Oregon Coast August 2014

I was looking back through some photos this morning and wanted to share these great pictures from our trip to the Oregon coast last summer.  We rented a house right on the beach for five days with my parents, sister and sister-in-law, and niece.  It was such a great time.  The kids had never seen the ocean before, so you can imagine their excitement at seeing such a sight for the first time.  Gabe was entranced and LOVED having all that space to run.  I think he and Brian ran over 20 miles over the course of five days, with Brian chasing Gabe for most of that time :-)

On to the photos...

Our first stop was in Hood River, Oregon.  Look at all the wind surfers in the Columbia River!  It was so fun to watch.

Next stop was Multnomah Falls.  It was beautiful!  The whole Columbia River Gorge is beautiful.

After staying in Hillsboro for the night, we headed to the coast early the next morning.  The kids were squealing in the back seat when they saw it.  We stopped in Seaside, parked the car and they all started running to the ocean. 

Except these two, who got distracted by some big holes someone left behind...

Finally we all made it to the ocean, and general mayhem and happy screams and all kinds of smiles ensued.

The water was chilly, but Gabe didn't care.  He LIVES for the water.

We spent a couple hours at the beach in Seaside, having to promise them there would be plenty more sand and sea at the rental house.  

We made it to the house in Pacific City and, wow, talk about a great beach view!  We were right on the sand, with huge sand dunes right out the door and a gorgeous view of Haystack rock.  It was heaven!  The sound of the ocean always amazes me, it's scope and size always a wonder.

Gabe's favorite thing to do?  RUN!!!!!  This boy felt the freedom of an endless beach and took full advantage!  It was beautiful to watch.  No more orphanage walls for this boy.  

The boys loved this steep dune, pretending to be unable to climb up.  Gabe would lay down and stretch out his hand yelling "help!" to Jake, who would dramatically stretch out his own hand and lift him up.  It's always drama with these two!

We spent a lot of time right on our own beach.  So much fun.

 A favorite game was to chase the waves.....and then get chased by the waves!

 My parents :-)

One of the days we drove down to Newport to the Aquarium there.  It was so much fun to see sharks and sting rays and all kinds of sea creatures.  The kids loved it, too!

I love this photo so much.  This boy has such wonder for the world around him.  

That's one tired little sea otter :-)

Don't know where she gets her silliness from?? :-)

Another day we headed just about a mile north to a beautiful area that had a lot of tide pools and neat rock features.  

The boys found this little "cave" that protected them from the chilly wind.

Another of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Despite my protests because of the cool wind, he couldn't resist dipping his feet.  

The trip was so great, the kids ask when we are going back.  I hope very soon!

Brian and my sister were brave and tried out some boogie boarding!  Kennedy did it too!  She borrowed my sister's wet suit.  She did great, until she got a mouthful of sea water.

Leah wasn't interested in a family photo, so this is as good as it got! This was the morning we left for home, so we were all exhausted in the best way :-)