Oregon Coast

Our one and only vacation this summer!  We went with some friends and rented the same house we stayed in last summer at Nedonna Beach (just north of Rockaway Beach).  We love this place!  We had good weather, lots of fun, and even found some time to relax.

Here at The Column in Astoria.  When I got to the top I threw my airplane off  and it went straight to the ground like a rock.  I think Lincoln pulled the tail off on the way up.  The kids' planes flew a long way.

Kendall wanted to see the Goonies house...again.

Trying to keep Lincoln warm at the beach. 

Trevor loved running back and forth along the water.

Lincoln kept eating the sand. 

At Tillamook Lincoln tried ice cream for the first time and did not appreciate the cold. He was giving me dirty looks but kept insisting on more.

Tide pools at Cannon Beach.

Here is the part of the trip I don't want to remember and thinking about it now makes my skin crawl.  On Sunday we decided to go for a hike after church.  It started out pleasant but about half way up I see one of the kids looking at the side of the mountain and declaring they just saw a snake.  I didn't think too much of it but as I round the next switch back there is a snake staring at me straight in the eye (and another snake right behind it.)  My body froze but my lungs continued to work as I screamed and screamed and screamed.  It was uncontrollable.  All of the kids in front were crying and everyone behind me knew that there was a snake sighting.  Sweet 5-year-old Josh walked the rest of the time next to me with a rock and assured me that if we saw another snake he was going to take care of it.  Even though I know Garter snakes are perfectly harmless I simply cannot control my fear of these awful creatures.  I also learned that the next time we decide to take a hike I will be doing more research.  Here is what I found on another blog after the hike: "While our surroundings did not seem like typical snake country we were surprised by numerous small garter snakes that would pop out of the bushes in front of us and slither across the path.  It made the hike more interesting and exciting because we never knew when another snake was going to jump out!"  Never again.

Other than the snake adventure we had a lovely time and I am hoping for another Ocean trip next year (but maybe somewhere warmer?!)