Holy cute kids

OREGON vacation--Day 4

Our last day we went to Cape Kiwana (sand mountain) and I was so glad we ended here.  They had so much here: tide pools with sea anemones, crabs, and fish; a huge sand mountain to climb; the beach and ocean where we discovered and caught tons of minnows (or maybe tiny shrimp?); and small boats that would drive up onto the shore.  It was a a really cool place to end our trip.  Reed said it was his favorite.

We gave in and paid $10 to go crabbing from a dock.  Maybe not as cool, but at least we caught crabs!  We thought about renting a small boat to crab, but we were a little nervous about Corbin and trying to man the boat and crab rings, while trying not to get pinched by a bunch of crabs.

Getting brave...

Taryn had agreed to try eating a crab but once she saw it alive and up close and personal, she changed her mind. :)  So we just threw them all back.  I wanted to try it but didn't want to waste an entire crab if I didn't like it (kevin is allergic to shellfish).

We ended the day by eating at home (the food had been so bad that a frozen dinner sounded more appealing) and playing games.

Our Oregon vacation was a blast!  It was so different than Disneyland.  Both types of vacations have their advantages.  Disneyland is bascally garaunteed fun.  You can pretty much count on riding a bunch of rides and kids being happy.  On the other hand, it is high stimulation and waiting in lines.

When we went to Oregon, we knew it would be more relaxed which was great.  It was nice planning out what we wanted to do and having a lot of quality family time.  Yet some things did not go as planned--the weather was cooler, couldn't catch crabs, etc.  

So both types of vacations have their places.  Oregon was definitely a trip that we won't forget!

OREGON vacation--Day 3

In the morning, we went to Cape Lookout to see some sea creatures (remember, Kevin had just made this exact trip 3 weeks prior.  It did help in a few instances, like knowing where there were good spots to see some sea life).  

The walk along the beach to the tide pool area was pretty surreal.  The mornings are usually foggy along the coast and it was really cool to be walking in it.

We found a ton of sand dollars!

Starfish!

Sea anemones!

The tide started to come in, so we didn't spend a lot of time there.

We also took a scenic train ride, because we thought the kids would like it.  They were super excited for sure!  This train had a tiny museum inside.

That night we went back to Nehalem Beach and had a fire on the beach and roasted marshmallows.  This was definitely my favorite moment of the whole vacation!  I absolutely loved watching the kids climb around on driftwood, just being outside in nature together with our family and barely a soul in eyesight.

Corbin mastered waving....

There is a sun in Oregon!  Who knew?? ;)

beautiful sunset