A Much Needed Vacation

This is a long post, so get comfortable...

My family traveled to the ocean with my parents. I had a desire for a much needed break away from normal life. I wanted to go somewhere to relax, and enjoy God's beautiful creations. The ocean was calling my name, and so off we went to answer the call of the wild. 

My parents were kind enough to travel with us. I am not keen on driving long distances without a companion driver. And I just like my parents, and I enjoy their company. They needed a break too, they work so hard in the temple presidency up in Alaska. I think they were able to catch up on some much needed rest and relaxation. 

My dad found a vacation rental home in Pacific Beach, Washington. It was in a very small and super rustic community. The home we stayed in was just right for our family. It was not right on the ocean, but it was just a 2 minute drive away, and a 10 minute walk. We could see the ocean from the living room. It was a great home away from home. Getting a rental home rather than a hotel is so much more fun and enjoyable, especially with children. 

On the way to our destination, we stopped to visit my cousin, Celeste, in Newport, Oregon. We had a great time visiting with her family, and eating in their restaurant called Mo's. The food was SO good... seriously, so yummy!

We spent the evening in her home chatting and singing together. It was so fun to gather and sing as family. It sent shivers down my spine. There is something about the family sound, and blending with relatives, that gives me goosebumps. It has been so fun to get to know my cousin and her family better. (I will put pictures of our visit in another post.) 

It rained and rained a lot of the trip, but that was fine with me. The rain helped us all to slow down and calm down. But, when the sun would shine through the clouds, I would rush outside to go for a run, or we would go to the beach to bask in the light, play in the sand, and fly a kite. The rain did not stop us from venturing out to the ocean, we went out in a downpour, and our umbrellas kept blowing out of our hands. In some ways the rain was soothing, but it would be hard to live in a place with so much moisture, and having the color grey as a constant covering in the sky. 

It was beautiful though, with all the green and water everywhere. When the sun did come out it was phenomenally glorious. The trees and grass were blanketed in fresh dew drops that shimmered and danced in the light of the sun. 

Because of all the rain, there were also a lot of rainbows. We saw multiple rainbows all throughout the days, from morning until night. It was really a beautiful addition to our adventures. Rainbows are very special to me. 

We spent a good amount of our time in the late evenings watching the Food Network. We do not have cable at home, so it was exciting to see new shows. We came across the show Cupcake Wars, and it was cracking us up. We also got into the show Chopped, and we learned all sorts of new cooking techniques. It is a good thing we do not have cable in our home, those shows are addicting. I did enjoy learning really weird ways to prepare food. 

It was just so nice to get away for a while. Life can get so full of activities and business, and it is important to slow down and breathe from time to time. I believe in it. I believe in purposely planning wholesome recreational family activities and vacations. I love having the opportunity to travel with my family and introduce them to new places and see new things. 

It was good for all of us. 

It was a great trip, but we are also very happy to be home. When we got home and drove up to our house at midnight, we were greeted by the smell of spring blossoms, and a beautiful pink flower tree in the front yard -- I did not know it was a pink flower tree! I was so happy, it was like a welcome home gift from nature. 

I will be following up with a few more trip posts, with pictures from various phone cameras, but for now, here is what I have to share... 

The drive to the ocean changes from Idaho sagebrush, to lush green trees and beautiful mountains. 

We stopped to take a breather, and a bathroom break. Daniel is saying, "WoHoo for bathrooms!"

These kids are all great friends. William tries to keep up with the older ones, which makes him quite the character.

Sam and Dan are great friends, and that makes me happy. Daniel is now taller than us all, and stronger too. He is happy about that fact.

This hat sums up William quite well. It was a gift from grandpa.

We made it to Multnomah Falls, it is a very magical place.

Henry was amazed.

The trees are so cool, all moss-covered and unique.

Waterfalls are so whimsical.

Dan the man.

All the kiddos.

My Mom and Dad otherwise known as Grandma and Grandpa.

The van Ormer family. Henry's face cracks me up.

Cute Henry.

The bridge by the falls. We did not have time to get up to it, but we have been there before. Charles took Daniel to the top when he was a little boy.

Moss grows on everything, it is such a bright green color.

We made it to Newport, Oregon late at night. The following morning we ventured out to the aquarium. It was a pretty cool place. The kids enjoyed it. Henry had a bit of a meltdown after a while, he really liked the shark tank, and did not want to leave. 

It is a pretty amazing tunnel of sharks.

Enjoying the fish.

The jellyfish were so beautiful

Some feathered friends... 

This one was a little camera-shy.

 Later that same day we went to the docks and saw some sea lions before going to eat at Mo's restaurant.

They were really loud, it was entertaining.

The Newport bridge

Look at those houses on the hill... whoa!

William sat next to Dylan when we went to eat at Mo's. Dylan is my cousin's husband, and they own the restaurant. William was being so hilarious. He really wanted a Mo's hat, and he offered to trade his hat for one. He must have been persuasive, because he ended up keeping his other hat, he got a Mo's hat, and one for all the other kids too. (Thanks so much Celeste and Dylan! You made everyone's day!) 

 Here they are making a deal. William thought Dylan was the best.

Celeste, Dylan, and their future employees of Mo's. 

We stayed at a hotel and everyone snuggled in for the night

We woke up bright and early to go to church. We always find an LDS church to go to when we are traveling. I love that we can travel anywhere, and find the same gospel taught throughout the world. Henry was super excited to go to church, it was hard to get him to remove his special hat. 

The boys getting ready to go. 

We spent lots of time in the car going here and there. Our rental car was a beast of a thing, and we all fit comfortably. 

This is the vacation home. It was nothing fancy, but it was super comfortable for us. There was just something about it that I loved. We had good times in the house. 

I was able to get out and run 4 times and I did strength-training once. I took Sammi or Daniel with me on my runs, because I did not want to be alone in a strange new place, with interesting locals who talked to me every time I went out. My running schedule was meant to be super tame, and relaxing -- nothing grueling or hard at all. We stuck to 4 mile journeys on the beach. It was a healing week. My body was starting to breakdown from all the training, and I needed a rest. Short and slow jogging was just what I needed. Running on the beach was super fun. The hard-packed sand was perfect for it. 

The sand would change everyday, sometimes it was covered in slippery ocean gunk. 

Daniel came along for protection. You do not mess with Daniel's mama. :) 

One of many rainbows that would just pop up. 

Sammi doing lunges with me. 

One afternoon it was raining really hard, but the kids were getting restless, so I took them for a walk down to the beach. The wind was howling, and it was cold and we got soaked. But it was still fun. The kids loved it, and were laughing all the way. We did not stay long, because we were freezing our buns off! 

 Even Henry had his limit and wanted to go back to the house.

I bathed him, got him all cozy and warm, and he had a bowl of cereal. 

Just relaxing and coloring while watching the ocean.

 Games were played, good times were had.

We went down to the beach again, when it was not so brutal.

It was not the warm, lay-on-the-beach type of ocean trip, but it was still an adventure and fun.

Just being outside in nature is invigorating.

The wind was blowing and whipping my hair in my face. 

Daniel making his tribute to the new Star Wars movie.

Happy Henry 

What could be better than a huge sandbox for a toddler? It was like heaven for him.

Grandpa got them some buckets to play with.

Henry doing a nice job advertising for Mo's. I must say the food really is good. I am not a fan of fishy-type seafood, but I LOVED the clam chowder, it was so yummy. The rest of my family devoured all their fish and ocean delicacies. I want to like fish, but my mom used to clean them in our kitchen sink -- big beastly Alaskan fish -- when I lived in Alaska, and it totally grossed me out as a child. I guess I have yet to recover. I do like tunafish sandwiches. Maybe one day I will make friends with fish and eat them.

Sammi was smart and brought a winter hat. It was chilly! 

Peekaboo!

Sammi pondering the meaning of life.

I found a jacket in the most obnoxious color orange. I like bright colors, they make me happy.

Building a sandcastle.

Dueling sharks.

Soaking in some sun.

A gift from grandpa

Brothers

Spring was blossoming all around

Mom and dad enjoying the view

Let's go fly a kite!

My dad enjoying the journey

This was the weather most of the time we were there

They finally figured out the trick to the kite to keep it up -- lots of spinning!

Close call to Daniel's head

True love. They have been married for a long time.

Creatures of the ocean

Digging, lots of digging!

Up and away!

The sand was perfect for building things.

So happy to be free and outside

We made a trip over to the city of Forks. We were just curious what it was really like, and if there were any vampires in the area. 

They had some tributes to the book, but it was not over-the-top. 

We ate at The In Place in Forks. It was super rainy there, so it was a quick trip. 

We continued on to view a little of nature. 

We came upon a beautiful lake, and another rainbow. 

 The kids enjoyed skipping rocks. I think my kids would skip rocks all day if they could.

 The trees by the lake were gloriously green.

 We went on a little walk around the area.

 The skies may be grey a lot, but wow the green is bright and breathtaking.

We made another day trip to Olympia. We went to the children's museum and to a fun park. Henry had another meltdown after leaving the museum because it was like a toddler haven. Everything was hands-on and he loved it all. He did not love leaving, and I think he wins the prize for biggest tantrum of all my children. It was something else, I tell you what. He had never really thrown a tantrum before the trip, but the new environments seemed to overstimulate his desire to do what he wanted. I remained calm while he worked through his passionate emotions, and he calmed down... eventually. It was a doozy of a meltdown though. It was the kind that tested my mother skills and patience. I love my Henry. He teaches me so much. :)

We drove home on Saturday, all in one long day. We got home just in time to get Easter dinner from the store at 11:30 at night. It was a long journey home, but everyone did really well. We ran over a screw at some point, and we kept losing air in our tire, so that made it exciting. 

On the car ride, I played the Women's Conference (click HERE to view) through my phone with my headset, and I repeated it all to my mother who was driving. It was interesting, a real challenge to listen and repeat word-for-word what the speakers were saying. My heart was touched by the messages of service and reaching out to those in need. 

And here is the pink tree that greeted us when we got home. It smells SO good. 

We had a great trip. It was just what we all needed.