Pacific City

Our annual family camping trip was canceled since our campground didn't allow for the large group sites to be used during all this shut down stuff, so it was a big bummer that we weren't able to go on one of our favorite trips of the year. (And Sadly that same campground, that we've been going to for many many years burned down a couple months later so we will not be going next year either) 

Anyway, We still wanted to have time to get together with family and cousins and my Aunt arranged a plan for a bunch of different outdoor events where cousins and second cousins could get together somewhat locally. One of those first outings was going to Pacific city. Max had gotten work off for our camping trip but since that wasn't happening, he decided to save his PTO for time when the baby comes so we went without him but still had an absolutely wonderful trip. 

This is one of our favorite beaches for exploring, climbing and running wild. 

Boys were excited the moment they got there. 

 

Charlie was making an invention

This little guy hiked pretty far away from me but soon came back, I wasn't really feeling like hiking the dune all big and pregnant. I still did manage to hike a good distance over the dune though. 

It is seriously amazing how many hours of fun can be had with a bucket, shovel, sand and water. 

It was super misty and foggy at first, but still warm. We couldn't even see the huge rock out in the water until shortly before we left when the fog completely lifted and the skies were blue. 

 

My little jumping bean!

Anyway, it was the perfect trip and the boys had so much fun and were so tired. And I loved spending time with my cousins when I wasn't chasing my boys around with my camera. 

Beach Weekend

 After months of waiting we finally were able to make our way to an overnighter at the beach. Originally we had a beach house booked right on the beach for Miles birthday back in April, but we couldn't find a good deal like that again, We did find a great deal on a hotel near the beach so we made our way there. Our boys haven't stayed in hotels very often and they were beyond excited for this. haha!

"I've always wanted to see one of these!" Miles. Apparently we haven't let them see phones. Hmm. 

He was also fascinated by the bar soap. 

Testing out all the beds. 

And chairs!

They didn't even really need to go to the beach, they were just thrilled at the hotel. But then we found out Pig n Pancake was open for dining in and the boys lost their minds. Somehow this has become their favorite restaurant after going there once last year.  

He dropped his last bite on the floor and was so mad I wouldn't let him eat it. 

Then we made our way to the beach for the sunset and a campfire. I was feeling pretty grateful that we had these boys to lug around their stuff, then Max joked that they're the reason we have so much stuff! 

This was half a pregnancy ago, back when I was 20 weeks along and felt huge!

After a lot of digging and playing in the waves a bit, Max started a fire and we got to enjoy s'mores as the sun finished setting. And then, since it was the 5th of July, a lot of people were shooting off fireworks all around us and we ended up getting a free show. It was unexpected and exciting!

This was a new spot at Lincoln City we found, and we were so happy with it. 

We got back to the hotel later than expected and the boys were still so excited that it took awhile for all to fall asleep. But it happened eventually. 

The next morning I had to go down to pick up our breakfast since the dining room was closed due to social distancing. But it all worked out!

We then made our way to Devil's lake because there is a little swimming area and we wanted to try a little fishing. The fishing wasn't fruitful but fun to try. The swimming was nice since the water was warmer in the lake than the ocean. 

Charlie had a goal to be buried at some point on this trip.  Mission accomplished. 

We then wanted to see the ocean again so we made our way down the coastline to another new spot we found and it was pretty great. It has a little river going to the ocean so it was a fun, safe place to play for a long time. 

It was called Nelscott, and Public Beach Access 35th Street, I'm writing this down so I can make sure we find them again!

Charlie and Max made a "hot tub" 

I think Miles made a shovel kite? It doesn't seem to be working. 

And apparently he had no problem throwing sand and then being covered in it...

After playing hard, we decided we needed to eat so we got take-out from Mo's. It took a long time to get our food so we enjoyed the views from the dock

We ended up eating in the car so we could properly social distance since the restaurant and surrounding the restaurant seemed to be super busy. 

 

It really was the perfect trip and we learned to appreciate it so much more since we weren't able to do something like this for a long time (at least it seemed like a long time) I was also appreciating my boys' ages so much and how they can help and carry their own junk but also see so much magic in ocean waves, deep sand holes and rocks. Luckily we got a couple more short beach trips before the summer was over.