One Final Beach

We had one last hurrah at the Lincoln city beach before we left the coast and headed inland.  So sad to say goodbye, but so happy we made the (looong) trip.  We had so many fun times and made some great memories.  It had been many years since I'd been to the ocean and I forgot just how very much I love it.  I hope we do it again soon.

One more sister selfie.

And one more family portrait.  Goodbye ocean.  We'll be back.

Fire on the Beach

We made so many fun memories at the Oregon Coast, but by far one of my favorite activities was our fire on the beach.  Apparently, you can have a fire on any Oregon beach, as near as I can tell.  Which surprised me, but I am all about a nice campfire, so I was all over it. 

We weren’t sure we were going to avoid getting rained on, but we forged ahead and were glad we did.  

And we even stayed dry!

We had fun running around in the semi-darkness.

We made s’mores (of course!).

And did some beach combing.  Who knew it could be so fun with a flashlight?

You can see the rain was pouring nearby!

But we were warm and dry, making great memories.

Which is good, because before we know it, these two young ladies (and their brother) will be be making their own memories out from under our roof.  *sigh*

Of Overlooks, Sea Lions and Selfies

On our way home from some shopping and ice cream, we stopped at an overlook to take a picture of the Heceta Head lighthouse from a distance.  Actually, my family humored me  by allowing me to jump out of the car and take a quick photo.

But they were thanking their lucky stars (I'm sure!) for me brilliantly wanting to stop here, because we were treated to watching a few hundred Sea Lions basking in the sun on the beach below the overlook!

We ended up hanging out there and watching/listening to them for quite awhile.  It was exciting to see so many together.  The picture isn't much to look at, but it was so cool in person!  They sure were getting cozy down there!

And I'm finally beginning to master a group selfie.  It's trickier than one would think!

Hugs

Some hugs are just for fun and love.

Gotta love that.

Some hugs are for love and warmth.

 That's nice, too.

We are a hug-y family and I love that about us.  Hugs are the best.  Especially when it's my children hugging because that means they're getting along! Yay for getting along! :)

Strange Sea Creatures

We had the opportunity to explore a few different tide pools, but by far my favorite was a tide pool that had park rangers at it.  They gave us a laminated cheat sheet to help us identify what we saw.  And this guy told us all kinds of cool things about the crazy creatures that live in the sea.

Like these green sea anenomes.  He told us you put your finger in the middle of them, they close around their "prey."  It feels sticky, like glue, but it's actually their tiny little barbs that inject their dinner with a neurotoxin to paralyze them.  Sounds unhealthy, but he said it was okay to try it out. Glenn and I later both felt like our fingers were the slightest bit tingly and weird.

And everyone enjoys a nice sea star.

By far the grossest and simultaneously coolest thing we saw were these weird creatures Morgan found on a piece of drift wood.  These are a type of barnacle.  Their fuzzy weirdness was just hanging out and waving at us.  They looked incredibly strange.  We were all completely grossed out and fascinated.   Or, I was, anyway.  Yuck/cool!! 

So, there you have it.  Tide pools are great.  Especially when you have someone to explain all the strange wonders you are seeing.

A Nice Day

Near our rental house was an area called Cape Perpetua.  One of the things to see near there is Thor's Well and the Spouting Horn at Cook's Chasm.

It was cool, but not rainy.  The lady at the ranger's station said it was a "nice" day.  I looked at her funny and she said, "Well, it's not raining!"  Our definitions of a nice day are different.

But it was a nice day in that we were together on the coast! :)  That's pretty nice if you ask me.

Glenn hiked out to get a closer look at Thors' Well, but some of us (ehem, Nicole) had flip flops on which made walking on the rocks difficult.  I suggested flip flops would not be my shoe of choice before we left the house, but did she change them?  No.  When will they learn?  Oh, never?  Okay.

The Spouting Horn is a smallish hole in the rock.  At high tide, water is forced up into it as the waves crash.  Very cool.

Even cooler, is Thor's Well, a naturally occurring hole in the rocks.  It fills up from the bottom and then flows back down.

It's best just before or after high tide.

Frankly, these pictures don't do it justice.  

Nicole and grandma and I made a trip back the next day (without flip flops), and Nicole had to drag me away as it started to rain on us.  I kept wanting just one more picture.  I discovered my cell phone's panoramic feature.  So fun!

Coastal Eggs

As spring break was the week leading up to Easter, it was suggested we take along our collection of plastic eggs for a coastal Easter egg hunt.  Sounds like fun!

You're never too old for a good Easter egg hunt!

We even managed to avoid the drizzle that day.

And we only lost about 5 eggs (we started with over 100).  We looked all over and just couldn't find them all.  We hid them very well!  Whoever finds them will really wonder what crazy person had an Easter egg hunt at a rental house.  We did it.  And we were glad!

Glenn, the Tree Hugger

Really. Cold. Feet.

I loved walking on the sand with my family.

This might be my new favorite picture....

And I loved watching them play in the water.

While I was safely at the water's edge.  They were crazy.  They started out with their pants rolled up, but got so wet they quit worrying about.  Morgan was completely soaked.  Brrrr!

As you know, the water's edge is unpredictable at the ocean, so I ended up in the water up to my ankles.  I wanted to scurry out of the water, but I was talked into a picture first.

Okay.  One picture.... hurry up!

Seriously.  I'm in pain here.  And the water's getting deeper.

Are we done yet?

Okay, we'll try one foot out of the water.  But hurry.

And there always has to be one crazy one.  I'll put my feet down for that.  Then me and my cold feet are outta here.

Cold Feet

After some kite-flying, the hubby and kids wander out into the tide.

I slowly followed my family, but it was cold.  The water.  As in icy.

But my family is much tougher than me.  No surprise there.  They said you didn't feel it after awhile.

You know what that's called?  The beginning of hypothermia!  No thanks.