Ocean Shores

On our way home from Idaho we were going to do it in two days, but when we stopped at the hotel, there were no rooms available that had more than 1 bed and it was super expensive and so we ended up driving the whole 12 hours in one day. We promised Paige that the money we saved not getting a hotel, that we would go to the ocean and stay overnight before summer break ended. Last week I looked at some Airbnb's and found a pretty inexpensive one and decided to go with one that was available for two nights instead of just one and I'm so glad we did that so we had a full day just to explore and be there without traveling.

We left Sunday after lunch and our first stop was near Aberdeen to the International Mermaid Museum. I had read about it online and looked into and saw the it was pretty cheap to go to and thought it would be a unique little stop and fun for the girls. It was so much more than I expected in such a good way. The museum is connected with a winery and RV resort and the property is such a cool place to explore and see. I'm so glad we made this stop! (I realized when we got here that I had forgotten the camera. Thank goodness phones have cameras these days and Paige also brought her camera so we told her to be our photographer for the trip.)

The museum was small, but really unique and they had little scavenger hunts for the girls.

We were originally just going to the museum, but then we saw how cool the property was that was connected with it and we probably spent another hour just walking around and seeing everything.

We made it to Ocean Shores and made a quick dinner. Our Airbnb was okay. It was pretty dirty especially the floors, but we made the most of it and we were very grateful to have a place to stay that had comfortable beds, a hot shower, and a roof over our heads. After dinner, we went to the first beach access that we saw and it was a beautiful evening walking on the sandy beach. We didn't get a sunset since it was cloudy, but it was wonderful.

My girls were in beach heaven! Baylor and Paige had so much fun running away from the waves and McCall loved crawling around in the sand.

We all slept pretty good. McCall only woke up once which was good since she was sharing a room with us and Paige and Baylor shared a king size bed. We had some breakfast before going to check out the North Jetty.

This beach was our favorite! We first walked on top of the jetty first. It was huge rocks and Baylor loved doing "rock climbing". Paige and Baylor did so good at working together and finding the best route across.

Then we headed down off the rocks once we spotted a few starfish and wanted to go see the tidepools. The tide was pretty low and when we got down we had the best surprise with getting to se SO MANY starfish!

I was in starfish heaven and loved it SO, SO much!

Once we got our fill of seeing starfish, poking sea anemone, and watching hermit crabs scamper around, we enjoyed the sandy beach. Paige and Baylor loved the waves and kept having to scoot their shorts up higher and higher since their legs were getting wet. It ended up getting pretty warm and the sun came out which was unexpected so I decided to strip McCall down to her diaper since she wanted to be in the water so bad just like her sisters. She was so cute to watch. She was so busy and didn't want to hold still. She loved the water and was covered in sand. The first time the water touched her belly, it shocked her a little but, after that she was happy to be in the water.

We went to Dollar General and got a few snacks and some frozen pizza for lunch. We got back to our house and McCall slept for a little bit while we waited for 30 minutes for the oven to preheat which it never did so we ended up going to McDonalds. Then it was back to the same beach we went to the night before. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! It was so sunny and was the perfect weather on the ocean. We brought our sand toys and Paige and Baylor wore their swimsuits. It was the best afternoon on the ocean!

We went back to the house and made dinner and then went to Sharky's which is a fun little souvenir store before going back to the North Jetty beach to enjoy a sunset on the beach.

We got a pretty small sunset because of the clouds but still gorgeous.

I love time with my sweet family, especially at the beach!

The next day was another beautiful day! We got so lucky with the weather. We got all checked out and then went to the beach one more time before heading home. We went to Ocean Shores for some beach time, and that is exactly what we did. It was so wonderful!

With the tide out, there were these warm pools of water and McCall was crawling all over in them and loved it.

The funny thing is we went back to the North Jetty again and there was not nearly as many starfish as the day before. We got to hold one this day though!

It was such an amazing little getaway. The beach is so soul soothing and I love seeing how happy the ocean and fun on the beach makes my family. Until next time!