Last December, my parents made a reservation for the entire family to stay in a beach house on the Oregon Coast this August. During the last months of pregnancy I would think about going to Oregon and how it would be so nice to no longer have a baby inside of me and how that baby would be big enough to be interesting. (Yes, the truth comes out. While I loved both my babies from the start, I’m not head-over-heels about newborns the way some women are.) When the hot summer months arrived, I dreamed about Oregon and how it would be so nice to get away from the heat. Then when my Etsy shop took off faster than I’d anticipated and I was running a nursing cover sweatshop in my basement, I counted down the days to our Oregon trip when I would put my shop on vacation and not touch a sewing machine for an entire week. Oh, how I had looked forward to that trip and it didn’t disappoint. Here’s the recap:
The second leg of our plane journey (Seattle to Portland) was on a small plane. Cooper tried to make a getaway on the tarmac, but fortunately didn’t get far. He loved watching the propellers on the plane which was nice since it distracted him from kicking the seat in front of him. (Apologies to the lady that sat in front of him on our flight from Denver to Seattle!)
Noel’s cousin Jessie kindly showed us around Portland.
We checked out the Portland Farmer’s Market (Things grow so well in Portland!), Powell’s Books, hit up Trader Joe’s for my favorite soap, checked out some of Portland’s awesome gardens, and ate delicious food out of food trucks. I usually spurn food sold out of moving vehicles, but apparently it’s a big deal in Portland and it was so, so good.
Cooper checking out the Japanese Gardens in Portland.
We checked out the Tillamook cheese factory and sampled delicious cheeses.
Cooper loved the ocean. (Not enough to swim in it thankfully.)
Cooper wading.
The sand was also a huge hit. Biggest sandbox ever.
Cooper and Noel digging in the sand.
Nothing makes this boy happier than digging.
The beach was a bit chilly, but perfect for flying kites.
Cooper woke up very grumpy from a nap and was being a huge pill until we bought him some berries at the Farmer’s Market. He was even more excited when he discovered the blackberry bushes down the street from the beach house.
We made the mistake of taking Cooper to a bike shop. I don’t think he realized they made bikes for people his size.
If we ever get a jacuzzi we shall get this sign 😉
We hit up some cute shops in Astoria. (There was a great consignment shop I wish I lived down the street from.)
Ate fish and chips out of a boat. (That was parked in a parking lot. Cool nevertheless.)
Checked out the Astoria Column.
You can buy planes to throw off the column, but we did the environmentally responsible thing (aka cheap) and scavenged planes from the bushes to throw.
It was unusually hot that day so we all hid in the shade of the column.
A closeup of the column
Trees we hiked through to get to the top of Mt. Neahkahnie
The beach we played on.
Cooper and Grandma Cindy on top of Mt. Neahkahnie.
Cooper and his Uncle Mitchell enjoying the sunset.
Beautiful Sunset.
Ellen was a freeloader and hitched a ride on Noel to the top.
Me enjoying the view.
Cooper’s first encounter with starfish.
Pretty neat, huh?
Family pic on the beach. This is the picture Ellen looked most happy in. She was cold and miffed that she wasn’t getting milk IMMEDIATELY.
We rented kayaks one afternoon.
We had a blast. We felt like we were pretty good at it (I’m sure the rental people didn’t) and covered a lot of ground during our two hour turn.
It was nice to spend a few hours on the water just the two of us.
Happy that no one in our vehicle was crying or whining.
Everyone loved having Cooper around. Hope and Joe even let him take a nap with them.
Ellen practicing sitting up.
I think one of Hope’s favorite things about the trip was snuggling Ellen. There was never a shortage of people to snuggle the baby 🙂
In the end we had to return our rental car and head back to the airport.
We took the lightrail train back to the airport. We took up quite a bit of space with all our luggage. Cooper loved it and kept saying, “Choo, choo!”
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6 thoughts on “Going Coastal”
I love all these photos! Glad you had a great time.
We should have coordinated–we were in Astoria in June! But it looks like you guys had a great time. And I’m glad your etsy shop is doing so well–that’s awesome!
6 thoughts on “Going Coastal”
I love all these photos! Glad you had a great time.
How fun! Dan and I love Astoria! One of our favorite places!
We should have coordinated–we were in Astoria in June! But it looks like you guys had a great time. And I’m glad your etsy shop is doing so well–that’s awesome!
So fun! And I totally agree about the newborn thing. The kids pediatrician refers to the first 4 months as the “pupa stage.”
Looks like fun. My favorites are how Coopers face on that bike and looking at the starfish haha
I am so glad it was a great trip! You deserved the break 🙂