Oregon Trip - Part 4

 On Thursday we went to the coast with everyone.  This was the day we were most looking forward to!  We made the drive there and started out at the tide pools and the light tower. The beach was covered in these beautiful smooth black rocks and the tide pools were colorful and pretty.  I struggled a bit because the rocks and ground were so uneven.  I'm sure I was a sight to see...a pregnant woman trying to balance and not step into the water or on the muscles (that were everywhere!).  I got a few comments like "Be careful!" and "You better keep that little one...or two safe!"  ha ha.  I've been getting a lot of comments about if I'm having twins lately.  Pretty funny.

Here we are with the light tower in the background.  Zac loved this beach because he liked sliding down the rock hill.  :)

The walk along the water to the lighthouse was really pretty.  We even spotted a whale that kept coming up and spouting for us.  It was the most amazing thing to see.  We were really lucky.  There was also a whale (or more than one...I don't know) hanging around by the tide pools and spouting a lot.  It was so cool to see.

See what I mean?  Pretty.

We got there and headed down the stairs to see what we could see.

Sadie and Zac mostly hung out with their cousins, so we don't have many pictures of them.  They had a lot of fun though.

Here is Rob helping the kids navigate the loose rocks.

Someone found this tiny crab.  Emery wanted a turn holding it...

She is so brave.  

Then we started exploring the tide pools.  We saw this HUGE sea star.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was big and bright orange.  We weren't able to touch the starfish though.  Apparently they are getting over some disease or something. 

Lots of anemones.

Emery found lots of cool shells and touched lots of anemones.  

I started to fall behind because of all the rock hopping and uneven ground.  

The kids loved it.  We weren't allowed to take anything from this beach unless we wanted to take some of the driftwood that was laying around.  ha ha.  I think Sadie and Zac both took some.  

After the tide pools we all went our separate ways for lunch.  We got some food and then met up with Luke, Taylor and William on the boardwalk.  There wasn't much action going on there, but it was fun to walk along the shops and we also spotted a sea lion swimming along.

This truck was being filled to the brim with shrimp.  It smelled lovely...NOT!

We hit up the candy shop and the kids each got a sucker.  

There were lots of cool murals painted on the sides of buildings.  Here is Emery with some fish.

Family picture with some boats in the background.

Finally it came time to hit up the beach.  We were so looking forward to this.  The only problem was that it was SO SO WINDY! Once we got up near the wet sand and the water, it was fine, but in the dry sand, our legs and faces were getting blasted with sand.  It was painful.  The kids were getting it in their eyes.  Ha ha. 

The kids all ran into the waves.  The water was really cold, but that didn't stop them from getting soaked.

The ocean is just so pretty.

Riley loved it...for a while.

PLaying in the water.

Riley and William ran in and out of the water with uncle Luke.  

Then they took a break to try to make a sand castle.  

It was pretty much downhill after that. ha ha.  They got cold and sandy and just wanted to sit wrapped up in a towel.  Thanks to Luke and Taylor for coming prepared and letting us use theirs!

 

We sat on this blanket with our backs to the wind.

Then Rob started burying people in sand.  He covered their faces to protect them from the wind blowing the sand.

I think there were 4 people buried.  

So sandy.  Fortunately, I brought them each a change of clothes for the car ride home.

I think the sand warmed them up.

We headed back to Ben and Lindsy's house and picked up some pizza for dinner on the way home.  The next morning we went blueberry picking.  As we were walking across the parking lot, a lady asked us if we were doing a field trip.  She was shocked when we said they were just cousins.  ha ha. 

I guess it is a pretty big group...

Cute girls picking blueberries.

Zac and Wyatt hung out the whole time.

There were so many blueberries and Wyatt said "there's hardly any blueberries here!"  ha ha.  I guess at the other patch they usually go to there are a lot more.  :)

Fresh blueberries are so delicious!

Cute kids hanging out in the shade.

All the cousins.  I wish we had taken a picture while William was still around.  

Then Rob took all of these individual pictures.

Emery found a chicken.

I can't remember how many pounds we picked, but our freezer is stocked for a few months now.  :)

Then the kids fed the goats.

Riley loved it!

After picking, we headed straight back to La Grande.  We stopped at the fish hatchery for a bit.  It was a fun little stop.

The fish were so big!

We saw some fish that looked as big as dolphins.  It was crazy.  And I loved all the hydrangeas.

Riley fell down and scraped her knees.  This is what she looked like in the car.  

We finally made it to grandma and grandpa's house and stayed in the hotel that night.  Then it was back to Utah in the morning.  

We were making such good time, and then about an hour and a half from home, we hit this traffic!  IT was like an hour delay.  So discouraging.  But we survived and made it home.  :)

Here is a random picture from Taylor.  So cute!

And this is from PDX Sliders. 

Zac kept asking me to make a video of him sliding down the rocks.  So here it is. 

We had such a great trip to Oregon.  We really should do it more often!