Family Vacation 2013

We just returned from our family vacation at the Oregon Coast.  We rented a little house in Waldport, just south of Newport.

The kids loved the beach.  For Desmond, it was one giant sandbox.  For Molly, it was a huge open area for crawling and exploring.  Can't beat that.

My worst fear was that we'd spend 95% of our time preventing Molly from eating sand, but she actually wasn't interested in it.  The rocks and shells were another story, but it was much, much easier to keep those out of her mouth.

The house was a cute old 1960s house, complete with some awesome '60s touches: pop-out mixer stand and built-in flour and sugar bins.  Here's our first breakfast at the house.

The first morning we were visited by a little bunny who had stopped to snack on our grass.  The kids enjoyed watching it, and we even put out some veggie scraps for it, but they never got eaten.

The first morning we headed to the beach that was accessible from the house.  It was a misty morning, but the sun eventually popped through, making it a beautiful day.

FYI: Strollers don't work very well on sand. Lesson learned.

This was a very poor attempt at a 10-second-timed family photo.

Eating a rock, not sand.

I love the beach!

Later that day we went on a hike to see a 600-year-old spruce tree at the end of a mile-long path.  Unfortunately, the kids were tired, so we didn't make it all the way.  But we had a great hike!

The next day we headed to Newport!

Remember this pancake, because it comes up later. (You'll appreciate this pun if you keep reading.)

Said pancake was the size of Desmond's plate here.  Note the pancake is gone.

After hanging out in Newport for a while, we decided to head over to the aquarium.  At this point, the kids were exhausted because we'd decided to skip naptime this day.  There are no pictures of the aquarium, because we got there pretty late, and it ended in tragedy.  A few exhibits in, Desmond fell and hit his head pretty hard.  He kept saying it hurt, so we got him some ice and headed back to the house.  He closed his eyes the moment we put him in his carseat; he was exhausted, and his head hurt.  

About 5 miles down the road, he started whimpering, and when I looked back, he started vomiting.  He vomited all over himself, the car, his carseat, and when I went to get him out, me.  The entire contents of his stomach -- including the gigantic pancake above -- came out.  Now if you know anything about head injuries, you know that vomiting can be a sign of concussion, so we decided to spend the rest of that day in the ER getting him checked out.  It was not a fun way to end the day, but we felt a lot better getting Desmond a clean bill of health.  

While there are no pictures from the aquarium, there is this one from the ER.  Desmond is pants-less because his pants were covered in vomit and it was the only pair we had with us.

After a good night's rest, we were back at it!  On a recommendation from my friend, Jenn, we decided to check out Seal Rock.  Great recommendation, Jenn -- the tide pools were awesome.  You'll have to indulge me here.  I know this post is really photo-heavy and long already, but there were some beautiful things to photograph here, and I was really geeking out with my camera.

Joe's 'rainbow'

Tiny, tiny starfish

Beach picnic

Later that day we hit our beach one last time.  It was pretty overcast and windy, so we didn't stay long.  But the kids had a blast anyway.  Highlight: We buried Molly up to her middle, and she liked it.  :o)

I want to loosely dedicate this post to Aunt Andrea and Uncle Dave, who gave Desmond his beloved dump truck, which has appeared in many of these photos.  I wish this thing had come with an odometer so I could prove to you just how loved it is.  Desmond had to have it at each and every beach.  I don't know what we would have done if we'd left it at home.  Thanks, guys.

Wow, did you read all the way to the end of this post?  Good for you.  It was a doozie!