Last week we went on our 2nd annual beach vacation with the Harkins family. We kicked off our vacation with an afternoon of paddle boarding on Lacamas Lake while we waited for Jeff to return from working on the east coast. We all had a blast! The kids loved swimming and paddling all over the lake, Hank was a paddle board champ; at five-years-old, he could turn his board every which way and guided it back to the dock with ease. I was impressed!
Jeff arrived home very late Saturday night and so when Ella awoke Sunday morning, she was SUPER happy to see her daddy again after six weeks!
Sunday morning, we loaded our vehicles and set off for the Oregon coast. I was giddy to have Jeff home for a whole week!
The first stop on our vacation was four days in a beautiful home built in the 1900's in Seaside. When we arrived we immediately walked out to the beach to check out the ocean. We were lucky to have a private beach just steps away from the house where the kids could explore.
After checking out the house and the beach, we went into the town for some lunch.
Then we walked down to the ocean front and the kids were so happy to find the swing sets on the beach.
I love all these photos of Ella dancing in the surf...there's no shortage of happiness on her face.
We also visited the little Seaside aquarium and the highlight was getting to feed the seals. If you took too long feeding them , one would splash his flippers and get you wet, they were adorable.
The view from the back of the house we rented was absolutely stunning
We were so happy to be all together again!
We love these dear friends of ours. I met Rod & Catie in college at EWU and we became inseparable. Now we're "all grown up" and living the dreams we talked about all those years ago. Vacationing with them is effortless. Their three kids are so well behaved and Ella gets along with them perfectly. We are so grateful for their love and friendship and feel so lucky to have the best vacation buddies a family could ask for.
Ella loved playing Frisbee with her daddy. She's got quite an accurate throw.
Isn't our rental absolutely adorable?!
At low tide, we took the kids on a long walk from the estuary by our house to the ocean. The first time we walked there, we found four perfect sand dollars. It was kind of amazing considering how many were broken along the way. In all my years of vacationing at the Oregon coast I can hardly ever recall a time when we found shells intact. Catie mentioned that she believed Nicholas put them there for us, one for each child, to let us know he was there with us in spirit, as he absolutely loved the beach. In fact, I had booked this trip just two weeks before he died, and he asked me every day until his death when we were leaving on our trip. When I told him it was months away, he would sigh and say, "Awwww," with disappointment in his tone. To not have him there with us this year was completely bittersweet. I thought about him constantly. In everything we did, I thought about how much he would have enjoyed it. I imagined his brilliant smile, his toes in the sand, bossing the kids about, and his laughter and joy in being in the place he loved the most. While we had a wonderful time, my heart ached for just one more vacation with our son. The next day we walked the same path and found four more perfect sand dollars, one for each adult, eight total...which felt like a clear confirmation that Nicholas was sending his heavenly love and grace to us all. I found this poem about sand dollars which is simply beautiful:
We found all kinds of crabs and sea life on the beach too...this one was the smallest we saw.
Ella really enjoyed the sand and sea
Hank found a crab
There's nothing like a beach fire and s'mores
A beach sunset makes everything feel right in the world.
After getting all sandy, the kids loved bathing in the beautiful, old antique bath tub.
One afternoon, we all wore our NEVER GIVE UP tees and headed into town to bring some awareness to SMA and the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation.
I braided all the girls' hair, but Catie's turned out the best!
The kids went on the carousel...
and we all drove the bumper cars...
Then a sweet young lady took our photos on the boardwalk. We told several people about SMA and Nicholas that afternoon and it felt really nice to honor him and bring awareness to this devastating condition.
I snuck a photo of Hank and Ella holding hands as they walked down the sidewalk. Heart melt!
At the candy store, we bought some lollipops for the kids and let them lick them when we got back to the house. Nicholas loved lollys, so it was just another way to honor our sweet son, and send his candy kisses all the way to heaven.
I posted one of these photos on Instagram with the title "just the three of us." Two of my friends commented that in our shadows you can almost make out four people, which warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face.
This sunset with the rays of light peeking through was seriously breathtaking.
Rod and Catie brought sparklers and Ella was thrilled to get to run around the beach with them aflame.
Family fire selfies
After four days in Seaside, we spent our last night in Cannon Beach at the Surfsand Resort near the historical Haystack Rock.
It was really nice to have a pool and hot tub to enjoy!
At dinner that night, Catie and I shared two margarita buckets...yum!
We had another beach fire that evening and the sunset and sky was stunning...Catie and I made hearts with our arms to show how much we love the ocean.
I am so blessed to call this beautiful woman my friend. Love you, Catie.
That night I really, really, really wanted to light and release the green sky lanterns I had purchased to honor Nicholas. Sadly it was much too windy, and with the lack of water in the Pacific Northwest, we were afraid to let them go. We did light one to see if it would work, but the wind kept carrying it back to the sand, so we had to extinguish it. We still have some left and will wait for better conditions to try again.
Hank and Ella are only nine months apart and were pretty much inseparable this whole trip. Future bride and groom, maybe?
Rod's mom, Audrey, joined us for the final day in Cannon Beach and treated us all to breakfast. Thank you Mima!
Before we got on the road to head back home, the kids squeezed in some beach time, while the moms got to do some shopping.
A sleeping kiddo is the hallmark of a perfect beach vacation.
Until next year, Oregon coast!
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