Kulla Klan in the Sand

The kids had all been hoping to make it to the beach for a day this summer, so between work and trying to find a nice day before Rachel went to New Hampshire, we picked a day and hoped for the best. . . .and it pretty much turned out the best!!!

We left in the morning at about 8:30 and took the backroads to Woodland.

We then went to Longview, where we crossed over the big bridge into Oregon.

The logs down by the water (seen through the side of the bridge).

We stopped in Astoria at the bakery to buy some korpus, then we were off to Seaside to buy candy.  At the candy store, everyone got to pick their own candy to buy.  The older kids had their own money, but daddy bought a dozen taffy each for the 4 little kids.  They had fun choosing which kind to buy out of the 170 choices!!!  Then we walked down to the store where you can buy pop in glass bottles.  We got some pop there, the best choice they had being Pepsi!!!  The boys walked back to the van then, while the girls and I stopped in at Doogers to get some clam chowder to go for David and I.  On the way back to the van, the girls stopped for some Tillamook ice cream.  We were finally ready to head further south!!  As we were leaving Seaside at 12:30, the thermometer read 86 degrees!  We'd chosen the perfect day:)

We drove through Cannon Beach (where we stopped for more candy at our favorite taffy shop - Bruce's).  As we drove out of town, we saw Haystack Rock.

Finally really going to the beach!!  Everywhere there was a parking area for the beach, the lots looked full.  It was a beautiful day at the Oregon Coast and everyone wanted to be there!  Luckily, the parking area for the place we wanted to go to wasn't directly on 101, so everyone didn't know there was a beach there.

Walker, pleased to be out of his carseat and on the move.  Daddy, getting a little rest, waiting for lunch.

We ate our lunch before going down to the beach.  When we got down to the beach, we had a huge section just to ourselves.  Walker lasted on his blanket in the shade for about 5 minutes, until he got his first taste and feel of sand!!!  Then, no matter how much we carried him back to the middle of the blanket, he crawled right back off . . .

. . . and so we just let him play in the sand:)

And he really enjoyed himself!!

Hunter had a fun time in the sand . . . didn't want to go by the water.  That's always nice, because it's a lot easier!

Bronwyn was mostly the same way, except for when big brother Reid took her out a few times.

The big kids all had a fun time in the water.

Then they decided to play in the sand.

This sand castle looks sideways to me, but the picture refused to turn for me!!!

At the end of the day, Clayton decided to make sand angels.

All in all, we ALL had a fun few hours on the beach.  When we left, we decided to go home through Tillamook.  All of the little kids were sleeping when we got to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, so David stayed in the van with them, while the older kids and I went in for cheese samples, cheese curds and ice cream cones.  It was a great day!!