Lincoln City

Memorial Day weekend we went on vacation and loved every second of it. Mike and Christy invited us to join them at an Airbnb in Lincoln City right near the ocean and it was a much needed break from life and my family's happy place is definitely the beach. It was such a fun few days with family and every time I am at the ocean I fall more in love with it.

I knew that traffic could be crazy on Memorial Day weekend so we decided to leave Thursday around lunch time to avoid heavy traffic times. It worked out great and we never dealt with any traffic issues going down to Oregon. We were going to stop at Fort Vancouver, but as we were driving down I found out that it closed at 4 so by the time we got there it wouldn't have been worth it. So we ended up stopping at a Goodwill and browsing for a little bit before going to Mike and Christy's house. It was great to visit with them. Baylor and Myla had lots of fun together and after dinner, Mike took Nate and Paige to an arcade place near their house and Paige LOVED it. They were there from 7 to 11 so it was a late night for them but both Nate and Paige thought it was the coolest place. I enjoyed visiting with Christy as we got the little girls to bed and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Friday we decided to slowly make our way down to Lincoln City and made stops along the way. Our first stop was at Tillamook Forest Center and the road to it had lots of curves and was a bit bumpy so Paige got a little car sick so we made a few stops along the way so she could get out of the car. Christy had suggested this stop and I'm glad she did. It was so much fun and you could totally spend an entire afternoon there. I would have gone on a few hikes there had, but we just enjoyed the visitor center which was excellent and really great for kids, walked down to the river, and climbed the fire tower.

The visitor center

We walked across this big bridge to get to the other side of the river and then explored and climbed on the big rocks to get down to the water.

Our last thing was climbing up the big fire tower. It was used to watch for forest fires and was pretty high up. Nate made it about 3/4 of the way up and then had enough and made his way down to the bottom with McCall to wait for us. It was quite the view!

We then made it to the city of Tillamook and got some lunch and then we went to the Tillamook Creamery to see how they made and process their cheese. It was fascinating to watch!

Our next stop was Pacific City and this beach was incredible. Pops had suggested this stop because of the big sand dune and I'm glad he did. It was such a pretty beach with some incredible views! It was foggy and overcast but still so amazing.

Paige and I walked up the sand dune together while Nate stayed back with Baylor and McCall. They did some beach combing while Paige and I did some serious climbing. It was pretty steep and both Paige and I's legs were burning by the time we got to the top but the view from the top was totally worth the burn!

Some dune jumping for Paige.

Baylor's find while on the beach with Dad.

We got back to this cutie chilling on a log (Nate was right out of the picture....she was safe:).

Then I stayed back with McCall and Nate, Paige, and Baylor went to do more beach exploring. They went up the dune a little bit and then went to where there was some bigger rocks to look at the tide pools.

McCall was in heaven on the beach. She is a little sand baby and loved climbing in the sand. She would sit and dig in the sand and attempt to eat some. (She only got a few mouthfuls of sand:) Then she would start crawling as fast as she could to the water. It was so cute to watch and she had sand everywhere!

We made it to Lincoln City around 5 pm and went to the store to get a few groceries for our stay and then made it to our new home for the next few days. It was perfect and just a short walk to the ocean. Nona and Pops also got to join us and Mike and Christy's family showed up as we were eating dinner. After everyone got fed, we all made our way to get our first view of the ocean. It is always magnificent and makes you feel so small, but it is also so calming and always make me feel so close to God.

These are the stairs we had to walk down and back up every time we wanted to go to the beach. 114 steps! By the end of our trip, my legs were very sore, but it was so worth it. Baylor decided she didn't want to go down the stairs and so her and Pops went back to the house while the rest of us went and enjoyed some time on the beach.

McCall LOVED running away from the waves with Dad! Her face!!!

Saturday, McCall was up pretty early because of her new environment so I was about to just go out on a walk with her when Nate also got up so Pops offered to keep McCall and Nate and I went on a early morning walk on the beach. 

After some breakfast, Mike, Nona, Paige, Myla, and I walked a couple of blocks and went to a Christmas store that was covered in ornaments. There were a couple of other novelty stores with rocks so of course the two girls wanted to go and explore those to.

We had some lunch when we got back and made sure we were back on the beach for low tide. We got to explore some tide pools. There so SO many little sea anemone. The rocks were covered in them. We got to see a couple of star fish, but I never was able to get a picture of them.

We spent the entire afternoon on the beach. Nate was a pure agate hunting heaven and Paige was right by him most of the time. Baylor and McCall were happy to play in the sand. I went back and forth between the two groups and enjoyed visiting and the incredible view. It was great to be with family that helped with the girls and just to be with them.

We had some time at the house before dinner and Nate and I went on a little bike ride. There were two big bikes, but one of them the chain was broken. Nate took this kid bike and it was so funny watching him and the seat was super hard. It was pretty entertaining and Nate didn't last long on it so we took some turns on the bigger bike.

Nona brought a craft for the three girls and the girls really kept each other entertained whenever we were at the house. There was a kid room upstairs with toys and games and the house really had everything we would ever need to make our stay amazing.

Paige brought some things to do with Myla and Baylor. Before dinner, she took the time and did each of there hair fancy and added some sparkle make up and did their nails. I think she got some inspiration from the princess night. This time she got to be the fairy godmother and had fun with it. Once they were done, she introduced each of them and Myla and Baylor walked very fancily down the stairs to show off how pretty they were.

Then we enjoyed the sunset on the beach which is one of my all time favorite things to do. I sat in a little knoll with McCall so we were blocked from the wind and it was pure heaven watching my girls enjoy the beach while the sun was setting. I was filled with such immense gratitude and love!

Sunday morning, McCall woke up bright and early around 6 am and so her and I enjoyed some quiet time in the morning while everyone else slept. By the time everyone else woke up and she had fallen asleep so I just held for and so did Paige for awhile so I could make some breakfast. It was pretty sweet since she doesn't sleep on me very often anymore.

Then our little family went to the Connie Hansen Garden Conservatory. It was beautiful and was the home of Connie where she made this beautiful garden. Since her passing they do events there and let people enjoy her beautiful work.

Baylor in her sunglasses!!! :)

We got back home for lunch before going back to the beach for low tide. Lots of agate hunting for Nate and Paige and I even found a few! More looking at tide pools, playing in the sand, and visiting. It was much more windy compared to other days but still sunny and nice.

Then after dinner we went to Taft beach which was just a short drive away. There was a land spit across the water where there were lots of sea lions that we could watch. The beach was also covered in driftwood which was so fun for the girls. We happened upon a spot where someone had left a fire that still had some hot embers so Nate built up a fire that we got to enjoy.

The three girls had fun building their own driftwood fort and stayed busy the entire time. We weren't there for too long but I loved it and could have stayed longer.

Their masterpiece!

We enjoyed the sunset from the top this evening. It was stunning and I even called my parents and they got to watch some of it. It was a beautiful way to end the day and a beautiful way to end our vacation.

Monday we left the house pretty early to avoid too much traffic that we knew would happen in the evening. Our plan worked out since we hardly had to stop. It was a long drive home and McCall fought off sleep for the last bit of it which isn't fun but we made it and loved every part of our trip to the beach. 

Nate and Paige's shell, rock, and mostly agate haul! Nate was in agate heaven!

Thanks so much to Mike and Christy for inviting us! There were so many moments that I will cherish and always remember. We always love our time at the ocean! We already can't wait to go again.