Oregon trip!!

A few weeks ago we loaded up in our new motor home and drove 15 or more hours to Waldport, Oregon for a family vacation. We have never been there before and didn't realize how beautiful it would be!! We broke the drive up into 2 days, which made it much more manageable, and the motor home made it all the more better.  :)  We drove the first day to Sisters Oregon and camped over night at their city park.  It was really really nice and we would camp there again if it didn't take 12 hours to get there.  We walked into town and at dinner at a little pizza place.  The kids were all so tired and so dinner was rough.  We managed to get away with only a little damage.  Oaklie broke one of those glass Parmesan cheese shaker things.  That night was a little rough trying to sleep where we had been driving all day, at least it was for me and Crew.  Everyone else slept like champs.  The next day we drove into Corvalis to pick up our rental car for the week, then it was on to Waldport!  The house the we rented was right off the beach and had gorgeous views, of which I don't know if I got any pictures.  The house it's self was dirty, which was kinda sad considering it wasn't cheap to rent.  But, that didn't ruin the fun that we had!  There were 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Two bedrooms on the main floor for us and my parents and then a large room with 4 twin beds up in the attic for the kids.  They loved that!  Although it took us almost the full week to figure out why it was so blasted hot up there!  Crew apparently played with the knob on the heater....cranked it all the way up!  Too smart for his own good. Jason and his family (as well as his in-laws) stayed just down the road a ways in another house.  The kids had a great time with their cousins, especially Berklie and Hannah who are the same age.  They LOVED being together and were really sad when we had to leave.  The boys did great together as well and enjoyed being together. It was such a nice trip.  We drove up to Tillamock one day and went through the cheese factory and had delish ice cream at the end.  I didn't know they made ice cream and it was so divine. The boys went on a fishing trip one of the days and caught 30 something fish and 25 crabs!  We still have the fish in our freezer, they have been so tasty.  We had the crab cooked because none of us had the pots or other things to cook that many crabs.  They were soooo good too!  We found a little crab shack in Newport that we ate at a couple times too.  Just really yummy fresh fish/crab.  One morning we took the kids to the Rangers Station to listen to the Ranger talk about clamming, fishing and catching crab.  At the end of his lesson, he let the kids put on rubber boots and took them down to the water (it was low tide) and showed them how to clam. They loved that because it was almost instantly rewarding!  

The motor home (that needs a name still) that took us to Oregon! 

 One of the yummy dinners at the Crab Shack place in Newport.  Yum!!

 I found this picture on Mat's phone, that's just scary.  I wouldn't have taken it...which is probably why Mat did.  :) We found these tacky little shops on our way home from the aquarium one day and this was in one of them.  I say tacky because they were ALL full of junk.  Really.  It was a little funny.

 Even though it was a little chilly for swim suits, (high 60's, low 70's) this girl LIVED in her suit while we were here.  She didn't brave the water, except just to get her feet wet for the most part, but she loved the sand...can ya tell?

 Crew also loved the sand and every time I got the camera out he would lay down and say "eese".  So, I have a lot of shots like this because I couldn't get enough of it!

 Cute Berklie who also loved the sand.  We were so lucky to have such gorgeous weather while we were here.  It rained once, and it was in the middle of the night!

 My parents and Carter doing a sand dance.  Lol.  Our house is in the background....the second to the last one on the right.

 The last night before we all left, we went over to a place called Devil's Churn.  It was so AMAZING!  The water and waves crashing into the rocks. It was so powerful and beautiful.  We went right before sunset and it was just gorgeous.  I took these photos with my phone, so they don't do it justice.

Oaklie was brave and wanted to go close to the water with me.  It was a little scary carrying her down the rocks to see the water. 

 Berklie and Crew after our hike to Devils Churn.

 Grandpa and Crew hanging out on the couch.  We did a lot of relaxing, it was so nice!

 The view from our house.

 Grammie and Crew taking in the view from the deck.

 The kids at the Aquarium.  Carter, Hannah, Oaklie, Ryan and Austin.

 Oaklie kissing the jelly fish.

 Berklie and Oaklie touching some of the sea life.

 The kids in a Hurricane Simulator...it blew winds up to 80mph..it was pretty funny watching the kids hair and clothes blow around.

 Berklie letting the shrimp eat the dirt off of her hand.

(I feel like I am missing some pictures, but for now this is all I will post!  Stay tuned for first day of school pictures!  Coming soon, I promise.)
We had such a great time in Oregon and I want to go again.  Mat isn't dying to go again because of the drive.  But, we shall see!