Vacation!!!

My sweet sixteen year old Hayley!

Arlie at the Blue Heron Cheese petting zoo!
I LOVE this picture of my kids!

And I LOVE this picture of my girls!

Harrison's first ocean fish! Yay!

Beautiful Arlie!

Jump Arlie, jump!

Whee!!!

Flying!

Look at that air!

Flying girl.....

Love this one!

Hayley building a sandcastle.....

Baby and more!

Seals. Or are they sea lions?

Arlie running terrified from the crazy ocean.....

Jeff catches some early morning rays with his book and Diet Pepsi.

Jeff's brother Greg, dad Dennis and Jeff

Fireside photo

Heaven. Really, it's right there, can't you see it?

More Heaven!

Seagull soaring over the hills near the ocean.

Our flag, handpainted by Hayley!

The photographer steps in FRONT of the camera for once......

Beautiful girl!

Haystack Rock and Arlie

Harrison and his ocean fish - caught right from the shore!

Harrison casting into the surf.......

Jeff surf casting......

The boys surf casting and hoping for a perch.......

Sunset in Pacific City.......

Jeff, our own Betsy Ross, sewing our flag!

Love this pic of Hannah on the beach!

The guys after their chartered Dory boat fishing trip - we feasted!

My sweet boy!

Jumping in the waves - a timeless childhood favorite!

Jumping with cousins Makayla and Maiya

A Haystack Rock of kids!

Haystack Rock

View down the beach toward the huge dune!

You climb to the top of the dune and run down! FUN!

Dory boat returning from a day of fishing

Another Dory boat - this is one of my favorite pics.......

Someone built this driftwood "fence"

Beauty of the beach

The beachhouse we stayed in. Jeff and I enjoyed the master suite, with windows overlooking the ocean, private bath and two decks!

Arlie skimboarding

Hannah and Harrison boogie-boarding

Another favorite - my little ones.......not so little anymore!

We spent a week in Pacific City, OR in a beautiful, newly built beach house. This year we spanned two beach houses and enjoyed the vacation with Dennis and Mary Anne (Jeff's dad and stepmom), Greg and Heather and their two girls, Makayla and Maiya (Jeff's brother and his family) and Ben, Wendy, Rose and Felicity (Jeff's stepbrother, his girlfriend, her daughter and their new baby). Sue and Rich (Mary Anne's best friends) also came for a couple of nights.

Every day was great and felt like a real vacation because there is not much to do in Pacific City. Just a few gift shops, a pub, grocery store, and an awesome bakery, The Grateful Bread, from which we purchased bread almost daily! Most of our days we woke to a sweeping view of the ocean, got up when we felt like it, had coffee, pastries, cereal, pancakes or other breakfast fare, and then did some beachcombing, playing in the surf, building sandcastles, or just hanging out at the house watching movies or doing crafts. Very low-key. We all gathered for dinner, which one night was crock pot chicken prepared by Hannah, another night clam chowder courtesy of Jeff, a memorable night of feasting on freshly caught crab and salmon, topped off by almost daily baking by Hayley (brownies, cupcakes, cake). Jeff kegged a beer for the event, "Moorehook ESBeach" which was flowing freely all week, as well as many "adult" beverages and wine.

The kids had their own "dorm room" painted to look like under the sea, but after a couple of nights (and a few daddy long-legs later), they opted for other sleeping arrangements. Hayley had her own room (and TV!) all week, so she was in heaven. Our beach house also had a "kid room" with their own TV so Hannah and Arlie stayed there most of the week and Harrison bounced around between there and Hayley's room.

We drove home up the coast (Hannah's request as it was her birthday) and stopped at a few places along the way - Blue Heron Cheese, Tillamook Cheese Factory, Ft. Stevens, Astoria and finally made our way home. It was a wonderful, calm, restorative vacation. The only problem? A week was not long enough!