The Beach House and Such

The Oregon Coast is so beautiful, if you've been there, you know. We were lucky enough to stay all together (6 families, 12 Adults, 18 children, plus 2 in utero) at a big beach house right on the water front. It was constant fun and nonstop playing for the 18 cousins.

                    (Kennedy with her cousin Morgan, Tripp and Brayden in the back ground)

                                                                             
It was nice because we could sit up at the house and watch various family members flying kites, searching for treasures, playing in the sand and generally making good use of the beach. Aly never failed to total whatever outfit she was wearing about 2 minutes down there. Impressive. When the kids got too cold they could come up to the house and warm up in the indoor pool and hot tub which was well used over the week for sure.
My niece Emilee with a starfish she found on our beach- definitely a cool find.
Maddie and Aly below- Maddie (and all the older cousins) were so good with all the younger kids. I walked by a room one day to see Maddie patiently sitting on the floor while the two 3 year olds, Aly and Lyssa each had a brush in her hair that they were yanking around. Aly looks up and sees me and shouts excitedly, "WE'RE BABYSITTING!!" Maddie, you were such a good sport!
Norm (my FIL) working a trick kite, they were getting pretty good with those things!
The tidal pools we went to were super cool. The water had carved out these rocks and there were thousands of little pools where little creatures are caught and submitted to our exploring until the tide comes in again and relieves them. If you've never done this before, I personally think you should put it on your list of things to do in your life. It's so much fun.


Kennedy touching a sea anemone for the first time. She was nervous at first but eventually left no anemone unbothered :)

This was one of many hermit crabs the boys found. This specific one was Kohen's, according to him. He was convinced he needed to keep the crab and it took us A LOT of coercing to get him to leave the crab when we left the tidal pools. 

One afternoon we all went on a hike to see this cool suspension bridge. It was a fun hike that most the children were able to handle without too much trouble (though on the way back up Kohen did tell me at one point, "I can only take one more step!" which I thought was cute cuz don't you usually say, 'I cannot take one more step!'?). The bridge was the coolest foot bridge I've ever been on- though my experience in the matter is limited, I'm pretty sure the general concensus was it was a unique and cool bridge.

Below is one of the grossest things, um, ever, I'm pretty sure. My nephew Caleb found and befriended this giant banana slug. G-R-O-S-S! But he (and every cousin he showed) was in slug heaven. Carried the thing all the way back up the trail where he located another slug to leave this one with. Who knew the slime that the slug secreted all over Caleb's arm and hands that looks like the consistency of hair gel is actually more like rubber cement and does not just wash off. You gotta love boys.

Fires for s'mores before bed was a favorite activity of Kenna, Kohen and Aly. As you can see from the pic below and the cluster of children, it was a hit all around. 

Every night- and even some days- my kids had played so hard that they were just completely wiped out. We went in one night to find Kohen asleep with one foot on the floor almost as if he is about to take off, lol. Doesn't look that relaxing to me but he was in fact sound asleep. 
It was a wonderful trip and we are so grateful we were able to go and spend time with our family making such fun memories. Oregon coast- if you've never been, put it on your list.