Fogarty Beach

This was a super fun beach. It had this creek where the kids could play and move the rocks around. The sand was not really sand but small rocks. It was darker too so it was pretty hot. DH and I were sad we both forgot to bring books. We played for over four hours before we decided it was time to head home. We used to go to this beach a lot when I was a kid, with all my cousins.

There's Cor checking out some sea weed or pieces of wood to carve. There is a lot of sea weed on this beach and the ocean crashes huge waves right up on shore. So it wasn't really safe to play in but the creek was fun and the waves were amazing to watch. That big rock ahead of him is perfect for climbing on.

Ballerina and I were going to climb the big rocks but she didn't like the loud, large waves so we played in the creek and tried not to burn our feet. I know that doesn't sound like fun but it was a perfect day. It was almost 70 degrees and not enough wind to fly our big kite but it was nice not to get blown away. We'll definitely be back to this beach. We should have brought our swim suits, it's just that you don't always think to bring those when going to the Oregon coast. I didn't even have to wear a jacket this time.

Unless we plan an extended family trip every couple months we watch the weather and go on a day it's forecasted to be nice. DH had to go back to work on Tuesday and Monday looked to be the nicest day at the coast this week so it worked out perfectly.

Summer Fun

If we are friends on Facebook you'll have already seen my pictures for our trip to Fiji. Fiji was definitely the highlight of our summer. But we have also done a lot of other cool things with the kids. It has been a magical summer.

Swimming at the Reed Cabin. It's so nice to have the cabin and the great swimming spot available whenever we want. We stayed 2 nights and 3 days recently and it was so fun. DH's sister Kim's family came too. We stayed a night while DH's brother was here for the 4th of July weekend. This last time Em discovered that the life jacket is trustworthy and she was swimming everywhere and jumping in a bunch of times. At first she was so scared to get in but once she discovered she could be independent and safe she was so proud of herself.
Safety Town for Em and Ballerina. They learned so much that I had tried to teach them but when I taught them it was scary. They had a lot of fun and made some friends.
Here's Em at swim lessons. Em wouldn't ever leave the wall but she did get better at her swim techniques. Cor and Mya both did great and are very confident in the water. Ballerina was so funny at lessons but she made some strides in her confidence in the water.
Here's Jenna (one of my sisters) holding Brooke, our neice. That's Abby, Jenna's 2nd daughter, at Agate beach which was really windy that day. We had so much fun with Jacob and Heather's family when they were here for a week in June. The weather at the beach was perfect. Their four kids and our four kids all played together happily and there weren't any injuries the whole week. That's a miracle.
While Jacob and Heather were here we spent part of one day at OMSI. It was so much fun and we have a family pass and this is the first time I've been there. I'd go all the time if it wasn't for the drive. In the picture is Ballerina (pink), Emily (blue) and Kylie (brown).
Our cool friend has a boat so we had a boating date. We went with the Anth, her husband (cool friend) and Kirk and Brittany. DH's sister was nice enough to watch the kids. This is DH and Kirk trying to hold on while cool friend is trying to dump them off. Brittany and I got on the tube on the conditions that we would not end up in the water. Cool friend assured us we would stay dry. Unfortunately their was a problem and we ended up in the Willamette River. Oh well. I did find out my pink shorts are see through when wet. Good thing I had my bathing suit on underneath.