sea stars, urchins, seals - including one bobbing in the surf in front of us - and from our very own section of beach, grey whales spouts!
Quite a few of our nights, we had s'mores in the fireplace.
He also said that Grandpa May was the s'more expert and only wanted his help.
Saturday, the kiddos and I went to Lincoln City and went on a forest walk and to the North Lincoln County Historical Museum.
I'd really like to go back to the museum sometime.
It seemed really cool.
And, of course, when we also spent more time down at the beach.
Always.
We also did some American/Canadian taste tests. Specifically, comparing the country's respective Oreos and Kit Kats, as well as a quick Butterfinger/Crispy Crunch comparison.
The Oreos from the Great White North won, USA's Butterfingers beat out its competition, but the Kit Kats seem to divide along the lines of what you are used to, with the Canadians preferring their home tastes while the Americans claimed to to be superior.
Looks like more testing needs to be done. For Science!
We also worked on a couple of puzzles, one successfully and one not so successfully.
These dogs on the puzzles are Bananas! (Lazy Daisy, and Stinker).
On Sunday, the fogged rolled in thick and we couldn't even see the beach from the house. Or the ocean from the top of the beach path.
That didn't stop Kyler and I from taking a foggy beach walk down to Proposal Rock.
Then, just and she and I had decided to pack it in, the wind picked up and I noticed the kite tugging on the string.
With a little effort and concentration, we got it up!
And then slowly walked all the way back to the path to the beach house,
Bringing the kite lower and lower but keeping it up the whole way, until we brought it low enough I could just grab it. We did it!
Monday we said goodbye to the beach house
It was fun to look at the exhibits and watch the cheese get made and packaged. And eat it, of course!
We grabbed lunch which was tasty, but more importantly, we got ice cream.
Monday we said goodbye to the beach house
and went to the Tillamook Creamery.
The best part of any trip to the Creamery! And with that, we left the beach and headed back to Portland.
The beach is my happy place. And it was definitely the kiddos' happy place this week, too.
I had a personal goal of going down to the beach every single day and I was successful. The first thing in the morning while everyone is asleep walks, the mornings and afternoons with the kiddos playing in the surf, exploring tide pools, the evening before the sun set strolls.
Every day, something. Most of the time, I had a buddy (or several). Calista and Loradona were my most common ones.
And I got tired, but not of the breeze. Not of the salty air. Not of the water nipping at my toes. Not of sleeping to the sound of waves crashing ashore.
I could be at the beach forever.
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