Long Beach

Over the Labor Day weekend my parents got to come visit us since we were doing McCall's baby blessing. I knew a couple of months ago and so I decided that it would be really fun especially for our girls to go on a trip with both of their grandparents. We all went in on an Airbnb and got to go to Long Beach, WA and we loved every minute of it. As I have looked back at these pictures, I so want to go back to the beach. It truly is our family's happy place and we loved every minute of our beach time and our time with family. 

Dale and Margaret drove on their own and we picked up my parents from the airport and our first stop on our way to the ocean was at Cathlamet-Westport Ferry. It is a small 6 car ferry that takes you across the Columbia River. Margaret had suggested it and I'm so glad that she did. We got to the ferry a little early and had our lunch while we waited. It was such a fun little ride across the river and the views were gorgeous.

Sleepy girl for the next part of the ride- they way she was sleeping did not look comfortable at all. :)

Then we met up with Nona and Pops at Fort Stevens. We were going to explore more there but we ended up just going to this old shipwreck site and enjoyed our first dip in the ocean for the trip.

It was pretty cool to climb on and explore. We got there as the tide was coming in so we explored first and then just played in the water for awhile before heading on to our next stop.

My girls are pretty lucky to have such amazing grandparents and even luckier to get to go on a trip with all of them!

The girls love the ocean and the beach SO much and they had fun running away from the waves with Grandma.

Then we made our way back to Astoria to go see the Astoria Column. As I was driving through Astoria though it makes me want to go back and spend more time there. There were quite a few things that would have been fun to stop at and explore. 

Nona stayed in the car and held McCall while the rest of us made our way up. Nate made it up about 15 stairs and then his fear of heights kicked in and he backed out. I held Baylor's hand and would have little rests at the landings. It is ALOT of stairs that go around and around all the way up. My legs were sore for the rest of the trip. I did end up going up twice. We enjoyed the view for a bit at the top and then Baylor was ready to go down. Once I got to the bottom, there was an airplane that they were selling on top of the garbage can so I made my way back up to see if Paige wanted to throw it from the top. She was already almost down and didn't want to go back so I went up with my Dad and I threw it from the top. It was pretty fun to watch and the views from the top are INCREDIBLE!

Then we made our way across this long bridge to go back across the Columbia River back into Washington.

We checked into our house for the next few days which was amazing. I made a spaghetti dinner and then we spent the rest of the evening out on the beach to enjoy the sunset. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. Baylor insisted on wearing her swimming suit and all the rest of us bundled up with our jackets. I LOVE watching my girls play in the waves and seeing such joy in their faces. The ocean is so incredible. It makes you feel so small yet so alive. It soothes my soul with the consistent sound of the waves, the views of endless water, and the feel of the soft sand washing away from under your feet. Being at the ocean is something that I absolutely love and I have this strong desire to go there more often. 

I LOVE all these sunset pictures on the beach!

The view was just endless and I loved being out there with my family and that we get to have this cherished memory together.

Baylor lasted WAY longer than I thought she would. She was freezing cold by this time but it was sweet to watch her two grandpas bundle her up in a towel and get her all dried off and comfy to watch the rest of the sunset.

Then we made the trek back to the house for the night. Pictures really don't do justice.

Nate and I got the all the girls to bed and then just the two of us went back out after it was dark and went to see the water. It was pretty dark and I'm glad we had Nate's cellphone for the light. It was so dark that you really couldn't see too much of the water but the view of the stars and the moon were worth it and we could also see the light from one of the lighthouses. 

The next morning, we had breakfast at the house and then we spent our day at Cape Disappointment State Park. We first hiked up to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

On the way there is Dead Man's Cove which was pretty cool to explore and had lots of drift wood.

The girls found a little stop to rest on our hike up.

And they both were happy and excited to find some caterpillar friends that they carried all the way back down.

Made it to the lighthouse and the incredible views.

Then on the way back we walked through some of the old buildings that were used during the war.

We then stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center for a little bit.

We then made our way to Waikiki Beach where we had our lunch.

Then another one of my favorite parts of the entire trip- The afternoon spent relaxing on the beach. The girls had fun digging and playing in the sand, playing along the driftwood, and of course playing in the water. 

I love seeing their joy and smiles in truly simple things.

It was very relaxing and I even laid down on a blanket with McCall for a little bit. It was so nice just to sit and listen to the waves, watch the girls play, and watch the surfers.

You could see the lighthouse that we were just at which was pretty cool.

This pretend surfboard brought entertainment to the girls for quite some time. 

Baylor was so proud of herself when she would do it and would want everyone to watch her and then she would giver herself a big clap and an exclamation of "I did it!" with a big grin.

Paige created this face in the sand and used seaweed for her hair.

McCall woke up from her nap so she got her chance to put her feet in the ocean for the first time.

I love this picture- I took a good picture with my Mom's phone and I was in the way of Nate with the camera. A sneaker wave came up and got my dad's shoes all wet and I love this picture because it is everyone's reaction and the laughter. Sorry Dad but maybe your shoes should have been off.. :)

Then we made the short walk to see the North Head Lighthouse.

Then we spent the evening exploring Long Beach and some of the fun and simple tourist sites they have. Dale and Margaret did their own thing and some of our plans changed for dinner but it turned out great. 

The world's largest frying pan and a giant clam that shoots out water every hour.

The world's largest chopsticks.

And we took our time to walk through Marsh's Free Museum which has all sorts of odd and unique curiosities (the alligator man named Jake) and lots of the shells to look through which the girls loved.

We were going to go to a diner for dinner with everyone but they closed early and so we found a pizza place next to the museum that was a bit expensive but the pizza was very good and we got some garlic breadsticks to share that were SO good. We then just walked the streets and stopped wherever we thought would be fun to see.

Nate, Dale, and I walked out to the beach in the evening once everyone was home. It was a cloudy day so you couldn't see the sunset but it was nice to just again listen to the waves and enjoy the beach. 

We had breakfast, rode the bikes that the house had, played some air hockey, and cleaned up before checking out the next morning. 

Dale and Margaret took off from the house to go on some of their own adventures and we spent a little more time in Long Beach and had to get one more beach walk in before heading back home. 

We first stopped to walk on the boardwalk along the water.

A momma whale and her baby and this momma with all her babies- I sure love my sweet girls. I'm SO grateful that I get to be their mom!!!

Our last little hurrah at the beach. The girls had lots of fun in the water one last time until Baylor was having fun walking backwards in the water and after multiple times being told to be careful and that she was going to fall over, she fell right in the water and got soaking wet. Lots of tears so from her so Baylor and I walked back to a log and I got her calmed down and we played in the sand while everyone else stayed by the water.

Goodbye ocean... until next time.

Our last stop in Long Beach was to go to the kite museum. They have kites from all over the world and each one of them has been flown at least once. Some of them are huge which would have been incredible to see flying in the sky.

We then started our way back home and made one last stop in Olympia to see the State Capitol. The craftsmanship of the building is so amazing and it was fun to look and see all the details.

It was such an amazing trip! I'm ready to go back!