Oregon Coast 2012

It's one of the most anticipated weeks of the year- the beach! As the week drew closer, our kids prayed daily, "We're thankful we can go to the beach," and asked what day we were leaving multiple times a day. We really love the beach.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to switch houses and locations at the last minute and ended up in a new city this year- Rockaway Beach, OR. Another first- our beach house was 2 houses this year- a duplex, with one house right on top of the other (exact same layouts to both houses). With 22 of us, it is getting harder to find one house that will hold all of us without breaking the bank.

We arrived in Roackaway Beach on Saturday, August 18. After unloading our stuff into the bottom house, we went down to the beach. The house had beach access- just a short 2 minute walk. The beach was practically in our back yard.

It was chilly and overcast, but that didn't stop the kids rom getting in the water a little bit. My kids hardly feel the cold at the beach. I certainly do, but it's as if they temporarily become HOT blooded for one week.

We had a gorgeous view of "Twin Rocks."

Looking up some history on them, I found out that years ago these rocks used to form a single structure. The pinnacle is 88 feet high and the hole is 35 feet across. The gap between the rocks is big enough to fly a helicopter through. They say if you look closely, you can see a sea dragon, Indian, princess or Lochness monster. All week, I thought it looked like Lochness monster.

Being at the beach is pure happiness for our kids.

Usually it's just the adults who body board, but this year Chloe decided to give it a try. I have to be honest- she was awesome at it!

And she loved it!

The twins loved to wave jump with the help of Ben and I.

Chloe and Stella body boarded for hours together.

My favorite part of the beach- sitting and relaxing!

Leah got her favorite color for a bucket this year- orange! A girl after my own heart.

Ben and Uncle Dave buried a bunch of kids in the sand one day.

Chloe the mermaid!

I could have watched these little girls play in the sand forever. To be young again! I love the simple pleasures of life.

I wish I looked this adorable in a swim suit. :)

They'd run up to the water's edge...

And run away giggling and screaming as the waves came after them!

Later, they got "buried" too.

We brought up our left over plums we had picked the week before and little Henry, single handedly, tried to eat them all before they went bad. He must have eaten a few dozen plums in a few days. It was hilarious.

Meal time with 11 kids- we always made them eat dinner outside.

Yummy!

When we weren't at the beach, the kids' favorite thing was the iPad.

It was cute to see them sharing.

Ben and I love Taylor Swift (it's ok to admit that you do too). We listen to her a lot and as a result, our kids have become big fans of her too. Right before the beach, we downloaded her new song "We are Never Ever Getting Back Together." Mitch immediately declared it his favorite song (it is catchy) and I found him one day listening to this song on the iPad alone. I later over heard him telling one of his cousins, while listening to the song again, "This is my favorite song."

We spent one morning at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Doesn't it look like Lexi is mooing in this picture?? What else would you do around a cow? :)

We were all fascinated by the factory and watching the workers prep and package the cheese.

If you haven't tried Tillamook Cheese, it's time you do.

While their cheese is top notch, I pledge my allegiance to their ice cream. Hands down the best ice cream I have ever consumed (and trust me- I've eaten a LOT of ice cream).

To celebrate my love of Tillamook ice cream (a.k.a. creamy spoonfuls of frozen heaven), I found the perfect T-shirt at the factory- it lists all of the flavors of ice cream made by Tillamook. It had my name all over it (well, actually the names of all of my favorite ice cream flavors, but you know what I mean).

Before leaving we had to try the free samples of cheese.

I eventually had to grab the twins and keep them moving. They would have indulged all day.

Look at her go! She caught wave, after wave, after wave. No fear, this girl of mine.

I'm not a huge water person, but with the gorgeous, sunny weather we had, I couldn't pass up riding some waves on two different days. It was so nice this day that I didn't even bother with my wet suit. Chloe happily joined me.

Ben organized a long jumping contest for the big boys.

Better luck in high school- I don't think 3 inches will win any awards.

Uncle Dave is Mr. Shovel Man. He always brings a shovel and digs holes on the beach every day for the kids. They all love it. They use it as a swimming pool, sand pit or cave. It's hours of fun.

Nana did her annual Family Home Evening. This year she talked about gratitude and the importance of expressing our gratitude in all things.

The kids each took a turn saying something they were thankful for while putting a scoop of water in a bowl.

Chloe and Stella helped read the story of The Tep Lepers out of the Bible.

After the lesson they all made little Crab Hats.

And they were cute!

Traditional Bon Fire on the beach.

Hot dogs always taste better with a little sand... :)

While at the beach on August 22nd (on the night of the bon fire), Ben and I celebrated our 9th anniversary.

It really can't get more romantic than hot dogs and smelling smokey on your anniversary, but we didn't care.

I sure love this guy. He can always make me laugh and is one of the happiest people I know. Eternity should be a riot with him by my side.

Rides on the boogie boards are a must at the beach.

It's so fun that the kids are getting bigger- they can now pull each other!

Names in the sand- another tradition.

Chloe loved writing her own name.

Christmas Card Photo?? "Hope you have a swimmingly wonderful Christmas and a Sand-tastic New Year."

After back surgery this past January, this is a big accomplishment for Ben! (No emphasis on the big... this isn't my best side).

We had sun all week long, but the last few days were windy which made it FREEZING. I loved snuggling up with my two little Cindy-Lou-Who's.

Our houses were right by an active, running train track. The kids ran to the door every time they heard the train coming. Above, they are all checking to see if the pennies that had put on the track had been smashed. (Being right by the train tracks was a little scary for us parents).

Ben's brother Marcus and his gorgeous fiance Rhiannon. What a cute couple!

Playing with baby Preston

Another highlight of our week was going crabbing. Years ago, the adults used to go, then it morphed into the adults taking the older kids. This year, for the first time, we all went as families. Of the 8 times I've been to the beach since being married, I have never went crabbing.

There's a first time for everything, right?

My cute little crabbers!

Each family got their own boat. Leah and Lexi were first timers as well.

Ben was our crab guy- he lifted the rings out of the water and helped the kids sort through the crabs to find the ones we could keep.

We caught lots and lots of crab, but only found 3 we could keep.

Chloe loved helping measure them. You can only keep BIG male crabs. Too bad we caught lots of small females.

Success! After lots of trying, we finally found a keeper.

I was our fearless driver. I've never driven a boat, let alone a boat with no steering wheel. It was no walk in the park and my arm was very sore, but it was either drive or play with crabs.

Lexi got brave and touched one!

When we were done, Uncle KC and Ben cleaned and cooked our little creatures. Crabbing was fun, but I don't eat much seafood, especially crabs.

Later that night, after the kids were in bed, I found this little note that Chloe had written about our activity that day.

Uncle Marcus with the twins in the "pool."

The body boarding Mom/Daughter teams.

We had a wonderful beach trip full of sand, sun and surf. We love sharing our beach experience with Ben's family. Until next year...