GOING ON A PUFFIN HUNT

Our last morning at the beach was a bit hectic with a quick run to grab the 6th car parked off-site at the casino (only 5 cars were allowed in the rental house driveway), cleaning the house, and packing cars. I missed saying goodbye to Jamie, Tyson, and Ally because they left really early and I unexpectedly slept in, but we got hugs from everyone else before they loaded into their vehicles for their respective long drives home.

The kids were so adorable snuggling together (they shared a bed 3 out of the 4 nights we were at the beach house) that I couldn't resist a few photos before waking them up.

Our first stop en route to Portland was Pacific City, where we took in their gorgeous beach view (in the rain...), then headed into the Pelican Pub and Brewery for brunch and beer.

So, I wouldn't normally think "beer" when I think "brunch" (mimosa, sure), but it was almost 11:00am anyway and we were, of course, interested in sampling their award-winning brews. We decided that ordering the Scottish Style Ale Pancakes (with hazelnut butter and blackberry syrup) would be a good pairing. And we were right.

Of COURSE we ordered a side of bacon!

As we traveled north on the VERY slow and winding highway 101, we checked our BirdsEye app to find out where the latest sightings of puffins had been. Turns out Canon Beach, our goal destination, was where we needed to go. Unfortunately finding parking near the famous beach where portions of Goonies was filmed was extremely difficult, but after a bit of frustrated turn-arounds and loops, a pair of birders appeared at the top of the stairs, gave us their parking spot, and told us exactly where we needed to look on haystack rock to see the pair of puffins. Cha-ching!

It was colder and more rainy here than anywhere else we'd been. The kids were NOT impressed. So, being the awesome parents that we are, we tucked them into a wind break under the lifeguard stand and told them to sit tight for 5 minutes while mommy and daddy ran out to the rocks to sight the birds and grab some photos. We are lucky to have such patient kids...

Getting my pair of Tufted Puffins. And a pair of Harlequin Ducks. And some Surf Scoters. Not bad for 5 minutes of work (and 3 hours of driving - it's cool though, at least the kids got their first solid 2-hour nap of vacation).

BOWLING AND MORE BEACH

On our last full day at the beach house we took family portraits, then went out for ice cream (which we used as bribery to get our kids to look at the camera and smile...), and then took Eli and Addy bowling for the first time.

After the portrait session, climbing the pelican statue out front of the beach house

My GIANT ice crream from ColdStone, demonstrating the fact that it was indeed bigger than Cora's head. I did not finish it, though James and I gave it a valiant effort!

Cora fell asleep in the car on the way to the bowling alley, so we rolled with it

She woke up 3 rounds in and was super happy to join in the fun once she noticed her cool shoes

PawPaw/Bampa helped the kiddos with every round. Such patience...

We had fun introducing our niece and nephew to root beer (their first soda ever). They approved!
(We let James and Cora have root beer on pizza Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays too. Sugar is fun!)

The kids' final scores. For the record, they all beat me...

James somehow scored himself a free pinball game

Back at the beach house, coloring in the new Do-A-Dot books that Grambot gave them.

Spinning around on the Spiderman toy that Robyn and Stephen brought to the beach

Ally helped her mama make some of the best dip we've ever tasted, recipe below. Jamie says it also goes well over chicken or fish, or even just served over rice. We thought it was amazing with tortilla chips!

Last kid standing with the coloring books. Our girl really loves seat work.

Addy snacked on shredded cheese while her parents made delicious tacos for everyone for dinner!

Then it was back to the beach for one last wave-chasing adventure

This piece of seaweed (kelp?) was covered in live worm-like things that were moving in and out of their shells. It was totally disgusting. And the kids, of course, were fascinated by it...

Tyson, Cora, and James in one last pose at the gorgeous beach at Roads End

Back to coloring, with her cousin Addy

Doing the marshmallow dance (she really did eat horribly throughout vacation...)

Our family reunion, with 19 of us under one roof, was pretty darn awesome. We got to spend time with my cousins, who I hadn't seen in 5.5 years, meet little Ally, and do some fun activities (despite the crummy weather). Wonder where we'll go next time...

BEACH, BREWS, BBQ, AND BABES IN THE HOT TUB

Good morning! (Somebody was jealous of "Bampa" sharing his attention with her older cousin when she came back from the tidepools...)

Seriously, just look at the love she has for him. Absolutely precious.

After a delicious breakfast (Margie made Greek scrambled eggs and linguica sausage) we went down to the beach, and Jay brought his new insulated growler along (filled with fresh brew from Monday's lunch at Rogue) with some red Solo cups. Have I mentioned the eye-patch yet? Likely, a piece of sand got stuck behind his contact during our first beach trip on Sunday and scratched his cornea. By Monday evening, after our adventure down in Newport, he was in so much pain he couldn't open it, so he went to see an ophthalmologist Tuesday morning. Turns out the scratch had already started healing itself, causing an ulcer. He had to wear the patch for at least 24 hours while also using antibiotic and steroid drops. The kids all thought it was cool (and occasionally creepy) that he looked like a pirate though, so it wasn't all bad.

It rained the ENTIRE TIME we were at the Oregon coast (well, off and on, but it was off and on all day and night). While we didn't let that deter us from playing at the beach, it did result in shorter visits and less enthusiastic sand play (the kids stayed warmer when running from waves or climbing the rocky stream).

Ally is smack dab in the separation anxiety phase (almost 1-year-old!), wanting only her mama, though she did let her Auntie Vicki hold her quite a bit (and the rest of us ladies wrestled a few minutes with her here and there, until her Velociraptor shriek kicked up a notch and caused her mama to come running back)

Some folks were smart enough to stay out of the rain...

I think Grambot loved holding a sleeping infant just a little bit...

Cousins Addy and Eli with their pretty mama, Auntie Taryn

Cora latched onto her Uncle Davey quite a bit on this trip, but I'm pretty sure he didn't mind...

Auntie Jamie with her daredevil little man Tyson (almost 4-years-old) and James, while Ally napped

Cousin Barry definitely had the coolest toys (even I was jealous of this one...)

Dad reluctantly shared the donuts with the kids...

Auntie Taryn wrote all the little ones' names in the sand while Cora supervised

I loved Addy's hairdo and her little sandy toes

Rocket launcher!

The view from the stream

Exploring the stream

Throwing stones

And skipping stones

Cousin Barry catching some big air over a wave!

 

After the beach, the kids bathed and warmed up, and spent the rest of the evening eating candy and watching movies. Sometimes you just have to let vacation do it's thing...

Didn't realize they were playing with Uncle Daryl's phone... I thought Tyson had a DS or iPod touch or something similar. My bad.

Yum, candy necklaces!

Candy and the resulting sugar crash (and perhaps ear infection issues) caused Cora to meltdown. Badly. Grambot finally calmed her with a new book, but she promptly fell asleep. Before dinner.

It was our night to cook dinner, so we purchased some local fresh-caught fish (and some chicken) and fired up the grill. I even convinced a few family members to not only try brussel sprouts, but that they are awesomely good when cooked up the way Robyn taught me to back when James was an itty-bitty newborn and she came to visit and take care of us for a week while Jay was away on a work trip.

The view from the upper deck of the beach house was pretty spectacular. Probably even more amazing when it's not raining 24/7...

The deck chairs were good for spinning themselves sick...

After dinner, the ladies headed out for a mamas' night out. To a local brew pub. That closed at 10pm (and we didn't get there until 9:45pm, due to needing to get children to bed that were obviously on vacation-time and didn't care a whit about normal bedtimes...) I made Jay proud and ordered the sampler, then we called my dad to come get us so we could end the evening drinking champagne in the hot tub. Pretty darn good girls' night if you ask me!

Taryn, Vicki, Jamie, and my hand - cheers to us!