The beginning of June
we went and spent 3 days in Cannon Beach and 3 days in Portland. So here is the cliffs notes version of our Cannon Beach trip ( I think I took 127 pictures so I had to narrow it down, otherwise you'd be reading for an hour.)
Em got this great photo of Mt. Hood out the window of the plane.
Once we got to the beach house, we went straight to the beach. We'd been in the plane and the car so the boys needed a good run. They found parts of a crab and pieces of jelly fish. When I told them to smile Em pretended like he was going to eat the jelly fish and Ay laughed so hard he could hardly hold up the shell of the crab. Then little O pretended to eat his jelly fish as well. I love the story in this picture, it makes me giggle.
I found this cool jelly fish, it had the coolest shape. If you look hard you can see the little ribbed pattern on the edge.
O found a chair on the beach. I realize that this time we didn't build a single sand castle this time.
Love this shot of the boys on the porch of the beach house.
We went to Astoria one day. On the way we passed a strawberry stand. When you get a chance to buy Oregon strawberries, you buy Oregon Strawberries! Ay loved them so much he ate 2 1/2 boxes of them. So once we were in Astoria, we went to climb the Astoria Column. This is the view from the top. O did not want to go to the top.
O is the little red dot in the little square of concrete.
While we were in Astoria we went on a yacht tour of the Columbia. Here, the boys are waiting for the captain to tell us to board.
Once we got on board, we went to the top and found our seats.
"Look mom, its sea cactus!"
This is what Ay said, he laughed when he found out they were actually old foundations covered in algae. But the sea cactus name stuck the rest of the trip.
Learning facts from the captain about the Columbia.
What a goof. Love the eyebrows.
On the trip we went into the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
We saw bald eagles, blue herons and ospreys.
It was about an hour and a half into the trip when those strawberries, the cold air and the rocking boat caught up with Ay. He went down hill fast and eventually those strawberries looked like freezer jam as he puked over the side of the boat. But on a good note, he felt much better and smiled again before the boat trip was over.
This is one of my most favorite pictures from the trip.
Em loved this trip, he is still talking about it.
We had a beautiful grey day with some fog. I always love to see the fog and that misty rain that comes with it. Made it the perfect day for a beach ride.
O loved to chase the "pigeons" (as he likes to call them.)
You can not go to Cannon Beach and not visit the cheese factory. We met one of my friends and had lunch. She set up a kayaking trip for us on Lake Mears after we ate.
Here we are getting suited up with the life jackets.
Ready to go
And we are off.....
We went through a bunch of water lilies. Like half a football field of them. So pretty.
I rode with O, Ay rode with my friend Heather and Em got to go by himself.
This is me and O
We even got to catch yellow crested newts. The boys had a great time doing that.
We paddled through some thick grasses. At one point O said he had to pee, so I figured this was the best place. Completely private and the boat didn't rock very much. He laughed so hard as he pee'd off the side of the boat.
Em learned that he could paddle faster using his hands. He and my friends nephew (Ryan) had a great time. Instant friends for sure.
Ay and Heather
After the kayaking we met on the beach in Rockaway. The wind was really cold so we only stayed on the beach for about an hour. I have 3 boys, my friend has 3 kids and her nephew was there as well. Then we went and cooked hot dogs and hung out.
O made some great new friends as well.
The last day on the beach, I took the boys out to take some photos. The wind was pretty swift and my camera lens was a mess, but I loved the photos anyway.
Then we said goodbye to the beach and headed inland.
