Saturday ~ The Begining of Our Week

 In August we usually would be going on a second rafting trip, consuming a whole week of Brent's vacation time. However this year there were some...uh, complications and we did not go rafting.

This left us with an entire week of time off together as a family.

An entire week that was ours.

Ours to plan and do with what we will. Ours to create and plan.

 We had several ideas of what to do with this time; road trip to Cali or Nevada, beach houses, backpacking, sightseeing...

After a lot of planning and considerations we decided to stick around our house.

 ( I know sounds kind of lame...considering)

The boys were starting soccer and having games. There was so much around here that we still needed to explore!

We did however, decide to start our weekend off with a trip to the beach.

The first thing Saturday morning we headed up to Trout Creek Bible Camp to pick up Mitchel.

 Jordan and Mitchel had purchased some pretty nifty gadgets to master called kadomas.

We stopped by the Snack  Shack to get snow cones and root beer floats...

August played some intense games of carpet ball...

He would just chuck that ball across the table. I mean it would be in mid air for half of the distance of the table. Needless to say I was a little cautious of where I stood during this game.

Jordan and Mitchel got into a slam dunking contest.

Mitchel explained and showed us some of his many tricks. 

After some handshakes and hugs we said good bye to our cousin and headed to breakfast!

After we left the camp we went to a little restaurant called the Tippy Canoe. 

This is a place that we usually all stop and eat at after picking the boys up. Outside there are tables made of stone, with chairs made of stone. The rules state that the kids need to remain seated outside. This was hard for August to hear.

Once our tummies were full we had discussed going to hike around some water falls, but decided to just head straight to our destination...the Oregon Coast.

On the way out August had a short conversation with this guy!

He even hugged him goodbye.

August was so excited when he learned how to make a heart with his hands. 

I initially blamed frozen for this obsession of heart making. 

He usually demands I make the bottom half of the heart 

(like that scene in frozen when Ana does that).
Then he would get terribly upset if I didn't make it just right. 

So...Daddy and I told him he could make a heart all by himself!

Booking a hotel room on the coast fairly last minute was tough and outrageous. Most places wanted over $200 a night. We even looked at camping but the tent sites were $49 + taxes.

After all the lodging craziness we ended up booking a room in Tilamook. It was mid point between all the places we were going to check out. 

The boys love staying at hotels. I kind of do too!

 I especially love leaving and coming back to fresh towels and a made bed. Plus usually a hotel stands for vacation. A bed I can lay in until I want to get up. The kids are a captive audience to a few family oriented cable channels and whatever toys they brought themselves.

Ahhh...so nice.

We had already stayed at this one before so we knew what to expect. 

We decided a long time ago to only get hotels with swimming pools and free breakfasts.

This day, Saturday we stopped at Pacific City. 

The main beach was insanely packed.  

We drove around the parking lot a few times and could not find any spots to park...

It was insane how many people were there!

We drove North a little and found a very nice beach with not that many people and this is where we played the rest of the night!

The boys took their time and built this sand castle village. Brent helped build a moat around the whole thing...somehow we were there long enough for the tide to come in and wash it away...

Brayden watched in shock and excitement as the waves breached the sides of the moat....

The boys then turned their efforts to building mounds and standing on them so the current could take the ground from beneath their feet.

Trying to get a photo of us...and the wind. She wanted to be in the picture too apparently.

I love that all three of the boys are right at home on the coast. 

They love the water, the sand, the waves.

They embrace fully their child-ness. They kick and splash and laugh.

They become architects. 

There is something so special and moving watching your children play together like best friends.

Every little laugh just tickles your soul. You watch in amazement at these bonds that were their from the start, almost as instant as your love for your child. 

I find myself standing beaming when I watch the boys.

It was a great adventure to play at the beach.
We headed back to our hotel room and refreshed slightly.
We ended up eating dinner there at the hotel's restaurant.
 It was nice to be able to eat and then go to bed!

 See these sandy feet all over the car?

I love these little sandy toes.

He just had to have his toes painted like Mommy!
I guess that makes up for not having a daughter...yet.

This was a great way to kick off our week of family fun together!