Vacation!

'Long about last spring, Eric said it was time for all of us to go to the beach again.  Our trip to Orcas Island was in August of 2010, and we were due.  Fortunately, not only is Eric a good prodder, he's also a great planner. He cruised the internet and found a number of houses for us to consider and we all got to vote!  We came up with a winner and reservations were made starting Sunday, August 11 at Rock A Way Beach.

As is usual, time passed and all of a sudden, it was time for packing!  We decided to leave on Saturday and just go as far as Portland so we wouldn't have to drive like crazy, be tired and grumpy once we got the beach, and then still have to go to the grocery store for items too difficult to bring with us.  It was an excellent plan! We enjoyed Multnomah Falls and walked the trails, with Eric and Cameron hiking clear to the top.  It was a great break and fortified us for the final drive into Portland where we had hotel reservations for the night. (Photo below shamelessly stolen from Ann.)

We had a very yummy breakfast at the hotel (I'm so glad hotels serve breakfasts as part of the stay now, and not just juice and a "Danish"), and hit the road for the coast. We stopped in Cannon Beach since we couldn't get into our house until four o'clock.  Let me just say that a Sunday afternoon in August is not an opportune time to tour Cannon Beach.  Wall.To.Wall.People.  We were thankful to leave.  

The drive down Highway 101 is spectacular.  The sun was out, the sky mostly clear, the water sparkled.  So beautiful!  And then, we were at our house!  Four levels with the living and kitchen areas on the top floor so we had wide views of the ocean.  We settled in and loved that it was about five seconds from the house to the sand.  The beach was very private--only a few people on it at any given time.  Here are a few beach photos and as you can tell from the photos, we had the most amazing weather!  Sunny--at the Oregon coast!

Daniel loved the water!

Note the empty beach!

We went for long walks every evening...

The great thing about having a house is having a kitchen and this house had a large and light one.  Here are the boys making biscuits as part of one night's dinner.

It takes a group to make biscuits!

Ooo, biscuit fingers!!

Another great amenity that came with the house was a hot tub on the lower deck.  Needless to say, it got used!

All good things must come to an end, however, and on Thursday we packed up and left our happy vacation home.  We spent Thursday afternoon at OMSI where the boys enjoyed experimenting with various things, Eric and Dan toured a real submarine docked in the Willamette River, Ann chased Daniel, and I was thrilled by a National Geographic photo exhibit.  We spent the night back in our same hotel and got up the next morning to breakfast and a visit to the Portland Zoo.

Here's the gang, queued up to buy tickets. (Interestingly enough, I qualified for "Senior" at OMSI, but not at the zoo! We won't mention Dan...).

 What a colorful group--kind of like a bunch of Skittles!

Sure do love this bunch!

On our way home we stopped by the Tri-Cities to visit niece Kirsten and see her new house.  We loved it! Beautiful home, lovely neighborhood.  We gave it our stamp of approval.  After the viewing, we drove to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a good long visit with her as we ate a yummy meal.

Cousins!  

And now, we are home, with wonderful memories.  ♥