#atnanasbeach should really also be #atthewindershouse, #atbenshouse, #withwillandmelissa and #onthemountainwithgrandmaandgrandpabrown! When in Oregon...! So many of our favorite friends and family live in the beautiful green state just north of us - it was such at treat to get to see so many amazing people in one visit!
^^ We left Sacramento on Saturday evening. Stephen had to carry the pager until 5 and we were just north of downtown when the clock switched - thankfully he hadn't gotten called in! We stayed in Medford that night and drove the rest of the way to Corvallis on Sunday morning. We spent a long afternoon in the company of the Winders and it was every bit as great as it always is. They got to meet Judah for the first time and my best friend from college was able to come down from Portland to visit with her daughter. (I love the picture of her giving Judah a kiss! She has loved him on Facetime from afar and her love only multiplied meeting him in real life!) Every time I see Trevor and Carson I gawk at how tall they are...! Trevor has officially surpassed me in height and Carson isn't far behind. I think they will always be the 3 and 5 year little boys from my wedding to me ;) They are so sweet and patient with our kids and it means the world to me that mine will have childhood memories with them playing Legos, wrestling and jumping on the trampoline. ^^
^^ From there we went to Salem to have dinner with Ben, Bri and their son Mason, whom I've never had the chance to meet! We were thankful for the chance to catch up, introduce the kids and enjoy Bri's delicious cooking! Holding Ben's snakes might have been the kids' favorite part of our whole vacation! ^^
^^ And then, the beach! We wasted no time at all in getting down to the beach on Monday morning. The kids ran circles around us as we walked miles down on the sand, stopping at an old washed up tree for an hour of sand castle building, climbing, pretending and relaxing. Hands down the best part of this beach trip was watching the kids play together! They were loving it! ^
^^ The weather was just about perfect for our entire week stay, so while most of our time was spend in the sand, the rest of it was spend doing a lot of this... staring at cute babies! ^^
^^ Stephen made up his mind to rent a paddle board and wet suit and convinced Byron to do it with him! I think the sight of them coming back to the house with the board convinced my parents to go, too! They have been talking about paddling out to the rock since they bought the place seven years ago and they finally did it! My dad got a little sick from the waves (as I would have!) and headed back early, but Stephen talked my mom into continuing on and the three of them made it to the rock (and jumped off!) Ashley and the kids and I watched (and worried!) from shore. ^^
^^ Lucky us, Great Grandpa got to share in our beach week, too! My kids took to him right away, which is odd for my shy, reserved kids, and they haven't had a chance to get to know Grandpa always living so far away... But there's just something about him...! They wanted to include him in everything, show him everything and tell him everything! I don't think he was complaining ;) He had six kids of his own ages six and under, so he was reliving his past watching our crew bounce around the house and he had a smile on his face the entire time! ^^
^^ Sunsets with Nana and reading with Grandpa. With lots of eating, playing, adventuring, walking, snuggling and some more playing thrown in there, too ^^
^^ We made it to the top of the dune (again!) and played a pretty intense game of capture the flag on "the saddle". Ahh that was fun! My parents got out their drone and we played around with that for a bit, too - the kids loved it! ^^
^^ We left the house with just one baby as the sun was coming up and walked a couple miles down the beach. We found more sand dollars than I could hold and didn't have to get my bigs up and fed first thing in the morning - it was pretty great ;) ^^
^^ This, was Ezra's idea: "girl time!" As usual, she requested we go to the "cookie store", aka, Starbucks. Pacific City doesn't have a Starbucks but the she didn't seem to care so long as there were cookies involved! So the local coffee spot across the street from my parents' with a beach view was just fine ;) ^^
^^ He looks good with a baby in his arms, no? ^^
^^ Another gorgeous day spent almost entirely on the beach! We had a big brunch planned for this day (whatever day this was - this very well might all be out of order!) but couldn't pass up the sunshine outside! We set up camp and had a picnic lunch, explored the tide pools, built a sand castle and watched Stephen and Byron venture back out to and then around the rock! ^^
^^ Did I mention all the snuggling?! ^^
^^ Hot dogs, smores and corn hole by the fire ^^
^^ Ashley took off the day before us - that goodbye is never easy! How stinking cute are our SIX kids all together!? ^^
^^ Our final day was spent walking the beach, enjoying fish tacos for lunch, warm baths and an evening coloring session. ^^
^^ "Byyeeee beach! ^^
^^ We left Pacific City and headed for Salem. Our friends Will and Melissa were willing to drive south from Portland and meet us at a park (with coffee in hand!) to get to spend an hour or two with us. Melissa has always been Uriah's favorite (she's a Kindergarten teacher and has a way with kids!) but Will might have swooped in and stolen their hearts! They got to meet Judah for the first time and Will, a few months into his first year of medical school, got to pick Stephen's brain. Just so thankful for friends who are willing to make sacrifices to maintain that friendship and who love on our babies as their own! ^^
^^ We left Salem and made it to Roseburg to spend the day and night with Grandma and Grandpa Brown. They were also meeting Judah for the first time and it was so great to share all three of our kiddos with them. Their hospitality cannot be beat - you immediately feel at home and the kids loved exploring their property. I wish we could have stayed longer (as did they!) but we headed out on Sunday morning after they left for church. Headed for home! ^^
